MCKINNEY POLICE HALL OF SHAME

MCKINNEY POLICE HALL OF SHAME
Jun 19, 2007 | 11:53 AM
Category: News

Report This Post MCKINNEY, TEXAS POLICE HALL OF SHAME



IT SURE SEEMS to me that since the hiring of Doug Kowalski in 2000 as McKinney’s Police chief, we’ve seen an on-going pattern of continued corruption and criminal activity within our police department. If I remember correctly, Kowalski was apparently demoted for poor performance within the Dallas police department.

Kowalski was hired around the time as the infamous Dallas Police “pool chalk” scandal in which in which a dozen or so Latinos were framed for cocaine. It turns out, there was no cocaine – it was pool chalk – and an outright proven police frame job.

Kowalski ended up suing Dallas and left the department to become McKinney’s Police Chief. Unfortunately, it appears that our city then “inherited” some similar problems that were uncovered in Dallas; poor management, incompetence and outright criminal activity.

Examples follow below. While reading, note the lack of punishment and “deals” that these bums received for their crimes and incompetence. It is clear that the Collin County DA’s office is in bed with our PD and has forgotten their sworn oath to uphold justice.

Don’t the citizens of McKinney deserve better?



· Officer Joyce VanDertuin – Fatally Shot Innocent Homeowner; June 2001

A 31-year-old home owner was fatally shot in her home Tuesday afternoon by a police officer responding to a burglar alarm. Officer Joyce VanDeruin was investigating the alarm in the 1800 block of Meadow Ranch Road shortly before 1:30 p.m. when she saw a rear patio door ajar, said McKinney police Capt. Robert Dean.

"She called for backup and tried to enter the door," Capt. Dean said. He said the officer told investigators that the door was pushed forcefully back toward her as she tried to move through it.

"The door came back at her," Capt. Dean said, "and the gun discharged."

The bullet went through the door and struck Cathey Howard-Kalimah, who was inside the house. The bullet entered just above the deadbolt on the frame of the door and struck Ms. Howard-Kalimah in the upper chest, police said.

Apparently this officer’s training was so poor that she didn’t know enough keep her finger out of the trigger guard until she had determined the need for and had decided to shoot. An innocent homeowner paid the ultimate price.

· Officer Michael Valleau – Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child; April 2004

A McKinney police officer charged with 4 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child accepted a plea deal with prosecutors and has been placed on probation, according to Collin County court records.

Michael Patrick Valleau, who is also a U.S. Marine, will serve 10 years probation and pay fines for "inappropriate contact" with a 14-year-old female relative.

A grand jury originally indicted Valleau on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The state dismissed the second, third and fourth charges in exchange for the plea bargain.

He was indicted by a grand jury on Oct. 12 on four first- degree felony counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which carries a penalty of up to a life in prison and a fine as high as $10,000, according to the Texas Penal Code.

Valleau was one of two McKinney police officers who resigned from the department following allegations of sexual misconduct involving children in 2004.

· Officer Ian Hasselman – Third Degree Felony Indecency with a Child; June 2004

McKinney police officer Ian Hasselman was accused of exposing himself to his girlfriend in the presence of her 12-year-old daughter in June 2004.

In that incident, a woman reported that Hasselman drove his police cruiser onto the lawn of a children's playground near her apartment in the 700 block of Bumpas Street and began fondling himself within three feet of a woman and her 12-year-old daughter.

Hasselman later resigned from the McKinney Police Department and was arrested.

He was originally arraigned on a third-degree felony charge of indecency with a child, but a grand jury lowered his charge to public lewdness, a Class A misdemeanor. Hasselman signed a plea bargain with Collin County prosecutors last May for which he received 18 months probation, six days in jail (to be served on weekends beginning this week) and an $800 fine.



· Officer Randall Robert Vandertuin – Theft, Evidence Tampering and Extramarital Affairs; August 2004

Three years after a quadruple homicide stunned McKinney, the case remains unsolved with no new suspects. If there were an arrest, some defense attorneys wonder if the prosecution would be hampered by the questionable actions of the lead investigator in the case.

Randall Robert Vandertuin surrendered his peace officer's license in 2005 in exchange for not being prosecuted for taking police evidence to a girlfriend's house, according to court records recently obtained by News 8. Vandertuin also stole property, to include a rifle scope from the police department property/evidence room.

But that coupled with the fact that records show the married man had been reprimanded for having multiple affairs - including one with the officer who oversaw the police evidence room and another with a victim in a case he was working - damaged his credibility as a McKinney Police Department leader.

In a memo recommending termination, Capt. Randy Roland wrote that the affair with the victim "crosses a line of ethical conduct that when exposed will open this department and this city to ethical questioning with each and every case Detective Vandertuin has been involved in."

The Collin County district attorney's office also chose not to pursue charges, instead offering a pre-indictment settlement.

In it, Vandertuin admits to two felony charges of tampering with a governmental record - and agreed to permanently give up his peace officers license.

Assistant Chief Rex Redden admitted that Vandertuin violated the department's policies and likely committed a theft by taking the scope.

