BELIEVABILITY: A CASE OF DIVERSITY IN LAW ENFORCEMENTEgidio A. DiodatiAssumption CollegeHere I sit, waiting to see the Chief. Waiting to see if any of those jerks are going to get what is coming tothem and waiting to see just what is my fate. When this started, I was pretty much all I wanted to beauniformed patrol officer on a city police department. Now I am facing the possibility of disciplinaryaction.My name is Janet Cruz and I am a 24-year-old Hispanic woman, who grew up like a lot of others in thiscity. My neighborhood was pretty diverse but I cant say that I ever felt any outright hostility to mepersonally. When I was in high school, my mom would say, Stay with your own kind, when she did notlike someone I was dating or hanging out with. You know, I dated just about anybody I wanted and itworked out or it didnt. To me most people are just people.In my high school, they had this junior police cadet program, and I knew once I saw it that being a copwas for me. Maybe it was the uniform, or the drilling, or taking care of each otherbut as far as I wasconcerned, it was all good. After high school, I joined the National Guard to pay for college. There was noway mom could afford that. I made sure that I was in a military police unit. The state university had acampus in the city with a major in Criminal Justice. So, I enrolled there. It was nearby and I could livewith my mom to save money.All of these exposures to the police business left me with some valuable beliefs. First of all, this is a jobabout doing the right thing and helping people. Second, officers did not just work together; it was closerthan that. It was a family that took care of each otheror at least I thought it was that way.It really thrilled me that I had scored highly enough on the competitive entrance examination and got anappointment to the Academy the very first time I took the examination. When the academy started, thefollowing weeks of training seemed to affirm much of what I had felt about police work with oneexception. One of the sessions at the academy was given by someone who was not on the instructionalstaff, the Union Chief Steward. Although he was in the uniform of a patrol officer, he was sterner, older,heavier, and generally less neatly dressed than the other instructors.The class was told that the union represented the brotherhood of officers (collectively and individually) tothe command staff made up of superior officers. He said, Our job is to represent all officers fairly,equally, and to the best of our ability. I think that unfortunately I may have placed too much faith in thatstatement.After I finished my probationary period, I think I began to fit pretty well into the ranks. Sure, lots of guyscame on to me, but Im grown up and I dealt with it. I got to know Jack MacKenzie while working inPrecinct Three, a tough section known as the mile. He was a patrol officer and the steward of theprecinct union local: everybody seemed to like him. We began to date. You know, I actually thought thathe was a very funny guy and he told me that I was cute. It worked for a while at least. It took me aboutthree months to figure out that he was just too high maintenance. He wanted me to move in but when wespent too much time in his apartment, I noticed that it was all about him, his accomplishments, and hisfamily. I never got much airtime. It must have been a power thing. Another thing that I noticed was that,after a few drinks, he began to make references to minorities that made me uncomfortable.One night we went out for dinner and I broke up with him. I started with the, Its me not you. thing,since I knew I had to leave room for his precious ego. I finished with the, time apart suggestion. Itseemed to have gone fairly well. A bit later, a couple of guys on my shift mentioned that they had heardhe broke up with me. I did not get into it. It was just not worth it.When a couple of overtime details got canceled, I figured it was just bad luck. The overtime list wasmaintained by the union, and I could have filed a grievance, but it would have meant getting MacKenzieinvolved. When my backup was slower than usual, I chalked it up to a busy night. It occurred to me thatJack might just be behind this stuff, but I figured if I made anything out of it, things would just get worseWell, here I sit 11 months later, at risk of losing my job, and I either see a pattern or am letting myimagination run away with me. Nevertheless, I see Jack MacKenzie as a major part of my recent twist offate. About a month ago, a flyer was put in each officers mail slot by the union and posted on the unionbulletin board. It encouraged all officers to attend a political rally for one of the candidates for governor inthe upcoming election. The union was going to rent a bus, and I could swear it said something aboutrefreshments on the bus. I was going to be available and asked a couple of people if they were going andthey said yes. So, I figured it might be fun.On the day of the rally, my shift ended about 4 P.M. and I had just enough time to get home to shower,before getting back to get on