Betty Glass of Bowling Green pauses Monday as she recounts her experiences in filing a complaint against Bowling Green police officers who arrested her son, Ralph, in November. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Amnesty International

When the headlights of Betty Glass car pierced the warm November night, they illuminated a scene still silhouetted in her memory four to six men attacking her teenage son, Ralph. For minutes that seemed liked hours, Ralph Glass was beaten. He was choked, kicked and dragged. Then his ribs bruised and his face scarred he was taken to jail by the same men Betty Glass alleges assaulted her son. Betty Glass complaint is perhaps the most serious and only lingering of six formal citizen complaints filed against Bowling Green police during 2000.During the past several years, investigations of police brutality and scrutiny of questionable shootings have surfaced nationwide. Such troubles have sparked a nationwide debate about who polices the police and what recourse those who believe they have been wronged have. For Betty Glass, the answer started with a complaint being filed at the police department. The standard form asks those who make the allegations to give details of what happened, who was involved and why they believe officers overstepped their authority. From there, the case is assigned to an upper-level officer who investigates the report. In Betty Glass case, police Capt. Jerry Wells already has interviewed her about the allegations. She detailed for police how her son, Ralph Glass, was arrested Nov. 2 on charges of receiving stolen property over $300, first-degree fleeing and evading police and second-degree escape. He was a passenger in a stolen car from which he bolted during a traffic stop, according to her complaint. After a brief foot chase, city police arrested him and took him to Warren County Regional Jail. But while he was handcuffed in the back seat of the police cruiser and it was unattended in the jails parking lot, Ralph Glass somehow crawled through a window and escaped. Police officers found him more than an hour later near his home. By the time we got there, they had him on the ground handcuffed, Betty Glass said. I saw them kicking and hitting him. He was screaming. Ralph Glass was jailed for more than 60 days before being released without being indicted. Im a mother and Im not going to stand around and let anyone beat on one of my children, Betty Glass said of her decision to file a complaint. A decision on the validity of the complaint has yet to be reached, but Betty Glass said she believes the complaint will be fairly evaluated. Capt. Wells assured me that if there was wrongdoing, then there would be something done about it, she said. Complaints on the riseAlmost every law enforcement agency from Paducah to Pike County receives formal citizen complaints. The complaints gradually have increased since the 1970s because of a changing society that questions authority and continually relies on litigation, Owensboro police Capt. Steve Kimble said. The seriousness of citizen complaints may range from the seemingly inane, such as the Hart County man who was angry about being arrested for driving under the influence after blowing a 0.20 on a Breathalyzer (up to 0.08 is the legal blood-alcohol level for those over age 21) to more serious allegations of illegal searches, police brutality and questionable shootings. The majority of agencies said the most frequent complaints generally are from someone who felt an officers conduct was inappropriate; perhaps an officer laughed while issuing a speeding ticket or a family felt its problem was brushed off by an officer. While complaints against departments and officers are common, how each department decides to handle or accept such a complaint varies greatly. Complaints may arrive anonymously by phone, letter, a visit to the police department or filing of a sworn complaint. Each law enforcement department is granted flexibility to filter complaints for their validity and conduct an investigation as the chief or sheriff may deem appropriate, according to Greg Howard, director of training support for the Kentucky Division of Criminal Justice Training in Richmond. Some agencies refuse to follow up on anything other than a sworn citizen complaint. Usually, if information alleging misconduct arrives by a letter or phone, the person making the allegation is encouraged to visit the police department and file a sworn citizen complaint. Sometimes the investigator may visit the home of a person afraid to visit the department. In the example of a sworn written complaint, the form usually travels first to the chief or sheriff of the agency, who makes a judgment call about how to proceed. Depending upon the agencys size and resources, the chief or sheriff may investigate on his own or pass the task to an administrator. The results of an investigation may find that the officer acted properly or could result in administrative action, including a spoken or written reprimand, suspension or dismissal. Complaints also can be passed on to the internal affairs unit with Kentucky State Police or the FBI, which has conducted investigations during the past year involving Louisville and Owensboro police agencies. A national debateLaw enforcement authorities said internal investigations are thorough, truthful and conducted with integrity. Others disagree. The American Civil Liberties Union, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and various human rights organizations have cited repeated examples of questionable shootings in New York that ended with predictable outcomes, they said. Each of the nations highly publicized cases has supported the need for an independent citizens review board. Amadou Diallo was unarmed and lacked a criminal record when he died in a barrage of gunfire in February 1999, when police said they mistook his wallet for a