June 2012
OPD Screws Up Scott Olsen Investigation?
A new report reveals that a department investigator may have compromised the investigation into the shooting of the Marine veteran.
Filings made last week in the court of federal Judge Thelton Henderson reveal that the Oakland Police Department's investigation into which of its officers shot Marine veteran Scott Olsen with a beanbag round on October 25 may have been compromised by the actions of an officer assigned to the case. "It is alleged an OPD investigator compromised the Scott Olson [sic] criminal investigation," the court document reads. "This will require interviews of several members of CID [Criminal Investigations Division] and Tango Teams [tactical teams armed with less-than-lethal munitions] but will not require any extensive analysis of video or other evidence."
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/opd-screws-up-scott-olsen-investigation/Content?oid=3233648
In February 2012, after reviewing video recordings and other police records, private investigator Jacob Crawford and I identified Roche as the officer who threw the flash-bang grenade at Olsen (see "Officer in Scott Olsen Incident Identified?" 2/22/12). Additional reporting later revealed that OPD had prematurely ended its investigation into the Olsen incident and that the department investigators lied to the Alameda District Attorney's Office about it (see, "OPD Screws Up Scott Olsen Investigation," 6/13/12). OPD's conduct elicited concern from former Baltimore Police Commissioner Tom Frazier, whom the city had hired to review OPD's conduct during Occupy Oakland. Frazier determined that department investigators had "compromised" the probe of the Olsen incident.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/why-oakland-cant-fire-bad-cops/Content?oid=4074076
