Reports and Rearrangements
The Press Enterprise published an article on the Community Police Review Commission's annual report.
Copies of the report which was originally supposed to be released in March 2006 are available on the sixth floor of City Hall. The CPRC has yet to present its report in an oral format to the city council. Hopefully, not too long, it will also be available online here.
The article cited concerns about the process of civilian review in Riverside, most notably the disparity of findings between the city, the police department and the CPRC. Not to mention the nearly identical percentages assigned to the city manager's office, which makes the final decision on complaints, and the police department. If you've been paying attention for the past 18 months, these statistics shouldn't be so surprising.
(excerpt)
New to the report was a breakdown of rulings by the three investigating parties: the commission, the police and the city.
Of the 175 complaints reviewed, the commission found the officers' actions were out of policy in 13 percent, or 22 of the complaints.
The department ruled an incident was out of policy 8 percent of the time, while the city did so in 9 percent of the cases, according to the report.
As stated in the article, this information is new to the public report and if you want to thank anyone, thank current commissioners, Jack Brewer and John Brandriff and former commissioner, Steve Simpson. It was my idea to include this information but if it weren't for these three commissioners wishing to do like also, it would have never come to pass. These three men remained firm in their resolve to bring this crucial information to the public eye amidst some initial resistance.
Even when Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis tried to tell them what they really wanted, they remained firm. Brandriff in fact, responded that he was interested in the same information that I had requested.
Even when Commissioner and American Medical Response Manager Peter Hubbard, who is fewer steps removed from the city than any other commissioner, tried to back DeSantis, these three men remained firm. Because of their stubbornness, this information is available for you to read in this annual report.
So the city manager's office said it would give them what they really had asked for. What it provided is what's in the printed report under formats provided by new Executive Manager Kevin Rogan.
Why is it important? Because these are the statistics which lay it down on the table in terms of how independent the CPRC is from both the department and most importantly, in terms of how the city manager's office views it. Read the current statistics and as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
Having this information in the public report is another reason why watching DeSantis leaning forward and nearly falling out of his chair in laughter while Councilman Frank Schiavone made his comments last week about my ethics or apparent lack of them is a funny sight more than anything else to see a management level city employee behaving in that fashion. His behavior was actually less surprising than Schiavone's had been. It's kind of difficult to miss the only person in the room who showed any response to what Schiavone said, minus several women standing in the back who laughed.
If you fight for independent civilian review in this town, then it's a safe bet that you're probably not going to end up on the city manager office's Christmas card list.
More revelations came out including the working relationship between the Eastside Think Tank, which is comprised of community leaders, city employees and police officers, and the police department which leaves the CPRC out of the process entirely while at the same time believing it's serving as an effective oversight mechanism. To one former commissioner, this shouldn't be a surprise as it was one of the reasons he or she resigned.
(excerpt)
Woodie Rucker-Hughes, the local NAACP president and Eastside Think Tank board member, said the numbers demonstrate that the commission is successfully serving an oversight role.
Yet she's concerned about the number of complaints.
None were filed in typically high-complaint areas, such as the Eastside and Arlington.
The Arlington Heights neighborhood does not usually have many complaints, but several were filed in 2006.
Rucker-Hughes said that in the Eastside, some residents fear retaliation and others are unfamiliar with the process.
The Eastside Think Tank, an organization of community residents, has worked with the police to handle complaints directly instead of going through the commission process.
"If a problem came up, we were able to call them to get answers or get help," she said.
Yet like Rucker-Hughes said, there's still people out there who don't have faith in the complaint process and then some of them haven't heard of it at all, perhaps fallout from the city manager's decision to ban former executive director, Pedro Payne from attending community meetings in the autumn of 2006. If you look at the monthly reports here, you'll see for yourself that outreach in this neighborhood has been scant since last year.
