Twin Cities Carry Forum Archive :: View topic - New Market Police: "If you see a black man, stop him...

Quote:

[url=http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/Investigators_Elko_New_Market_Scandal_Uncovered_Lyden_May_17_2009]Investigators: Elko New
Market Scandal
Uncovered[/url]
ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. - Allegations of racial intolerance have been leveled in a small town police department. And for the first time: insights into the officers' mindsets -- from their own emails.

We're talking about the town of Elko New Market. First the council voted to get rid of their police department, and then they reinstated it, now the cops are resigning in protest.

Behind it all are allegations of racial intolerance that began with a picture and ends with an email.

Just thirty minutes south of the twin cities, the small town of Elko New Market has gone from farm fields, to suburban cul-de-sacs.

For many here, it's the worst time to lose their local cops.

The city council voted last month to eliminate its police department, only to reverse its decision, after a public outcry, and reinstate the department two weeks later.

Then on Thursday, three part-time officers, half the police force, suddenly quit in protest.

Some very serious monkey business -- a toy monkey was hung in the back of a squad car. The monkey was there for eight months last year.

Sgt. Steve Malecka, is still on the force, but on administrative leave.

Last October, Malecka was given the medal of valor, for stopping a wrong way drunk driver on the freeway with his squad car.

Malecka claims the monkey was given to him by local school children. But he also put this screen saver on a police department computer, an R-rated take on Dr. Seuss, "Horton Hires a Ho."

But to some on the council, the photos seem to support allegations made by two others cops who resigned from the department, Sgt. Mike Rhedin last year, and rookie James Kicksie back in 2004, who both left they say, because the department was racially intolerant.

The rookie said Malecka even told him the department's unofficial policy was, "if you see a black man stop him. He's either committed a felony, about to commit a felony or simply lost."

Police chief Rick Jensen defended Malecka who's also a close friend. But that outside investigation, conducted by the Lakeville police department, is mostly blacked out, because some of the allegations were not sustained.

The copy the city of Elko New Market provided to FOX 9 even has pages missing.

We know this, because the fox 9 investigators obtained a clean copy. Allegations Sgt. Malecka and Chief Jensen would often make "chimp" sounds over the squad p.a. System. That Malecka referred to black people as "monkeys" or "number twos."

There's also a series of personal emails between chief Jensen and Malecka, in which a then officer malecka tells the chief if he doesn't make him sergeant he might look elsewhere for a job.

The chief responds, "this is as bad as a black man looking for a job!!!!!!!," with seven exclamation points.

We asked the chief to explain. During the internal investigation, the chief said he didn't remember writing the email, but if he did, it was in "poor taste."

The city attorney told council members last week just how difficult it will be to fire a police officer.

Sgt. Malecka, through his attorney, is now threatening to sue the city council for defemation.

There's such fear and loathing, in little Elko New Market. And now no one seems to be talking.

A couple of footnotes to our story: Officer Malecka was never disciplined for having the monkey in the squad car, or any alleged racial comments. But he was reprimanded for the "Horton Hires a Ho" screen saver, and for accessing police files for family members.

As for the city council, they've hired an attorney and an outside consultant to look once again at replacing their local police department with Scott County Deputies, which may very well end up costing more than their current police department.

