Limelight Forums

By Senator Richard Pumpkin ()

EvoCity, ID - When a Marion County officer tazered and subsequently closed a button-operated cell door on me, inflicting severe injuries to my chest, arms and legs, I honestly expected that he'd be held accountable for his actions.

I wasn't naive. I knew police officers are rarely punished. And what happened to me indeed compared to the abuses I witnessed inflicted upon people who didn't have the benefit of a national media platform. Surely, I thought, the Marion County Sheriff's Office would take such high-profile misconduct seriously.

With that in mind, I filed a formal complaint with the department's internal affairs office after my arrest. Going to internal affairs seemed like the logical step.

Yet, like other Americans who file complaints with internal affairs departments, I found there is little transparency about what happens when a citizen files a complaint and lots of uncertainty about the outcome. There are no national or state standards governing the internal affairs process. Complaint procedures can seem, and often explicitly are, designed to protect cops rather than fairly adjudicate citizen complaints.

Most people who go through the process don't get an apology, let alone accountability. And in some places, including Marion County, where I was arrested, citizens' faith in police is so damaged that many don't bother filing complaints in the first place.

The country is in a total fog of ignorance when it comes to how internal affairs divisions work, and that adds to the deep distrust that some people have in the police. They see officers they know have engaged in excessive force and so on, an they see them still on the force and not disciplined.

If you don't get many complaints at a department, that might mean that, yes, the department is very good and the officers are performing well. But it could also mean that trust in the complaint process is so low that nobody bothers to complain.

Tassiter had denied crushing my body with a door, and MCSO claimed that "due to lack of CCTV footage in the jails and the fact that Tassiters bodycam was off, there was no way to prove any wrongdoing" - so Sheriff Mondays ordered the investigation closed.

This is why in the Senate I will push to ensure all law enforcement officers are help accountable for their actions. They need to be a reminded of the oath they swore to support the Constitutions of this country and of this state. Constitutions which protect our civil liberties.

Richard Pumpkin plead no contest to charges of reckless driving and misdemeanour assault.

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Published: 27 July, 2019
Submitted by: Richard Pumpkin

Greetings,

The Marion County Sheriff's Office Investigative and Internal Affairs Division has indeed cleared Sergeant Tassiter of all wrongdoing. The investigation closed shortly after the "no contest" plea was entered by Senator Pumpkin. I would like to touch on certain aspects of Senator Pumpkin's open letter.

As the Sheriff of this fine county, I would like to assure you that we take all complaints, whether they are against another civilian or a Law Enforcement Officer with the utmost seriousness. If any misconduct by a Law Enforcement Official under my command was found, appropriate action would have been taken. However, just like the general populace, we are all innocent until proven guilty. 

I would also like to touch on the issue of transparency. It is the departmental policy for all Deputies, even myself, not to comment on an ongoing investigation of any kind. However, now that the investigation has been closed, I am more than welcome to publicly share the results. Again, due to the fact that there are no CCTV cameras inside the jails, in addition to the fact that Sergeant Tassiter did not have his body-mounted camera on at the time and the lack of witnesses, we have no way of knowing what truly happened. Therefore, we are unable to prove or disprove any allegations made for or against Sergeant Tassiter. As such, the Marion County Sheriff's Office does not intend to file additional charges against the senator. Further, I did not order the investigation to be closed. Our own Internal Affairs Division came to me and told me as I was about to leave my office for the day that their investigation has concluded. 

I do realize all of this may come off as me being quite hostile, however, I can assure you that my intention here is solely to present the facts as they were given to me. We all appreciate your efforts to ensure that all Law Enforcement Officers are held accountable for any misconduct while in an official capacity, and I would gladly work with you to help that piece of legislation become a reality.

Senator Pumpkin, I would like to close by wishing you a very speedy recovery and the best of luck on your legislation.

Regards,

Sheriff Jack Mondays
Marion County Sheriff's Office