The CPRC has announced that with its new Public Outreach Chair Chani Beeman, there will be more attendance and outreach by the CPRC at meetings. Hopefully, the CPRC can also address the issue of retaliation that has led people in the Eastside to not file complaints through the CPRC.
At a recent community forum, CPRC complaint forms were brought in two languages and by the end of the meeting, they were all gone.
Where they'll end up remains to be seen, perhaps in the upcoming year's annual report.
Riverside city councilmen, Mike Gardner and William "Rusty" Bailey have have worked out a trade on committee assignments where Gardner will go to the finance committee and Bailey will serve on the Community Services and Youth Committee. This issue had been brought up at last week's city council meeting after Mayor Ron Loveridge and Schiavone presented their list of committee assignments. Perhaps, Loveridge found a way to take the role of assigning chairs that the voters nixed to give him in 2004, showing once again that he's the shrewdest person on the dais.
One thing I already respect about Bailey, is that he doesn't fall apart when he's put on the spot. I had a good conversation with him afterward about committee assignments. On that note alone, the novice has already proven that he has something that he could treat the veterans on the dais. It's good to see that he did get a spot that he really did want on Community Services and Youth. Actually, Gardner does come onto the Finance Committee with some experience in that area.
On page 3 of the above link, are the current assignments for all the standing committees.
With 2008 on the horizon, several of the city's bargaining units are thinking about exercising their options to reopen negotiations on their contracts at the two-year mark. So far, the Fire Fighters' Association and possibly, the SEIU's General Unit are thinking about their options. On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the city council will be voting through the consent calendar on a resolution impacting the SEIU Local 721-Refuse Unit. On page three of this link, begins the current MOU between the city and this bargaining unit.
This item involves a resolution on salary and fringe benefits, raising the minimum wage level to federal and state mandates and authorizing City Manager Brad Hudson to execute the MOU.
So far, the city hasn't been receptive to wanting to raise salaries of city employees, allegedly claiming that there is no money to do so to one bargaining unit so far. While there is probably millions left to spend on Riverside Renaissance's high-end development projects, there may be issues involving paying for those who will provide services for the onslaught of people migrating to this city through annexations and emigration from neighboring counties.
As stated earlier, reports of the cutting of overtime pay in several city departments including possibly those related to public safety. It's not uncommon that you hear that they were going to provide this level of staffing, but due to overtime cuts, well you get the picture.
The police department for example is currently staffed top to bottom with around 400 sworn positions and several hundred management, supervisory and support positions in the civilian ranks. Last year, saw positions temporarily frozen on the civilian side of the police department after there were departures and those vacancies simply remained unfilled. This led to alleged delays in calling in police reports over the phone and other customer service functions.
Expected to be impacted like they will by the state's budget crisis, is those in the poorer communities in terms of economic status. Most of the state's cuts will be hitting education and health, areas of life where those of lower income will be disproportionately impacted as well as men, women and children of color.
Of course, along with the collapse of the housing market comes a decrease in the amount of construction in the Inland Empire including Riverside.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Residential construction in Riverside and San Bernardino counties soared from 21,990 homes in 2000 to a peak of 52,696 in 2004, then fell to an estimated 20,300 homes in 2007, according to the Construction Research Industry Board, which tracks building permits.
Husing said home construction is the most important sector of the Inland economy because it drives growth in population and income and fuels expansion of services to newcomers, from grocery stores and dry cleaners to banks, schools and government.
In addition, he said, home construction and sales have directly supported builders, subcontractors, manufacturers of construction materials, mortgage and escrow companies, and furniture stores -- all of which cut jobs in a housing downturn.
The UCLA economic forecast predicts that the U.S. and California economies will slow significantly next year, but it concludes that the failure of the housing industry alone would not shed enough jobs to cause a national or statewide recession. But UCLA economists agreed with Husing that the Inland area could get hit harder than other parts of California.
Husing said he believes Inland Southern California could experience a recession, even if the state and nation don't, because it also faces a potential reduction in goods coming through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Those goods feed the Inland region's huge trucking, warehousing and distribution network.
