ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997 TAG: 9702280050
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
The Pulaski Police Department is the target of a petition drive alleging violations of constitutional rights and use of excessive force by police officers.
The drive has prompted a denial by the police chief and support for the department from the town's mayor.
Carl Allison, a local contractor, started the petition drive several months ago and said he is ready to turn it over to the Town Council to request the body investigate the Police Department and its chief.
Allison acknowledged that his two grown sons have had numerous confrontations with the police in the past, but said that had no effect on his decision to start the petition drive. Instead, Allison and his son, Scott, said the petition was spurred by an incident where police responded to a domestic call at the elder Allison's home. When police arrived, Scott Allison said, there was no problem at the house, but the officers refused to leave. That's when Scott Allison said officers chased him through the house and beat him.
The petition initially drew about 120 signatures, but after a story ran in a local newspaper listing his phone number, several more people added their names to the list, Allison said.
Pulaski Police Chief Herb Cooley said he realizes there is a perception among some citizens that the police are treating people unfairly. But Cooley said it is the officers who are being characterized unfairly. He said he investigated Scott Allison's complaint, for instance, and determined it was unfounded.
"There seems to be a perception that [anyone] can run around and run stop signs and speed and and an officer shouldn't bother [him]," Cooley said. "That's what we're seeing."
Cooley said the police are simply doing their job and some citizens are quick to call it harassment. He said one woman, who was stopped for a traffic violation, recently followed it up by getting a copy of the petition and circulating it at her office.
The officer had given the woman a warning ticket, Cooley said.
Mayor John Johnston, a 30-year resident, said today's Police Department is one of the best the town has ever had.
"The police are forever trying to build goodwill," he said. He noted that six to eight new programs that reach out to senior citizens and young people have been started in the last year alone.
Johnston said the council will address the petition if Allison brings it to them, but he has yet to do so. Johnston said he is sure some members of the public may believe they received a ticket when they shouldn't have, but the Police Department has an extensive process to investigate complaints against officers and "they are not going to keep anyone" who does not work well with the public.
In fact, several of the people who signed the petition, when contacted by The Roanoke Times, admitted they either had not had personal problems with the police or had received only warnings or speeding tickets.
Those types of complaints pale in comparison to the wording of the petition they signed: "We believe that Pulaski Police Officers often violate the constitutional rights of citizens, use excessive and illegal force and exhibit a lack of respect for the citizens they serve. The many complaints made to the Pulaski Police Department often do not appear to be investigated."
David Saunders, a lifelong resident, said the police stop him without cause at night and they always ask him if he has been drinking. Saunders said eight to 10 years ago he got two drunken driving convictions when he was "going through a rough time" and a divorce. The questions officers ask him today are harassment, he said.
"It seems like you can't drive around at night without them pulling you over," he said.
The specific times Saunders could remember being pulled over included one time when he was speeding and one time when the taillights were out on his truck.
He said he did want the police to stop him if his lights are out for safety reasons and in that instance he and the officer found a loose fuse, fixed it and he was on his way - without a ticket.
Juanita Taylor signed the petition because "of the way they done me," she said.
Taylor said she was fired after five years as a police dispatcher after she told a drug informant to quit working with the drug task force. Taylor said the woman had called repeatedly and officers were not returning her calls. The woman told Taylor she had been threatened and seemed hysterical on the phone, she said.
"I told her 'I would get out,'" Taylor said.
That comment led to Taylor's dismissal.
When she was read the petition and that its claim that officers use excessive force, Taylor said she believed that sometimes occurs. She said there are some good officers, "but I do believe they use excessive force." She could not recall an instance where she witnessed an officer using excessive force.
Richard Cook also signed the petition. He said he has had no personal confrontations with the police, but said he witnessed officers entering his son's home without a search warrant. By Cook's account, the officers were looking for his daughter-in-law, whom police suspected of wounding his son.
Watson Cook, who is not related, signed the petition after a man "pushed it on us" at Wade's Supermarket, he said.
He admitted he's never had problems with the police.
George Peek - whose correct name and address appeared on the petition - said he had not signed it.
Carl Allison agreed the people whose complaints did not match the petition's purpose should not have signed it. He said his goal was just to get the police to work with people instead of against them.
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