by BARRY LEVINSON:
LOYAL CITIZENS OF FULLERTON ARE STILL WAITING FOR POLICE CHIEF HUGHES TO MAKE GOOD ON HIS PROMISE TO THE PEOPLE OF FULLERTON!
Soon after Dan Hughes became Acting Police Chief in January 2012, he gave an interview with the local press. He was quoted as saying the following: “If somebody says there is a culture of corruption,they’re either lying, they have other motives or they are grossly misinformed.”
With those words, you loudly proclaimed that there were no pervasive problems or corruption within your beloved FPD based presumably on your 29 years of being an integral member of that department.Many citizens of Fullerton disagree with the police chief’s assessment. But then again as a 29-year veteran on the force, it might be difficult for Hughes to admit any real problems within the department that he has been an integral part of for almost three decades. He did indicate that the only real problem with his FPD was its failure to keep the public better informed. So at the March 4, 2014 council meeting, we stated that Hughes has failed to live up to that promise as well!
This was the challenge we presented to Chief Hughes. Fullerton Police Corporal Hugo Garcia was arrested on felony grand theft charges brought by the county district attorney’s office and reported in all the local papers in mid-February. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Fullerton-Cop-Faces-Felony-Charges-for-Fraud-Embezzlement-245949031.html
But the one place you will not see that important local news story is in Dan Hughes official FPD website entitled “Fullerton Police News”. In fact as of the night of the last council meeting ,March 4th the City of Fullerton website. How did they overlook this ladies and gentleman? After all Dan gave his word that he would personally make sure that the information, the news about our FPD would be much improved under his new administration., you would not find that story mentioned anywhere on Well now it is March 26, 22 days after we challenged Hughes on this point and still not a whisper about this police officer’s felony arrest!So we rechecked Dan’s official Fullerton Police News website once again to see if any mention of the arrest of Officer Garcia was posted since the city council meeting. Remember, even Jan Flory the unofficial cheerleader (in my opinion) for the police asked Dan to correct this problem at March 4th council meeting.
As of March 26, 2014, there is still not a word about it. But the FPD did have the time to make the additional unrelated posts on March 5, March 10, March 11,March 15, two posts on March 17, March 18, and March 19,2014. (Please also note that the March 17 news story of arelative abusing a child conveniently left out the fact that the alleged child abuser is LA Police Officer Daniel Hun Chun, 39.That fact http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9475818 was prominently mentioned in every other TV, radio and newspaper stories covering this arrest. LA Police Officer Chun allegedly hit a teen relative repeatedly with a variety of household items on March 13, “leaving welts and bruises,”according to a statement released by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He was charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony count of corporal injury on a child and faces up to six years in state prison!)There are many stories about our FPD under Fullerton Police Newsand they always have one thing in common, they are all positive stories about our men and women in blue.So when Dan Hughes admitted that the FPD had to improve its communication to the people of Fullerton, he apparently meant that the department needed better Public Relations only. It has not meant a more complete, open and transparent reporting of both positive and even sometimes negative news as well. And now ladies and gentleman thanks to Dan Hughes and Joe Felz, our city manager,city we the taxpayers are paying a new communication consultant to do just that: to provide the FPD with better PR articles to disseminate through the Fullerton Police News (launched by Bill Rams of Cornerstone Communications) and also through the Fullerton News-Tribune which is a Thursday section of our Orange County Register.
The FPD thanks to the OC Register basically gets a twofer, two for the price of one. You see this consultant gets paid to write these puff pieces on the FPD and then the OC register essentially reprint them in their paper under the title “guest columnist” in the opinion section. Except this guest keeps on returning, writing guest columnafter guest column after guest column. (I guess he is the type ofguest that never leaves.) And to think we the taxpayers are payingthis consultant a lot of money just to improve the tarnished image ofour FPD!This new FPD consultant cost is in addition to the cost we arealready paying for police public relations as part of Fullerton policespokesman, Sergeant Jeff Stuart police pay. Many people could be hired to perform Sergeant Stuart’s police spokesman duties ata greatly reduced rate of pay.