the union bus going to the rally. As usual, I carried my badge and personalservice weapon with me when I left the house. I spotted Paul Wilson, one of the guys from my precinctwho said he was going. We talked for a couple of minutes and walked to the bus. Paul is a great guy witha great family. He is always showing pictures of his wife and kids and is very easygoing. Paul is AfricanAmerican and he helped to found the minority officers association. As we walked toward the bus, Ispotted MacKenzie and two other union shop stewards standing near some coolers at the back entrance tothe bus. The other two guys were named Dalton and Taggert. I had seen them at a union meeting a coupleof months earlier.Paul and I sat near the front, about two seats behind the driver and began to talk with some of the peoplesitting up there. The noise level went up as MacKenzie and company entered through the back door. Heyelled from the back to the driver to, get going. I had seen him with a few drinks in him before, and hedid seem like he had a few in him already. The rally was about a 45-minute drive, and although the noiselevel did go up, it was not bad. I could hear his voice in the back telling jokes and hear people laughing.Because one of the coolers was up near us in the front, I had a couple of beers.After we got to where the rally was and went in, I heard that MacKenzie and couple of guys went acrossthe street to a local pub. The rally went till about 10:30. After that, a group of us (Paul and a couple ofother guys from my precinct) went over to the pub to get a sandwich and a beer. I could see MacKenziegesturing in my direction, with the others around him laughing. About midnight, we all went back to thebus. I sat up near the front again because I was hoping to get some sleep on the way back and because Idid not trust what MacKenzie or his crew might be up to doing.It was getting loud in the back of the bus. They were still drinking. It was then that I began to hear hisvoice mentioning my name. Things like, Yeh, Cruz was my Monica Lewinsky. It got worse but PaulWilson said, Just ignore them. Theyre drunk and theyre just being jerks. The comments continuedwith things like (Im not sure but I think it was MacKenzie who said it.) that he had a cruz missile. Ikept my back to them but Im sure I also heard Taggert and Daltons voices with some comments.You know what was really awful? Nobody spoke up to tell them to back off or that they were out of line. Ireally expected more. Then it got worse. First, one then another of the three would ask for oral sex saying,Hey Monica, how about it? Even though there were two other women on the bus, I just knew that theywere talking to me.After a bit, it quieted down for a while and I thought it was over. I was sitting in a seat on the aisle and Istarted to drift off when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw MacKenzie standing over my rightshoulder exposing himself with his pants open and I think he said something like, You know that I ambetter than Wilson, how about it? Thats when I yelled for the driver to pull over and I got out. I heard acouple of voices tell the driver to, Let the spic bitch go. The bus pulled away and I was left standingthere.Just when I thought that things could not get any worse, a guy jumped out of doorway and said, Howmuch baby? I guess he thought I was a hooker. I tried to walk away and then he pushed me against thebuilding. Thats when I drew my personal service weapon, put him on the ground and started to screamfor help. Pretty soon, the local police came. Would you believe that they drew their weapons, put me onthe ground in cuffs, and then searched me?As I told the local PDs watch commander the story, I could sense two things. First, he did not seem tobelieve me. Second, he was getting angrier by the minute. So, he says, I guess its not againstprocedure in your department to drink while carrying your personal service weapon. Obviously, it was. Itwas then that I said, Look, that son of a bitch MacKenzie is lucky that I didnt shoot him.About a half hour later, he came back to tell me, O.K. honey, here is what we all have agreed to and youreally dont have much say in it. So, listen up. We have agreed not looking at charges here in ourjurisdiction. We are going to let your own department deal with you. You will be transported back to yourdepartments headquarters building. There you will be turned over to your own Internal Affairs people,who are just waiting with baited breath to speak with you.The ride back was not bad until it hit me that my riding in back made me look like a criminal. Lt. Bruce,head of IAB, met me and brought me directly to an interrogation room and left me alone. The wallopposite where I was sitting had a good-size mirror. I wondered who was on the other side. It wasntfeeling much like family now. God, I was tired, angry, and damn near tears.Deputy Chief Miceli, a gruff and physically intimidating individual, entered the room and immediatelybegan with some of his famous up close and personal straight talkwith none of the expletives deleted.He was