Author:	Binky .357 [ Sat May 23, 2009 7:18 pm ]
Post subject:	New Market Police: "If you see a black man, stop him...
"...he's either just commited a felony, about to commit a felony, or he's lost." Make sure you take the 5 minutes to watch the video. It tells the story a lot better than mere print on a page. <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="video" width="640" height="520" data="http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/video/videoplayer.swf"><param value="http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/video/videoplayer.swf" name="movie"/><param value="&skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&embed=true&adSrc=&flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxtwincities%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D124913781&img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Emyfoxtwincities%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2009%2F05%2F17%2Felko051709%5F1%5Ftmb0000%5F20090517210522%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxtwincities%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Fminnesota%2FInvestigators%5FElko%5FNew%5FMarket%5FScandal%5FUncovered%5FLyden%5FMay%5F17%5F2009" name="FlashVars"/><param value="all" name="allowNetworking"/><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/></object> Quote: [url=http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/Investigators_Elko_New_Market_Scandal_Uncovered_Lyden_May_17_2009]Investigators: Elko New Market Scandal Uncovered[/url] ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. - Allegations of racial intolerance have been leveled in a small town police department. And for the first time: insights into the officers' mindsets -- from their own emails. We're talking about the town of Elko New Market. First the council voted to get rid of their police department, and then they reinstated it, now the cops are resigning in protest. Behind it all are allegations of racial intolerance that began with a picture and ends with an email. Just thirty minutes south of the twin cities, the small town of Elko New Market has gone from farm fields, to suburban cul-de-sacs. For many here, it's the worst time to lose their local cops. The city council voted last month to eliminate its police department, only to reverse its decision, after a public outcry, and reinstate the department two weeks later. Then on Thursday, three part-time officers, half the police force, suddenly quit in protest. Some very serious monkey business -- a toy monkey was hung in the back of a squad car. The monkey was there for eight months last year. Sgt. Steve Malecka, is still on the force, but on administrative leave. Last October, Malecka was given the medal of valor, for stopping a wrong way drunk driver on the freeway with his squad car. Malecka claims the monkey was given to him by local school children. But he also put this screen saver on a police department computer, an R-rated take on Dr. Seuss, "Horton Hires a Ho." But to some on the council, the photos seem to support allegations made by two others cops who resigned from the department, Sgt. Mike Rhedin last year, and rookie James Kicksie back in 2004, who both left they say, because the department was racially intolerant. *The rookie said Malecka even told him the department's unofficial policy was, "if you see a black man stop him. He's either committed a felony, about to commit a felony or simply lost."* Police chief Rick Jensen defended Malecka who's also a close friend. But that outside investigation, conducted by the Lakeville police department, is mostly blacked out, because some of the allegations were not sustained. The copy the city of Elko New Market provided to FOX 9 even has pages missing. We know this, because the fox 9 investigators obtained a clean copy. Allegations Sgt. Malecka and Chief Jensen would often make "chimp" sounds over the squad p.a. System. That Malecka referred to black people as "monkeys" or "number twos." There's also a series of personal emails between chief Jensen and Malecka, in which a then officer malecka tells the chief if he doesn't make him sergeant he might look elsewhere for a job. The chief responds, "this is as bad as a black man looking for a job!!!!!!!," with seven exclamation points. We asked the chief to explain. During the internal investigation, the chief said he didn't remember writing the email, but if he did, it was in "poor taste." The city attorney told council members last week just how difficult it will be to fire a police officer. Sgt. Malecka, through his attorney, is now threatening to sue the city council for defemation. There's such fear and loathing, in little Elko New Market. And now no one seems to be talking. A couple of footnotes to our story: Officer Malecka was never disciplined for having the monkey in the squad car, or any alleged racial comments. But he was reprimanded for the "Horton Hires a Ho" screen saver, and for accessing police files for family members. As for the city council, they've hired an attorney and an outside consultant to look once again at replacing their local police department with Scott County Deputies, which may very well end up costing more than their current police department. These are the same JBTs that patrol the streets just a couple miles down the road from where I live. Anyone wanna guess why I have such a deep-seated distrust of unmitigated authority? Also to the FOX 9 News investigators: Good job! When more people find out about this corruption, it makes it that much harder for the badged thugs to get away with this kind of thing. Can you look into the New Prague PD next?

Author:	Traveler [ Sat May 23, 2009 7:39 pm ]
Post subject:
Possibly the Elko/New Market officers could get jobs on the Metro Gang Strike Force. Oh, wait -- Never mind.

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