gun. Four officers involved were acquitted. Dante Johnson, 16, ran away from three police officers in the Bronx borough of New York when they stopped to question him and a friend as they stood in the street. Johnson, who is black, was shot and critically injured in the May 1999 incident. The officers came from the same street crime unit as those in the Diallo shooting. No charges have been filed against them. Antoine Reid, who is black, was seriously injured in June 1998, when he attempted to wash the car windshield of an off-duty New York Police Department officer. The officer was removed from patrol but wasnt fired from the department. William J. Whitfield was shot to death in a New York supermarket on Christmas 1997 by a police officer who mistook the keys he was carrying for a gun. The officer was cleared of wrongdoing, but it was revealed that he was involved in eight prior shootings. Frankie Arzuega, a 15-year-old unarmed Puerto Rican boy, was shot to death by a New York officer in January 1996 while he sat in the back seat of a car that pulled away as officers tried to question the driver. The officer faced no criminal charges. These cases and other examples of questionable police shootings and tactics throughout the nation are listed on Amnesty Internationals Web site. Civilian review of police activity first was proposed in the 1950s because of widespread frustration with police departments handling of complaints, according to ACLUs Web site. Residents felt their complaints were investigated halfheartedly and that officers misconduct frequently was covered up, the site stated. By 1997, more than 75 percent of the nations largest cities had established a civilian review board intended to provide a neutral approach to the process because members are not sworn officers. The state of the bluegrassCloser to home, Kentuckys ACLU chapter has faced legal roadblocks after a 10-year battle to create a civilian review board for Louisville Police Department, according to Kentucky ACLU Executive Director Jeff Vessels. The ACLU won the battle, but the civilian review board remains in limbo, Vessels said. The civilian review board in Louisville was passed, only to be vetoed by Mayor Dave Armstrong, Vessels said. The Board of Aldermen overrode Armstrongs veto, but the proposed panel again was halted when Fraternal Order of Police filed a suit that still is pending in court, he said. Other regional cities, including Cincinnati and Knoxville, Tenn., already have begun civilian review boards. We certainly think that having citizens involved and looking at the results of complaints, looking at the process of how complaints are dealt with, is a good idea, Vessels said. It builds trust in the community that the system is good and clean. Police departments dont typically generate an annual report about complaints filed against them complete with the outcome of the investigation, which should be done, Vessels said. Vessels recently acquired hundreds of complaints filed against Louisville Police Department spanning a period of several years, he said. Vessels said he and other ACLU staff compiled the complaints, officers involved and outcomes of the investigation on a massive spreadsheet to look for patterns. We shouldnt have to do that, Vessels said. Departments should want to know if they have a few officers who are doing bad things because it gives everyone a bad name. The study found that more than 90 percent of the complaints ranging from verbal abuse to inappropriate use of force were dismissed as having no basis, Vessels said. The more serious the complaint, the more likely the complaint would be dismissed, he said. Because each department records and investigates complaints in a separate manner, the number of complaints against a department can be difficult to compare. While Bowling Green police consisting of around 90 sworn officers received six sworn citizen complaints in 2000, Covington police conducted only one internal investigation, which was launched when an officer reported an alleged violation by another officer, during 2000, Covington Lt. Col. Jim Liles said. During 1999, Covington Police Department conducted one or two investigations on its 110 sworn officers, Liles said. One of those included an officer involved in a shooting and found him to be justified, he said. Since 1996, formal citizen complaints received by the Covington department have decreased by more than 160 percent, Liles said. The decrease is because of department changes involving the reporting procedure, he said. Before 1997, Owensboro police commonly received between 10 to 15 complaints from citizens throughout the year; but departmental changes among the roughly 100 sworn officers have resulted in an increase in the number of complaints, Kimble said. Owensboro police recorded 53 formal complaints and received around 20 other inquiries, phone calls and anonymous tips, he said. Kimble said every complaint and investigation is methodically recorded and fully investigated. Its not as mystical as the public sometimes believes and its not as prone to cover-up, he said. The FBI also regularly gets involved in investigations involving judges, police, sheriffs departments and politicians, most recently in eastern Kentucky, Louisville FBI spokesman David Beyer said. We do those types of investigations and have been fairly successful in doing so, Beyer said. If we see some merit to the allegations, then we will investigate it. The FBI also has investigated civil rights violations regarding police agencies in Louisville and Owensboro. Beyer said he could recall no recent investigation of police agencies in southcentral Kentucky. Here at homeFormal citizen complaints are common throughout southcentral Kentucky, but the allegations generally border on minor infractions, according to law enforcement authorities. Overall, complaints against police agencies from Morgantown to Munfordville