clear that the Chief was going to end my career if I was not forthcoming with the IABinvestigators. But, you know what, he just might do it anyway so the old boys in the department couldcover their collective behinds. He then took my badge and gun and told me that I was suspended pendinginvestigation. As he left, he wordlessly passed Lt. Bruce who was coming into the room.Waiving his finger just inches from my face, he began, Look Cruz, youre in some pretty deep trouble.Just because the other department is not filing criminal charges, it doesnt mean that this thing is over. Farfrom it, honey! Do you understand me? I want the whole story, right from the start. If I even think thatyou have left something out, you are going to be leaving this room in cuffs. Understand? You can ask foryour union representative, but something tells me that they are probably not coming out from under therock for you. You can ask for a lawyer, but we all know what that is going to look like, dont we? Heceremoniously pushed the button on the tape recorder and said, O.K. honey, take it from the top.So, I went on to give Lt. Bruce chapter and verse on how it had happened. The interview was punctuatedwith a couple of questions that did not make me feel all that comfortable. How much did you have todrink? Are you aware of the policy on off duty drinking while carrying personal firearms? Did you doanything to encourage this behavior? I was ordered to have no contact with anyone on the bus untilfurther notice and to go home until further notified. The next day, I did hear through the rumor mill thatMacKenzie, Taggert, and Dalton had also been suspended but that the union was making real fuss aboutit, threatening a no confidence vote in the Chief.About a week later I was summoned to a meeting in the Chiefs office. At the head of the table was theChief, with Lt. Bruce on his right, and Miceli took the seat to his left. The Chief began, Cruz, have aseat. MacKenzie claims that this is all made up by you because you are upset that he broke up with you.Im not sure how much credibility to place in that statement. The results of the internal affairsinvestigation were severely hamstrung by the union. They would not provide a list of members on the busand told all members not to give any information to us. They are telling the rank and file that we are justtrying to break the union to put us in a good position for the upcoming contract negotiations. We aregoing to place a lot of weight on your statement. You are being returned to duty after a three-day loss ofpay for conduct unbecoming an officer because you admitted to drinking when armed. MacKenzie isbeing terminated. Taggert and Dalton will be suspended without pay for three months. You should knowthat the union will probably grieve this and perhaps bring it to the state review board and they can act onit, if they see fit, including reversing it. Now that, I thought, was a fair result.Now here I sit, waiting outside the Chiefs office yet one more time. The union hired a law firm andbrought the whole case to the state review board, and they have apparently made a ruling. After the dooropens, again I find myself sitting opposite the Chief, Deputy Miceli, and Lt. Bruce. The Chief does notlook happy but begins, The state review board has come up with a finding after reviewing our reportsand recommendations and looking at sworn statements provided by a number of officers who say thatthey were on the bus that night. The finding is that, although no one actually says MacKenzie exposedhimself to you, he was abusive to you. They have upheld his termination. There was not enough evidenceto support the suspensions of Taggert and Dalton, so their suspensions have been reversed with back pay.Several of the statements indicate that they saw you in several exchanges with one or more people in theback of the bus. That is in direct contradiction with your sworn statement. The review board finds thatyou have lied on a sworn statement and should be held responsible. As a result, you are being suspendedfor a month without pay. In addition, it might be a good idea if you were reassigned. We are sending youto be a school safety officer for a while.Project Questions1. Describe the corporate culture of this police department as you see it.2. Was Janet Cruz treated fairly? Why or why not? Here you should think about how Janet Cruz seeshere situation and how others might see her situation.3. Given your knowledge of the case what recommendations would you have given to Janet Cruz whenshe entered the Police Force?4. Given the state of affairs at the end of the case, what recommendation would you make to Janet Cruzregarding her future course of action? Why?5. So the police force has been directed to increase the diversity of its workforce and you have beenhired to assist in this transition. What are some of the ways that you can help them reach their goals?*These are not essay questions! You can reply in point form if you so desire. But you will need to provideevidence to support your response.BELIEVABILITY: ACASE OFDIVERSITYINLAWENFORCEMENT