The fact that probably everyone saw this coming except perhaps the city council that pushed Riverside Renaissance so hard the last year or so could be one reason why the dais looks so different now. But even City Manager Brad Hudson made comments that city tax receipts were down last year when presenting the 2007-08 fiscal budget to the city council.
Don't expect to see Riverside Renaissance even slow down unless there are enough votes on the city council to change its pace to a more sensible one. Too many developers already have too much invested in this city. Which is one reason why the election was so acrimonious.
Expect to see cuts first in city services. Why? Because some have said that money may have been already taken from some of these areas to finance the Riverside Renaissance train. Overtime to employees filling shifts that otherwise wouldn't be filled has already been cut.
The downturn of the housing market has left the state in the midst of a fiscal emergency according to the Associated Press.
(excerpt)
The emergency will likely mean cuts to schools, colleges, prisons and aid programs for the poor, elderly, and out-of-work that have already spent nearly half their promised funding for the year.
Schwarzenegger said he would issue the declaration next month, triggering a special session and a constitutional mandate for the Legislature to rip open the current budget and either cut costs or increase taxes within 45 days.
The announcement comes as the state's budget outlook has deteriorated significantly, but before the full effect of the housing market crash and credit crisis can be calculated.
Last month, the state's nonpartisan fiscal analyst predicted that falling employment in housing-related sectors and a drop in sales and property taxes could cause California's deficit to hit $10 billion over the next year-and-a-half. Schwarzenegger, whose staff has been busy readying his budget proposal to be presented in January, said Friday the budget hole could be $10 billion to $14 billion.
In Columbia, the march towards civilian review continues onward, according to the Columbia Tribune. The police department's internal affairs department is currently being evaluated by a hired consultant.
(excerpt)
The idea of civilian oversight arose after some residents thought complaints against the police department weren’t properly addressed. Thompson led a consulting group earlier this year that studied the department’s internal affairs procedures and gave recommendations on updating them.
Thompson said it’s up to the group to decide what is needed for its city and that’s how it should form its recommendation.
"The first thing you need to do is decide why you need a civilian review board and what are you asking it to do," Thompson said. "There are many different kinds of boards; if you decide to go with a board, you should design one to fit whatever needs you’re addressing."
Thompson said he sees the primary function of a civilian review board as improving the relationship between residents and police because it improves communication between the two while also reassuring people complaints against the department will not go unheeded. Thompson said the civilian review board also should be a proactive entity that helps improve and strengthen the police department’s professional standards, which is the department’s internal process that regulates police conduct.
"It’s clear in my mind, but I think a civilian review board is complementary to and not in lieu of a professional standards unit in the department," committee member Chris Egbert said.
In Frederick County, the NAACP is circulating a petition to ban the use of tasers by law enforcement according to WTOP News. A 20-year-old man died in police custody after being tased in recent months.
(excerpt)
During a news conference last week, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said deputies will continue to carry Tasers, despite the NAACP's suggestion they might be misused.
Guy Djoken, president of the Frederick branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he recently sent a letter to authorities at the Department of Justice and the Maryland Attorney General's Office requesting an investigation.
The petition shows people outside the NAACP are also concerned, Djoken said. "We strongly believe an individual investigation is going to bring out sufficient information."
Djoken hopes the petition will move the organization's request for a federal investigation forward and create momentum to stop the sheriff's office from using Tasers.
The petition became available on the organization's website Thursday, he said. By Monday, more than 100 people had signed it.
Testifying before the Will County Grand Jury, is former Bolingbrook Police Department Sgt. Drew Peterson's son, according to the Chicago Tribune. It's at least the second time he's been called to testify before the jury which is probing the mysterious disappearance of Peterson's wife, Stacey, who hasn't been seen since Oct. 28.