You see ladies and gentlemen, we are paying Sergeant Stuart at least $140,000 to $150,000 a year(for salary and benefits) to perform in part this non-police officer function. Please note that someone making 50% – 60% less couldvery competently perform that task.So with this as background as to how much the taxpayers are spending on this function, it is very disappointing that Chief Hughes felt it necessary to increase his public relations budget so significantly. The sad truth is that we the taxpayers are paying for all these one-sided positive feel-good police stories. I for one do not feel good about this at all because it is so self-serving rather than serving the public!
Now it has been over two years since Dan Hughes gave us that empty promise to improve communicating all issues relating to theFPD to the people of Fullerton. How much longer Dan are you going to make us wait until you keep that promise? Another year, two years or maybe that will be your successor’s responsibility. And finally Dan, just as a little reminder to you sir, your website does say “NEWS” in the title as in “Fullerton Police News”!
Barry Levinson
#1 by Bozo esq. on March 27, 2014 - 8:22 pm
Dan Hughes was the man in charge the night Kelly was murdered. Dan Hughes let the officers watch the video so that they could rewrite their reports. Was Dan Hughes in charge the night the lights went out in Georgia on Dean?
November 1, 2012 Contacts: Susan Kang Schroeder
Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718Farrah Emami
Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486
FORMER FULLERTON POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED FOR DESTROYING EVIDENCE
FOR BREAKING AUDIO-RECORDER AFTER INMATE’S SUICIDE
FULLERTON – A former Fullerton Police Department (FPD) officer was convicted and sentenced today for destroying evidence by crushing his audio-recorder after an inmate committed suicide in jail following a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest by the defendant. Vincent Thomas Mater, 42, pleaded guilty to a court offer by the Honorable Frances Munoz to one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence and one misdemeanor count of vandalism. Mater was sentenced to three years of informal probation and 60 days of community service. The People objected to the sentence, arguing for jail time based on the nature of the crime, destruction of evidence possibly related to an inmate’s death, and the defendant’s violation of his position of trust.
At the time of the crime, Mater was a police officer with FPD. At approximately 9:45 p.m. on April 14, 2011, Mater conducted a DUI investigation after making a traffic stop of a vehicle being driven without its lights on in the dark. Mater was in uniform and driving a marked FPD patrol car. Mater arrested the driver, Dean Gochenour, upon determining that Gochenour was under the influence of alcohol.
Mater transported Gochenour in his patrol car to the Fullerton City Jail (FCJ) and turned him over to FPD jailers to be booked upon arrival. Throughout the duration of his contact with Gochenour, Mater wore an FPD-issued Digital Audio Recording device (DAR), which was activated and would have audio-recorded any statements made by Mater or Gochenour.
At approximately 11:30 p.m., inmate Gochenour committed suicide by hanging himself in a cell at FCJ. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) was subsequently contacted to conduct the custodial death investigation.
In the hours after Mater learned of Gochenour’s death, Mater destroyed his DAR by crushing it and removing the mother board and circuit board. The audio captured on Mater’s DAR of the defendant’s interaction with Gochenour could not be recovered as a result of the damage. Mater destroyed the evidence that would have been relevant to the OCDA’s custodial death investigation.
FPD investigated the case against Mater regarding the destruction of evidence and submitted it to the OCDA for criminal prosecution.
To read the OCDA’s full report on the custodial death of Gochenour, visit http://www.OrangeCountyDA.com and select “OCDA Report Custodial Death Investigation – Inmate Dean Gochenour” from the Investigation Letters tab under the Media Center. The report was issued March 13, 2012.
Deputy District Attorney Brock Zimmon of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.
#2 by Anonymous on April 1, 2014 - 8:16 am
Veth Mam lived to tell.