Today’s news: Disharmony abounds
Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard is out of time and wasn’t at last night’s Peoria City Council meeting. When he gets back, he’s going to have a lot of fires to put out and a lot of questions to which he going to need to answers. The big question is this: Does the Peoria Police Department have an problem with racism. If three situations discussed during the public comment period at last night’s council meeting are to be believed, then the answer is “yes”:
- Det. Keith McDaniel, president of the 29-member African-American Police League, called the firing of Lt. Marshall Dunnigan was discriminatory because he was fired just eight days after being placed on administrative leave allegedly for taking gambling boat earnings that did not belong to him, while a white officer was on leave for eight months before he was fired, allegedly for being involved in a fatal drunk boating accident.
- Eleanor Clark told the council her nephew, Marvin Clark, was brutally beat by at least five officers after he walked up to the drive-thru window of a neighborhood restaurant what was closed to indoor business. She compared it to the video taped Rodney King and said her nephew was hospitalized for broken bones.
- Darren Power said he was the victim of racial profiling by a downtown bar, and was arrested by police and charged with criminal trespass even though he left the establishment when asked. In fact, his arrest didn’t happen until after he asked one particular officer for his name and badge number. He was told by the establishment’s manager that his baggy jeans marked him a a gang manager, an accusation the holder of two master’s degrees found ridiculous.
My two cents: My understanding is that the City of Peoria was waiting for toxicology and other reports before deciding what to do about the drunk boating incident. The city was able to act more quickly because it had video of Dunnigan taking the winnings. And if Dunnigan wants people to believe he is innocent, then all he needs to do if give the city permission to release that video to the public. As of right now, the video is considered part of Dunnigan’s personnel file and cannot be released by the city. And the African-American Police League’s request for an outside investigation is silly. Dunnigan not only has the police union protecting his rights, he has the state and federal agencies as well as the state and federal court systems which he can use to seek justice.
I cannot dismiss Eleanor Clark’s claims about the beating out of hand. Still, we only have hear side of the tale so far, and police might have a different version of events. My own experience has been what the stories sons, daughters, nephews and nieces tell family members about their run-ins with police are very often at odds with reality. I did hear Eleanor Clark laughing and reminiscing about how it felt like she was back in the 1970s when used to come down to protest at City Hall. Yeah, good times.
Of the three complaints I heard Tuesday night, the one told by Darren Power seems the most believable. I can imagine a black man being discriminated against and getting pissed off about it, then encountering an overworked police officer who just wants him to shut up, get out of the establishment and move along. Of course, so far all I have is Mr. Powers’ account, but if he in fact was arrested for criminal trespass AFTER he left the bar when asked and only AFTER he asked for the officer’s badge number, then I think there needs to be some personnel action taken by the Chief Settingsgaard to remedy the situation.
Jennifer Davis’ article is here.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Situation 1: This depends on the facts that are witheld from the public, however, I think that this situation has the possibility of being discriminatory to an extent. The problem that is not being addressed is…Why are soo many police officers commiting crimes? Need new policies and procedures I think.
Situation 2: They are called drive-thrus for a reason-you don’t walk thru them. They probably thought you were a threat or something. Follow the rules and try to avoid looking like a robber. Its extremely hard to believe that 5 police officers beat someone for no reason. They just don’t do this. Not enough info. to make judgement.
Situation 3: I trust what Darren Power has said. I just don’t understand why some people go soo far to take things overboard sometimes, I blame both sides. I have had issues with my jeans being to baggy to get in. It is the stupidest rule I have ever heard of at a bar in my entire life. This bar is always discriminating!! I am a young, white male, with an education as well. I was eventually let in on another day (with the same jeans on) only to see people dancing in sportsbras, and not wearing shirts. I take Darren’s side on discrimination on the Bar’s end.
1. More than likely, Captain Ron’s in Creve Coeur probably didn’t have a videotape record of the other officer’s boat slamming into the barge at night.
2. Until this story is corroborated by someone else, I’m leaning toward incredibility. If the restaurant workers were the ones who called the police as the story states, then I’m sure they witnessed something. It’s not like they’re going to call the cops on someone and then just go about their business or want to walk freely outside to get to their car and go home. No way. Someone was bound to see the cops arriving, talking to the individual, beating the individual, or whatever. Come forward with your account, whoever you are.
3. I know what you mean here, but I’m of the Caucasian persuasion. I’ve been turned away from downtown bars on occasions also. They have these things called dress codes. I wasn’t allowed on the gambling boat on St. Patty’s Day with my green wig and green sunglasses. So what. No big deal. I moved on. First grow a set of balls, Darren. Then you can wear those baggy jeans with pride…
On items 2 and 3, I suggest the media do a little bit of further reporting.
It seems to me a basic step would be getting any police reports that exist. One reason is because I remember a couple of years back one woman appeared before the city council and lied about a traffic stop where she lied cops swore and pointed guns at her and her children while she was driving a reported stolen car. Then when the video was released, nothing of the sort had happened.
(There was one other one around this same time but I can’t remember the details – but it was another where a videotape proved the citizen was lying.)
So it is not unusual for people to either lie or mischaracterize things when it comes to cops, even when video tape exists.
And to top this off, one of my cop buddies once told me a spouse of a particular reporter in this area known for frequent anti-police articles once made a lying complaint against a cop and when asked if she wanted to come down and view the video tape proving she was lying, she abruptly hung up and went away.
So people do lie or at the least embellish.
I learned several years ago that you never ask a Peoria Policeman for his badge number or name. I took a friend to OSF for treatment of a slight injury. The friend was smoking as we entered. An officier appeared who was smoking a cigar. The officer demanded my friend put out the cigarette but instead replied to the officer that he would only when the officier put out his cigar. We were intimidated and forced out of the ER by the 2 officiers but once outside the doors I decided to ask the officiers name and badge number. I was quickly rushed, handcuffed and thrown into their wagon. Spent a couple hours in jail. Got a letter a week later saying all charges were dropped. Should have sued and taken it to court now that I think about it.
Oh! I forgot to add that this particular officer was fired a couple of years later for similar abuse. Apparently he had a record of abuse. Peoria Police did a good job of getting rid of that guy.
Yep I remember the lady (she was black) who claim as Scott posted. She said the police pulled her over, guns drawn, scared her children and were rude to her becuase her car matched the discription of a stolen car. She raised holy hell and the NAACP was ready to protest until the police released the video. opps. She lied and she should have been charged. All that did was ruin the creditabilty of anyone else who is truly a victim of police battery of racial profiling. It happens all the time. Witness the black teenager who claimed he was beatup by District 150 Campus Police and Peoria Police because he was trespassing at Peoria High School. Nothing on that ever came out either. You can tell the race card, it has a bent corner.
[...] black people away. They say they are only enforcing a dress code. That’s fine, but there are people being turned away at the door who dress like it’s casual Friday at their work [...]