(excerpt)
Stephen Peterson, 28, an Oak Brook police officer, arrived in uniform Thursday morning at the Will County Court Building Annex, where the grand jury meets. About three hours later, he left the building and drove off in his marked squad car.
The special grand jury convened in November to investigate the Oct. 28 disappearance of Drew Peterson's wife, Stacy, 23, and the 2004 drowning of Peterson's ex-wife Kathleen Savio, whose body was found in her bathtub in Bolingbrook. Despite having a gash on her head, Savio was said by an autopsy to have drowned, and a coroner's jury ruled that the death was accidental.
The federal investigators are looking closer at the death of Savio, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Why the interest? Because of the handling of Savio's death which was initially ruled an accident and now is being investigated as a homicide.
(excerpt)
The feds' interest in Savio's death comes as Will County officials are reviewing the 2004 coroner jury's conclusion in the case. Savio's body was removed from a Hillside grave, but the results of a new autopsy have not yet been made public.
State and local officials are facing criticism from Savio's family, who question why investigators for years largely ignored their suspicion that Savio was murdered. In mid-November, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow acknowledged what the Savios long suspected.
"There are strong indications (Savio's) death was a homicide," Glasgow said.
At the time, Glasgow said more forensic testing was needed to determine whether the drowning was staged. Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil added that certain "aspects" of the Savio case raise concerns. He said her death should have been ruled, at the very least, "undetermined" but that he was bound by the coroner jury's ruling of accidental.
Savio's family is determined that justice will be served.
Vistors this week include the following.
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
Office of California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
Office of California State Senate
Goodrich Corporation
Perris Unified High School District
Pfizer
University of California, Riverside
Lewis Operating Corp.
Embarq Corporation
SEIU United Healthcare Workers- West
Coreix Ltd (London)
Rock Creek Corporation
Top Five ISPs by percentage
Charter Communications 19.8%
AOL 9.6%
IP number only 15.6%
SBCGlobelnet 8.6%
Riversideca.gov 8.3%
Copies of the report which was originally supposed to be released in March 2006 are available on the sixth floor of City Hall. The CPRC has yet to present its report in an oral format to the city council. Hopefully, not too long, it will also be available online here.
The article cited concerns about the process of civilian review in Riverside, most notably the disparity of findings between the city, the police department and the CPRC. Not to mention the nearly identical percentages assigned to the city manager's office, which makes the final decision on complaints, and the police department. If you've been paying attention for the past 18 months, these statistics shouldn't be so surprising.
(excerpt)
New to the report was a breakdown of rulings by the three investigating parties: the commission, the police and the city.
Of the 175 complaints reviewed, the commission found the officers' actions were out of policy in 13 percent, or 22 of the complaints.
The department ruled an incident was out of policy 8 percent of the time, while the city did so in 9 percent of the cases, according to the report.
As stated in the article, this information is new to the public report and if you want to thank anyone, thank current commissioners, Jack Brewer and John Brandriff and former commissioner, Steve Simpson. It was my idea to include this information but if it weren't for these three commissioners wishing to do like also, it would have never come to pass. These three men remained firm in their resolve to bring this crucial information to the public eye amidst some initial resistance.
Even when Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis tried to tell them what they really wanted, they remained firm. Brandriff in fact, responded that he was interested in the same information that I had requested.
Even when Commissioner and American Medical Response Manager Peter Hubbard, who is fewer steps removed from the city than any other commissioner, tried to back DeSantis, these three men remained firm. Because of their stubbornness, this information is available for you to read in this annual report.
So the city manager's office said it would give them what they really had asked for. What it provided is what's in the printed report under formats provided by new Executive Manager Kevin Rogan.
