Retired Chief Retains His Power?
“People say that ‘Cooke has been gone 3 years, so he can’t have influence over the department anymore,’” a ranking officer said over the weekend. “That is a bunch of bull. He is as intimidating now as he was when we had to put up with him. The root problem is that the people Cooke intimidated for years over at City Hall, and on the City Council, still are in power. No matter how good the intentions of the new Police Chief (Don Pedersen) are about cleaning up this department, he is in an impossible position. The people in the city are not inclined to listen or to investigate complaints anymore now than they did when Cooke was here. The command staff below Pedersen isn’t going to give (Mr. Pedersen) any help, either. I would judge that he is stuck. Cooke needed years to damage the department. And it will take years to correct these problems. They are devastating. And they run very deep.”
Outlining the Charges
Five days ago, this newspaper reported a drug arrest under unusual circumstances, revealing for the first time the disintegration of the special narcotics investigation team(“Drug Bust 3 Years After Police Broke up Narc Unit”). The letter of grievance by a veteran Culver City officer was dated Nov. 21, 2003 — an intriguing contextual intersection of time and circumstance. This was about 2 weeks after Mr. Cooke’s reluctant retirement as California’s longest-serving chief. The letter was written 5 months after Mr. Cooke broke up the Narcotics Unit. In a spirit of gratitude, the letter was directed to a Westside lawyer whom the Culver City officer said had assisted him in filing a formal grievance. The officer closed the first paragraph of his letter by explaining the purpose of the information he was laying out: “Just to let you know what has occurred.” Here is the balance:
“In late June of 2003, I, along with Detectives (names deleted), met informally with Capt. Hank Davies, who is now the commander of the Special Investigations Bureau. We aired out a plethora of complaints that were occurring in the Threat Assessment & Enforcement Section, which had the primary responsibility for the investigation of terrorism-related incidents as well as narcotics and vice investigations."
“Our complaints were, regarding Lt. Unuora, hostile work environment, threats, decorum, misuse of the (county-operated computer system providing access to the state’s record-keeping on criminals), placing informants at risk, possible criminal and civil rights violations regarding narcotic and terrorism criminal cases, and psychological fitness for duty. As we explained to Capt. Davies, Lt. Unuora has displayed bizarre behavior, and has directed us to do unusual requests when it comes to the investigation of possible terrorist-sympathizer investigations. In almost all of these types of cases, we never knew who, what or why we were doing certain investigations, surveillance or compiling certain types of information. We suspected that Lt. Unuora had close ties to ranking members of the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, and that he was doing things merely to impress investigators from the FBI."
“Our complaints regarding Sgt. Larry Moroso were hostile work environment, decorum, threats, neglect of duty, misuse of city vehicles and possible theft of undercover funds. In simple terms, Sgt. Moroso did absolutely nothing, and was absent for several hours each day. Where he was or what he was doing was a mystery. In order to keep his unusual schedule, he would threaten myself and other members with future job assignments and reputations." “Personally, I was subjected to constant threats regarding my career by Lt. Unuora regarding my continued working and attending court on criminal cases that I had worked as the Robbery-Homicide Detective. These cases included a well-publicized murder case, and a shooting case involving a retired Culver City police officer who was employed by Chief Cooke’s security company at the time of the shooting."
“I had to work on these cases on my off days and on my off-duty time, in most instances for free. Since I was in the process of moving from one home to another, I estimate that I lost approximately $10,000 in lost wages, and personal costs due to time away from home. This also would include the countless hours spent on the telephone and research, and the extreme high level of stress that I and other officers experienced."
“I was also forced to delicately explain to Judge Steven Van Sicklen, to former Deputy District Attorney and now Judge Craig Karlan, to Deputy District Attorneys Ann Rundle and Allison Messenger, and to numerous defense attorneys and their staffs, my absences from scheduled court appearances."
“We also informed Capt. Davies that this activity has been going on for several years and affected other officers as well. Some of these other officers were Officer Charles Koffman, Officer Sam Agaiby, Officer Randy Robertson, and Officer Andrew Gulcher. Capt. Davies informed us that at some point in the near future, Chief Cooke was going to meet with us individually and as a group, As of yet this has not happened, and it may never happen as Chief Cooke has since retired."
“Currently, Sgt. Moroso has been placed back into patrol. Lt. Unuora still has the responsibility for coordinating terrorism- related activities with the various task forces that handle these types of investigations. He still possesses a city vehicle and a city cell phone. I have heard that no formal investigation will be conducted, as an investigation will ‘embarrass’ the command staff.
“I have kept explicitly detailed notes in several different locations, listing dates, times, names, and case numbers, in the event that some other agency, such as the FBI or the Public Integrity Unit of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, should investigate. I would like for you to keep this letter in your file, so that the detectives and myself, nor any other officer who has suffered the wrath of Lt. Unuora, or Sgt. Moroso will not have to suffer any additional repercussions regarding this manner."
“What occurred to the members of our unit, and previous members of our unit, was, in my opinion, the worst example of abuse of power in a law enforcement organization, that I have ever experienced or read about anywhere in the U.S."
“I have decided to keep this matter low key and not formalize the complaints. I still have to concern myself with my career, and hope that this informal complaint will have no affect on my career or my reinstatement to my former position of Sergeant once the position becomes available.”