"Under the current atmosphere, we've opted not to prosecute," he said in an email. "We just don't need anymore negative publicity."

· Captain Ron Jones - Sexual Harassment; May 2007

McKinney police Capt. Ron Jones, the head of the McKinney Police Department’s patrol division, was placed on a five-day suspension last month after an investigation based on allegations of “violations of the code of conduct,” said Meredith Ladd, the MPD’s attorney.

Jones, 60, was placed on the five-day suspension for violating the department’s sexual harassment and professional conduct and personal bearing policies.



MCKINNEY POLICE DIS-HONORABLE MENTIONS

· Corporal Jessie Garcia - April 2006

Corporal Garcia has been involved in a number of suspicious “events” but is always cleared and is still on the street. For example, the beating of Mr. Tarver in which Garcia pummeled the 46 year black man with a back injury in the face at least six times before “macing” him. The police report states that Mr. Tarver had an aggressive look in his eyes - which in McKinney apparently gives police the right to attack and beat it's citizens.

Garcia has been involved in the unwarranted shooting of at least 2 McKinney residents during ridiculous and unnecessary SWAT team raids which endangered the lives of McKinney citizens and destroyed untold dollars worth of private property. (see Urquiza case, below).



· False Arrest of Christi Hernandez - 2006

The city of McKinney has reached a settlement with a woman who was wrongly arrested and jailed in January. Neither Christi Hernandez of Princeton nor city officials would discuss the details of the settlement, which has not yet been presented to the court.

McKinney police were trying to find Christy – not Christi – Hernandez, who has a different middle name, lives in a different town and has a different license plate number. The suspect also has a tattoo, the one thing that saved the innocent Ms. Hernandez from prosecution on felony drug charges. Those charges were dismissed but still show on her record.



When this screw up became public, McKinney Police first claimed on TV that they had acted completely properly and took the opportunity to publicaly smear the reputation of the innocent Ms. Hernandez. It was only after a media frenzy ensued and the threat of a civil lawsuit was made that the department admitted their wrong doing.

· Bogus Military Attack Against Guillermo Urquiza 2006

McKinney police acting on information provided by an “informant” swore out an arrest warrant for 26 year old Guillermo Urquiza. They claimed Urquiza had for some reason contracted to have a McKinney police officer killed. They did not ask for or obtain a no knock warrant but simply a regular arrest warrant.



From the outset the police planned and executed a full scale military style attack on Mr. Urquiza and his home, where his mother also resided. Other than the fact that the police were “pissed off” there appears to have been no reason for such an attack. The attack was carried out by the SWAT team who were dressed from head to toe in black including ski masks and included the use of powerful and dangerous stun grenades and automatic military weaponry.



After horribly wounding Urquiza at least 7 times, the police then tried to charge him with 9 counts of capital murder. Mr. Urquiza apparently attempted to defend himself against what he thought were home intruders. According to sources, as he was being shot to pieces, he called out to his mother to call the police.



A Collin County Grand Jury refused to indict Urquiza on any of the charges trumped up by the McKinney police due to lack of any credible evidence. Instead they charged him with 2 counts of aggravated assault. This charge means he tried to protect himself from harm – as the laws of the state of Texas allow.




· Bungled Quadruple Murder Case

McKinney police arrested suspects in this infamous quadruple murders. However, they had to be let go due to lack of evidence. The case has been further set back by the actions of former officer Randall Robert Vandertuin, the lead investigator. Mr. Vandertuin, a married man, was allowed to resign from the force after being caught in multiple affairs (one with the surviving victim of the Wingfield murder case), theft (of the rifle scope utilized in the Wingfield murder case) and evidence tampering.

· False Arrest of Paul Woolsey 2002

The McKinney police held Paul Woolsey in jail for at least three days after they knew he was innocent of being the shooter at the McKinney Hospital. Mr. Woolsey was “tarred and feathered” by the various media outlets, supported by statements made by the police.

Mr. Woolsey, with his reputation in ruins, committed suicide after his release from jail. His estate has filed a civil lawsuit against the city and the police department.



· Unidentified SWAT Officer who discharged his firearm in a San Antonio Hotel - 2006

While wasting our tax dollars at a SWAT team "competition" junket, an unidentified McKinney police officer discharged his weapon inside his hotel. Luckily the bullet lodged in a water pipe in the hotel room wall before it could have killed an innocent bystander. This from “highly trained” SWAT members?

Attempts to determine the identity of the officer have been rebuffed, despite such knowledge being by law, public information.

· Asst. Chief Rex Redden on why the McKinney Police Department did not charge Officer Vandertuin.

Assistant Chief Rex Redden admitted that Vandertuin violated the department's policies and likely committed a theft by taking the scope.

"Under the current atmosphere, we've opted not to prosecute," he said in the email. "We just don't need anymore negative publicity."

THESE ARE JUST the things we find out about, what don’t we know? And the beat goes on and on and on…………

(sources: Dallas Morning News, McKinney Gazette, and News 8)