Page 27 - bon-dia-aruba-20201006

A27
u.s. news Diamars 6 OctOber 2020

Police chief, city official plead guilty in hiring scam

(AP) — Two former offi- the questions to the oral por-
cials of Connecticut's largest tion of the police chief exam
city pleaded guilty Monday and the scoring guide to the
to federal charges stemming written part, to Perez and tai-
from what prosecutors called lored the scoring criteria for
a corrupt process that led to that exam in Perez's favor.
the police chief's appoint- Perez had two police officers
ment in 2018. secretly take the written por-
Former Bridgeport Police tion of the exam for him, in-
Chief Armando "A.J." Perez vestigators said.
and the city's former acting Perez also asked an officer to
personnel director, David write answers to the oral ex-
Dunn, face up to two years amination questions provid-
in prison under plea deals ed by Dunn, the complaints
approved by U.S. District say. The officer, however,
Judge Kari Dooley in Bridge- was placed on administrative
port. They also agreed to pay leave before he could com-
more than $149,000 apiece in plete the answers, investiga-
restitution to the city. tors said. Perez asked the of-
Perez, 64, admitted to receiv- ficer to sneak into the police
ing confidential information station to get the questions
about the police chief's ex- and answers, but that never
amination stolen by Dunn, happened, the complaints
including the questions for said.
an oral examination and the Dunn instructed officials to
scoring guide for written es- eliminate scoring penalties if
says. He also admitted that the candidates did not have a
he had two officers complete 4 for Perez and Jan. 11 for Perez to be among the three wearing suits and ties, admit- bachelor's degree or did not
his essays, passed the work Dunn. finalists, prosecutors said. ted they committed crimes. live in the city, the complaint
off as his own and lied to fed- Perez talked to reporters after Ganim has not been charged, They answered "yes" when said. Perez was the only ap-
eral authorities in an effort to his court appearance. and there was no mention of the judge asked them if they plicant without a bachelor's
cover up his actions. "I accepted responsibility for him during Monday's court were entering pleas because degree and did not live in
"Plainly put, the defendant what I did," he said. "I apol- hearings. Investigators said they were guilty and wheth- Bridgeport, authorities said.
... and Mr. Dunn corruptly ogized to the good people, Ganim's chief of staff told er they understood the plea Dunn, according to investi-
agreed to perpetrate a scheme people that I served with Dunn the mayor wanted the agreements, the ramifications gators, falsely denied that he
to rig the open and competi- pride and I gave 37 years of police chief test conducted in and their rights. told a member of the panel
tive examination required by my life to them. I am so sor- a professional, fair and timely Dooley said Perez also could ranking the chief candidates
the city's charter in order to ry. I apologize. We're going to manner. face potential deportation be- that the mayor wanted Perez
make sure that Mr. Perez was move on and we're going to Perez and his lawyer, Robert cause of his guilty pleas to the to be among the top three
one of the three examination make this city the best city in Frost Jr., were present in the two felonies. Perez was born candidates.
finalists and thereby eligible the state of Connecticut." courtroom, as were Dunn in Havana and is a natural- Ganim served seven years in
to be named the permanent After Perez was ranked among and his attorney, Frederick ized citizen. prison for corruption related
police chief," federal prosecu- the top three candidates, he Paoletti Jr., for a second hear- Dunn did not talk to the to his first tenure as mayor
tor Jonathan Francis told the was appointed police chief by ing that followed Perez's. media Monday. Paoletti said from 1991 to his resignation
judge. Mayor Joe Ganim. Ganim, Everyone in the courtroom, Dunn was a decent, respect- in 2003. He was convicted of
Perez and Dunn, 73, resigned who has been close to Perez including the judge and staff, ed man who took the "coura- steering city contracts in ex-
from their jobs after being for years, has denied any wore masks under corona- geous step of unequivocally change for private gifts.
arrested last month. Both wrongdoing in connection virus precautions, and the accepting responsibility for He was released in prison
pleaded guilty to conspiracy with the testing process and hearings were available for his mistakes and his con- in 2010 and returned to the
to commit wire fraud and Perez's appointment. public viewing via video con- duct." mayor's office in 2015 after
making false statements to Dunn, however, told one of ference. According to the criminal apologizing and asking resi-
federal investigators. Sen- the panelists scoring the can- Under questioning by Dool- complaints, Dunn gave con- dents for a second chance.
tencings were set for Jan. didates that Ganim wanted ey, Perez and Dunn, both fidential materials, including

Lawsuit says Omaha Police used excessive force at protests

(AP) — A lawsuit accuses Omaha police of using ready broken out. is more than in the previous seven years combined.
excessive force when they responded to protests "Omaha has always been supportive of free speech In one of the biggest arrests, more than 100 people
against police brutality and racial injustice in Ne- and public demonstrations and will continue to do were detained in downtown Omaha on July 25.
braska's largest city earlier this year. so," Kratz said. "The police make every effort to co- That mass arrest was cited in the lawsuit because
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska operate and protect demonstrators as long as they the protests were peaceful and the people who were
said Monday it would file a federal lawsuit chal- obey the law and police commands." arrested were held in crowded cells at a jail that was
lenging police tactics that included firing pepper On several nights this spring and summer, hun- battling a COVID-19 outbreak. The ACLU said
balls at protesters and making mass arrests during dreds of people gathered in Omaha to protest. The several protesters heard police say the arrests were
the protests in May, June and July. ACLU says the majority of the protests were dem- designed to discourage further protests.
"The answer to protests against police brutality onstrating peacefully although the city also saw Afterward, city prosecutors dismissed most of the
shouldn't be more brutality," said Danielle Con- instances of violence and vandalism during some charges against protesters because of a lack of evi-
rad, executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska. of the protests. On May 30, a protester was killed dence. City officials also changed their policy to
"Omaha Police have put Black Omahans and all during a scuffle with a downtown bar owner after require police officers to use body cameras to get
Omahans calling for justice in the unacceptable a protest involving several thousand people turned pictures of each individual they arrest during pro-
position of deciding between their constitutional chaotic and the windows of the bar and several oth- tests instead of doing mass arrests.
rights and their own health and safety." er nearby businesses were smashed. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight protesters,
Omaha City Attorney Paul Kratz said he believes Police used pepper balls and tear gas as part of their bystanders and a journalist who were at the pro-
police acted properly. Previously, city officials de- effort to disperse the crowds and arrested dozens of tests. The ACLU also argued that the ordinances
fended the arrests made during protests because protesters for failing to leave. The Omaha World- police used to arrest protesters should be thrown
police believed the gatherings had the potential to Herald reports that Omaha police used pepper ball out because they are too broad and they restrict free
become violent and in some cases violence had al- guns 157 times during the first half of 2020, which speech too much.