Why is it important? Because these are the statistics which lay it down on the table in terms of how independent the CPRC is from both the department and most importantly, in terms of how the city manager's office views it. Read the current statistics and as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
Having this information in the public report is another reason why watching DeSantis leaning forward and nearly falling out of his chair in laughter while Councilman Frank Schiavone made his comments last week about my ethics or apparent lack of them is a funny sight more than anything else to see a management level city employee behaving in that fashion. His behavior was actually less surprising than Schiavone's had been. It's kind of difficult to miss the only person in the room who showed any response to what Schiavone said, minus several women standing in the back who laughed.
If you fight for independent civilian review in this town, then it's a safe bet that you're probably not going to end up on the city manager office's Christmas card list.
More revelations came out including the working relationship between the Eastside Think Tank, which is comprised of community leaders, city employees and police officers, and the police department which leaves the CPRC out of the process entirely while at the same time believing it's serving as an effective oversight mechanism. To one former commissioner, this shouldn't be a surprise as it was one of the reasons he or she resigned.
(excerpt)
Woodie Rucker-Hughes, the local NAACP president and Eastside Think Tank board member, said the numbers demonstrate that the commission is successfully serving an oversight role.
Yet she's concerned about the number of complaints.
None were filed in typically high-complaint areas, such as the Eastside and Arlington.
The Arlington Heights neighborhood does not usually have many complaints, but several were filed in 2006.
Rucker-Hughes said that in the Eastside, some residents fear retaliation and others are unfamiliar with the process.
The Eastside Think Tank, an organization of community residents, has worked with the police to handle complaints directly instead of going through the commission process.
"If a problem came up, we were able to call them to get answers or get help," she said.
Yet like Rucker-Hughes said, there's still people out there who don't have faith in the complaint process and then some of them haven't heard of it at all, perhaps fallout from the city manager's decision to ban former executive director, Pedro Payne from attending community meetings in the autumn of 2006. If you look at the monthly reports here, you'll see for yourself that outreach in this neighborhood has been scant since last year.
The CPRC has announced that with its new Public Outreach Chair Chani Beeman, there will be more attendance and outreach by the CPRC at meetings. Hopefully, the CPRC can also address the issue of retaliation that has led people in the Eastside to not file complaints through the CPRC.
At a recent community forum, CPRC complaint forms were brought in two languages and by the end of the meeting, they were all gone.
Where they'll end up remains to be seen, perhaps in the upcoming year's annual report.
Riverside city councilmen, Mike Gardner and William "Rusty" Bailey have have worked out a trade on committee assignments where Gardner will go to the finance committee and Bailey will serve on the Community Services and Youth Committee. This issue had been brought up at last week's city council meeting after Mayor Ron Loveridge and Schiavone presented their list of committee assignments. Perhaps, Loveridge found a way to take the role of assigning chairs that the voters nixed to give him in 2004, showing once again that he's the shrewdest person on the dais.
One thing I already respect about Bailey, is that he doesn't fall apart when he's put on the spot. I had a good conversation with him afterward about committee assignments. On that note alone, the novice has already proven that he has something that he could treat the veterans on the dais. It's good to see that he did get a spot that he really did want on Community Services and Youth. Actually, Gardner does come onto the Finance Committee with some experience in that area.
On page 3 of the above link, are the current assignments for all the standing committees.
With 2008 on the horizon, several of the city's bargaining units are thinking about exercising their options to reopen negotiations on their contracts at the two-year mark. So far, the Fire Fighters' Association and possibly, the SEIU's General Unit are thinking about their options. On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the city council will be voting through the consent calendar on a resolution impacting the SEIU Local 721-Refuse Unit. On page three of this link, begins the current MOU between the city and this bargaining unit.
This item involves a resolution on salary and fringe benefits, raising the minimum wage level to federal and state mandates and authorizing City Manager Brad Hudson to execute the MOU.
So far, the city hasn't been receptive to wanting to raise salaries of city employees, allegedly claiming that there is no money to do so to one bargaining unit so far. While there is probably millions left to spend on Riverside Renaissance's high-end development projects, there may be issues involving paying for those who will provide services for the onslaught of people migrating to this city through annexations and emigration from neighboring counties.
