Coles Co. (ECWd) –
This appears to be yet another one of those times when all you can say is you can’t make this crap up.
The Chairman of the Police Committee of Arcola, Illinois, according to a letter from the Chief of Police to Officer AJ Roley, made a preliminary determination that Officer Roley violated police department regulations, including but not limited to
340.3.5 PERFORMANCE
(d) Concealing, attempting to conceal, removing or destroying defective or incompetent work.
(i) The falsification of any work-related records, the making of misleading entries or statements with the intent to deceive, or the willful and unauthorized destruction and/or mutilation of any department record, book, paper or document.
(p) Failure to disclose or misrepresenting material facts, or the making of any false or misleading statement on any application, examination form or other official document, report or form, or during the course of any work-related investigation.
(q) Failure to take reasonable action while on-duty and when required by law, statute, resolution or approved department practices or procedures.
(u) Exceeding lawful peace officer powers by unreasonable, unlawful or excessive conduct.
(aa) Any other on-duty or off-duty conduct which any employee knows or reasonably should know is unbecoming a member of the Department or which is contrary to good order, efficiency or morale, or which tends to reflect unfavorably upon the Department or its members.
(ab) Any failure or refusal of an employee to properly perform the function and duties of an assigned position.
(ad)Giving false or misleading statements or misrepresenting or omitting material information to a supervisor, or other person in a position of authority, in connection with any investigation or in the reporting of any department-related business.
The above information was presented in a “Motion In Limine to Allow Impeachment of Office A.J. ROLEY with prior disciplinary actions for dishonesty as a patrolman”.
Considering the exhibit filed with the above motion points to what appears to be possible criminal conduct, we have requested additional information from the City of Arcola to determine if any request for a criminal investigation into this officer’s conduct was made to the local Sheriff or ISP. Considering one sentence in the letter to Roley, we don’t expect to see any request for a criminal investigation into his actions.
“Please let me know if you would prefer to have your employment end in your resignation rather than a termination.”
We have requested information from the city of Mattoon in an attempt to confirm whether or not they knew of this officer’s history before hiring him. Either way, it appears the Mattoon Police Chief is in a trick box. If he knew of this officer’s prior conduct, why on earth would you hire him? If he didn’t know, why on earth did he not do his due diligence to properly vet a potential law enforcement officer?
Such conduct, documented in the letter from the Arcola Police Chief, creates a never-ending problem for any case Officer Roley is tied to. His negative history must be disclosed and is evidence that affects his credibility, which can make the prosecution of cases very difficult.
According to the “Bar Association, Project on Standards for Criminal Justice, Prosecution Function and the Defense Function § 3.11(a). When the “reliability of a given witness may well be determinative of guilt or innocence,” nondisclosure of evidence affecting credibility falls within this general rule. Napue, supra, at 360 U. S. 269. ” (Link to quoted information here)
It appears from the filed motion, there is evidence affecting credibility that was not disclosed, which is problematic for the prosecution.
We will provide additional updates in future articles once Arcola and Matton respond to our requests.
A copy of the motion and exhibit can be viewed below or downloaded at this link.
reardon-motion