and from Russellville to Glasgow may range from gripes about receiving a parking ticket to more serious allegations of unnecessary injuries during an arrest. Anytime you arrest people and write tickets, youre going to get complaints from time to time, Russellville police Chief James Pendergraff said. During Pendergraffs 14 months as chief, he has conducted three investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by officers in his 24-person department, he said. The department follows a specific chain of command, review and evaluation during the process. Pendergraff declined comment about specific details of investigations but said the first investigation justified the officers actions and the second appeared to justify the officers actions but resulted in the complaint being withdrawn. A third investigation, described as a minor incident, is pending, he said. Frequently, complaints involve people simply frustrated about getting a parking ticket or speeding citation. A lot of times, people call up and just want to get something off their chest and, by the time they talk to someone and let off a little steam, they feel better, he said. In the past 11 years, Barren County Sheriff Barney Jones department has never received a complaint regarding inappropriate language by officers or improper use of pepper spray, he said. Jones said he occasionally receives complaints in writing or over the phone, but no written policy exists for handling such complaints and each one is individually evaluated and checked. Jones said he relies on common sense and information gathered while talking to the officer to determine how to handle the incident. If discipline is warranted, the officer will be issued punishment appropriate to the severity of the alleged infraction, he said. Discipline may range from an oral warning to a written reprimand, suspension or dismissal from the department, he said. Law enforcement is a tough job, Jones said. My philosophy has always been to try and encourage my people to treat others as you like to be treated yourself, but theres instances, obviously in our job, that you cant do that, and we just have to take appropriate action. Morgantown police Chief Ronald Burden said an allegation of inappropriate action by two Morgantown police officers was reported earlier this month by a wheelchair-bound man who threatened to file a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court. Burdens investigation into the matter found no misconduct by either officer, he said. The incident began when two Morgantown officers tried to serve a warrant on the man, who allegedly became violent and tried to throw himself from the wheelchair after being handcuffed, Burden said. The officer placed the man, who was paralyzed, on the ground for his safety and he said he was injured, Burden said. The man was evaluated at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, but no injuries were found, he said. The majority of complaints averaging less than one a month usually begin with someone informing the mayor, who then tells the police chief, he said. No anonymous complaints are accepted and Burden frequently handles the investigation into an incident himself, he said. A lot of times when we follow up on them, we dont even have to talk to the officer, Burden said. Instead, Burden interviews different people involved and forms an opinion of how or if to proceed further. Logan County Sheriff Dannie Blick said his department receives around two or three complaints a year justified or not. Blick said his department follows a written policy about how to conduct such checks. Hart County Sheriff Jeff Staples said he usually hears gripes about speeding tickets or from people who are angry about receiving a DUI charge. I have been very lucky to have not received any complaints, Staples said. The most severe complaint so far has been from the man who was upset about receiving a DUI when he blew a 0.20 on the Breathalyzer, Staples said. Bowling Green police department received six citizen complaints during the past year involving allegations that people were harassed, ignored, laughed at and beaten by city police officers, according to police records. One of the six complaints the one by Betty Glass is pending, two complaints resulted in administrative actions being taken and three complaints were investigated and the officer involved in each case cleared of wrongdoing, the reports indicate. One of the complaints that resulted in administrative actions being taken alleged that city police Sgt. Randy Schocke entered the Bear Way home of Brenda Yates in August while she was recovering from brain surgery and a stroke, according to the document. Yates, who acknowledged her memory was fuzzy during the incident, alleged that Schocke entered her barricaded home, roughed her up, spoke to her in a threatening manner and then flushed a marijuana roach down her toilet, the complaint said. An investigation exonerated Schocke on three of the four allegations but found that he acted inappropriately for improper disposition of evidence, a letter from Chief Gary Raymer said. Schocke was admonished for his actions and received a written reprimand, which will remain in his personnel file until July. The reprimand praised Schocke for understanding and supporting the disciplinary action. According to the remaining complaints:A Bowling Green man in March said he was stopped and harassed by a city police officer who laughed at him and made jokes. The complaint was investigated and determined to be unfounded. A Bowling Green man was upset in April after a police officer said he would be arrested if he threw a bottle at a womans home. The officer was exonerated for his actions. A man said several city police officers entered his Loop Drive home without permission in November. The complaint wasnt sustained after police could neither prove nor disprove the allegation.