As stated earlier, reports of the cutting of overtime pay in several city departments including possibly those related to public safety. It's not uncommon that you hear that they were going to provide this level of staffing, but due to overtime cuts, well you get the picture.
The police department for example is currently staffed top to bottom with around 400 sworn positions and several hundred management, supervisory and support positions in the civilian ranks. Last year, saw positions temporarily frozen on the civilian side of the police department after there were departures and those vacancies simply remained unfilled. This led to alleged delays in calling in police reports over the phone and other customer service functions.
Expected to be impacted like they will by the state's budget crisis, is those in the poorer communities in terms of economic status. Most of the state's cuts will be hitting education and health, areas of life where those of lower income will be disproportionately impacted as well as men, women and children of color.
Of course, along with the collapse of the housing market comes a decrease in the amount of construction in the Inland Empire including Riverside.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Residential construction in Riverside and San Bernardino counties soared from 21,990 homes in 2000 to a peak of 52,696 in 2004, then fell to an estimated 20,300 homes in 2007, according to the Construction Research Industry Board, which tracks building permits.
Husing said home construction is the most important sector of the Inland economy because it drives growth in population and income and fuels expansion of services to newcomers, from grocery stores and dry cleaners to banks, schools and government.
In addition, he said, home construction and sales have directly supported builders, subcontractors, manufacturers of construction materials, mortgage and escrow companies, and furniture stores -- all of which cut jobs in a housing downturn.
The UCLA economic forecast predicts that the U.S. and California economies will slow significantly next year, but it concludes that the failure of the housing industry alone would not shed enough jobs to cause a national or statewide recession. But UCLA economists agreed with Husing that the Inland area could get hit harder than other parts of California.
Husing said he believes Inland Southern California could experience a recession, even if the state and nation don't, because it also faces a potential reduction in goods coming through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Those goods feed the Inland region's huge trucking, warehousing and distribution network.
The fact that probably everyone saw this coming except perhaps the city council that pushed Riverside Renaissance so hard the last year or so could be one reason why the dais looks so different now. But even City Manager Brad Hudson made comments that city tax receipts were down last year when presenting the 2007-08 fiscal budget to the city council.
Don't expect to see Riverside Renaissance even slow down unless there are enough votes on the city council to change its pace to a more sensible one. Too many developers already have too much invested in this city. Which is one reason why the election was so acrimonious.
Expect to see cuts first in city services. Why? Because some have said that money may have been already taken from some of these areas to finance the Riverside Renaissance train. Overtime to employees filling shifts that otherwise wouldn't be filled has already been cut.
The downturn of the housing market has left the state in the midst of a fiscal emergency according to the Associated Press.
(excerpt)
The emergency will likely mean cuts to schools, colleges, prisons and aid programs for the poor, elderly, and out-of-work that have already spent nearly half their promised funding for the year.
Schwarzenegger said he would issue the declaration next month, triggering a special session and a constitutional mandate for the Legislature to rip open the current budget and either cut costs or increase taxes within 45 days.
The announcement comes as the state's budget outlook has deteriorated significantly, but before the full effect of the housing market crash and credit crisis can be calculated.
Last month, the state's nonpartisan fiscal analyst predicted that falling employment in housing-related sectors and a drop in sales and property taxes could cause California's deficit to hit $10 billion over the next year-and-a-half. Schwarzenegger, whose staff has been busy readying his budget proposal to be presented in January, said Friday the budget hole could be $10 billion to $14 billion.
In Columbia, the march towards civilian review continues onward, according to the Columbia Tribune. The police department's internal affairs department is currently being evaluated by a hired consultant.
(excerpt)
The idea of civilian oversight arose after some residents thought complaints against the police department weren’t properly addressed. Thompson led a consulting group earlier this year that studied the department’s internal affairs procedures and gave recommendations on updating them.
