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Tag: Fraternal Order of Police

  • Former Prince George’s Co. officer claims union stopped her from suing department for retaliation – WTOP News

    Former Prince George’s Co. officer claims union stopped her from suing department for retaliation – WTOP News

    With the goal of clearing her name, former Lt. Sonya Zollicoffer said she is suing the police union and an officer from another department that recommended she be let go.

    Sonya Zollicoffer, a former Prince George’s County police internal affairs officer, says she was essentially forced to retire in 2017.(Courtesy Sonya Zollicoffer)

    A former Prince George’s County police internal affairs officer has filed a federal lawsuit against her union, after she claimed an attorney for the union prevented her from going after the department on her own for what she called “a case of retaliation against her.”

    With the goal of clearing her name, former Lt. Sonya Zollicoffer said she is suing the union and a police officer from another department that recommended she be let go.

    “Let me tell you, I sat in my car plenty of times crying. … Why me?” Zollicoffer told WTOP.

    Zollicoffer, who is Black, claims the case stems from a 2017 investigation she did, during which she recommended charges against two white police officers she believed both profiled and used excessive force on a man during a traffic stop.

    She claimed after her recommendation, the case was reassigned and Zollicoffer was promoted out of the internal affairs division. Once in a new area of the department, Zollicoffer said she discovered the dash camera video evidence she used to support her case against the officers was different.

    “I looked at my own copy, and then I realized seven minutes is missing,” she said.

    At this point, she said, from her new position, she pushed for the original video to be located and it ultimately resulted in her being reprimanded by a panel of officers, demoted and later recommended for dismissal by an officer with another department who investigated her alleged actions.

    The two officers she investigated were later cleared.

    The Prince George’s County Police Department declined to comment on pending litigation, they said in an email to WTOP.

    Zollicoffer said she was essentially forced to retire, to avoid a drop in her pension payouts. In 2018, she began to challenge what happened to her in court.

    While fighting the case, Zollicoffer said she joined a class action discrimination lawsuit against the department by some Black and brown officers, and settling that case resulted in her being unable to file a suit against the department for her matter.

    “That attorney (the union attorney) had a duty to inform her of the rights that she would immediately lose,” said Zollicoffer’s attorney, Jordan Howlette.

    In her lawsuit, Zollicoffer also claimed the union would assign her legal counsel who also represented the two officers she had been investigating.

    “On multiple occasions, Ms. Zollicoffer informed Defendant FOP that she objected to the representation because of the direct conflict,” the lawsuit states.

    WTOP reached out to FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Lodge 89 and it declined to comment on the case.

    Howlette said being unable to go after the department — his hope in this case — if successful, could result in the clearing of Zollicoffer’s name.

    “The entire thing, the entire negative effect on her personnel record, we’re seeking that all be abated and taken out of her personnel records,” he said.

    For Zollicoffer, she said fighting this is about restoring her reputation.

    “I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Zollicoffer said.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • North Dakota police say 1 officer died, 2 injured in shooting that also left suspect dead in Fargo

    North Dakota police say 1 officer died, 2 injured in shooting that also left suspect dead in Fargo

    FARGO, N.D. (AP) — One police officer died and two others were critically injured in a shooting in Fargo, North Dakota, that also killed the suspect on Friday, police said.

    The shooting happened before 3 p.m. on a busy street. Multiple witnesses said a man opened fire on police officers before other officers shot the suspect.

    In a statement late Friday, police said a civilian also was seriously wounded.

    Many questions remain about what led a gunman in Fargo, North Dakota, to open fire on police as they were responding to a traffic crash.

    Police crime tape remained Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Fargo, N.D., near the intersection where one police officer was fatally shot and two others were critically wounded on Friday, July 14. Authorities have said the suspect was also killed in the shooting, and a civilian was injured. (AP Photo/Jack Dura).

    Fargo’s police chief says a gunman opened fire on police and firefighters “for no known reason” as they responded to a traffic crash in North Dakota.

    Police did not provide information about a possible motive or circumstances leading to the shooting. The identities of the slain officers and the suspect were withheld pending notification of their families.

    The Fargo Police Department said the investigation is ongoing.

    “We sincerely are asking for your patience and our community’s patience and understanding as the Fargo Police Department works through this incident,” Gregg Schildberger, Fargo chief communications officer, said Friday evening.

    More details will be released at a press conference scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Fargo City Hall, Schildberger said.

    “This is very difficult on all of us. We are releasing as much information as we can at this point,” Schildberger said. “We appreciate all the messages from the community that have been given to us in support of our officers.”

    Sanford Medical Center Fargo spokesperson Paul Heinert said in an email that the hospital “did receive patients stemming from today’s shooting incident in Fargo.” He said updates on their conditions would come from the Fargo police.

    Police said there was no known threat to the public. But after the shooting, officers converged on a residential area about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away and evacuated residents as they gathered evidence they said was related to the shooting.

    Witnesses reported seeing and hearing gunshots in the area. Shannon Nichole told KFGO Radio she was driving in the area at the time.

    “I saw the traffic stop and as soon as I drove, shots were fired and I saw the cops go down,” Nichole said. “My airbag went off and the bullet went through my driver’s door.”

    A man grabbed her and said they needed to get out of the area, Nichole said.

    Chenoa Peterson said she was driving with her 22-year-old daughter when a man pulled out a gun and began firing at police.

    “He proceeds to aim it and you just hear the bullets go off, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God! He’s shooting,’” she told The Associated Press.

    Peterson’s first instinct was to pull over and try to help, but her daughter convinced her to leave. “It’s weird knowing that if you were 10 seconds earlier you could have been in that,” she said.

    Bo Thi was working alone at a nail salon near where police reported the shooting when she heard what sounded like fireworks or a motorcycle backfiring. She said gunshots didn’t cross her mind at the time.

    Surveillance video provided by Fargo resident Allison Carlson captured the rapid sounds of gunfire.

    North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation was working with federal, state and local law enforcement in response to a “shooting incident” but provided no details of what happened.

    Police and other agencies across the region posted their sympathies for Fargo police on Facebook.

    “Thinking of our brothers and sisters in Fargo,” a post from the South Dakota Fraternal Order of Police said.

    The Glenwood Fire Department in Minnesota posted, “Please keep the blue lights shining to show our support of not only our local law enforcement, but also those affected by todays events!”

    ___

    Ballentine reported from Columbia, Missouri. Associated Press writers Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, and Alina Hartounian in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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