Thompson said it’s up to the group to decide what is needed for its city and that’s how it should form its recommendation.
"The first thing you need to do is decide why you need a civilian review board and what are you asking it to do," Thompson said. "There are many different kinds of boards; if you decide to go with a board, you should design one to fit whatever needs you’re addressing."
Thompson said he sees the primary function of a civilian review board as improving the relationship between residents and police because it improves communication between the two while also reassuring people complaints against the department will not go unheeded. Thompson said the civilian review board also should be a proactive entity that helps improve and strengthen the police department’s professional standards, which is the department’s internal process that regulates police conduct.
"It’s clear in my mind, but I think a civilian review board is complementary to and not in lieu of a professional standards unit in the department," committee member Chris Egbert said.
In Frederick County, the NAACP is circulating a petition to ban the use of tasers by law enforcement according to WTOP News. A 20-year-old man died in police custody after being tased in recent months.
(excerpt)
During a news conference last week, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said deputies will continue to carry Tasers, despite the NAACP's suggestion they might be misused.
Guy Djoken, president of the Frederick branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he recently sent a letter to authorities at the Department of Justice and the Maryland Attorney General's Office requesting an investigation.
The petition shows people outside the NAACP are also concerned, Djoken said. "We strongly believe an individual investigation is going to bring out sufficient information."
Djoken hopes the petition will move the organization's request for a federal investigation forward and create momentum to stop the sheriff's office from using Tasers.
The petition became available on the organization's website Thursday, he said. By Monday, more than 100 people had signed it.
Testifying before the Will County Grand Jury, is former Bolingbrook Police Department Sgt. Drew Peterson's son, according to the Chicago Tribune. It's at least the second time he's been called to testify before the jury which is probing the mysterious disappearance of Peterson's wife, Stacey, who hasn't been seen since Oct. 28.
(excerpt)
Stephen Peterson, 28, an Oak Brook police officer, arrived in uniform Thursday morning at the Will County Court Building Annex, where the grand jury meets. About three hours later, he left the building and drove off in his marked squad car.
The special grand jury convened in November to investigate the Oct. 28 disappearance of Drew Peterson's wife, Stacy, 23, and the 2004 drowning of Peterson's ex-wife Kathleen Savio, whose body was found in her bathtub in Bolingbrook. Despite having a gash on her head, Savio was said by an autopsy to have drowned, and a coroner's jury ruled that the death was accidental.
The federal investigators are looking closer at the death of Savio, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Why the interest? Because of the handling of Savio's death which was initially ruled an accident and now is being investigated as a homicide.
(excerpt)
The feds' interest in Savio's death comes as Will County officials are reviewing the 2004 coroner jury's conclusion in the case. Savio's body was removed from a Hillside grave, but the results of a new autopsy have not yet been made public.
State and local officials are facing criticism from Savio's family, who question why investigators for years largely ignored their suspicion that Savio was murdered. In mid-November, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow acknowledged what the Savios long suspected.
"There are strong indications (Savio's) death was a homicide," Glasgow said.
At the time, Glasgow said more forensic testing was needed to determine whether the drowning was staged. Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil added that certain "aspects" of the Savio case raise concerns. He said her death should have been ruled, at the very least, "undetermined" but that he was bound by the coroner jury's ruling of accidental.
Savio's family is determined that justice will be served.
Vistors this week include the following.
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
Office of California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
Office of California State Senate
Goodrich Corporation
Perris Unified High School District
Pfizer
University of California, Riverside
Lewis Operating Corp.
Embarq Corporation
SEIU United Healthcare Workers- West
Coreix Ltd (London)
Rock Creek Corporation
Top Five ISPs by percentage
Charter Communications 19.8%
AOL 9.6%
IP number only 15.6%
SBCGlobelnet 8.6%
Riversideca.gov 8.3%
Labels: battering while blue, City Hall 101, civilian review spreads, labor pains, public forums in all places
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