Re “Count the Ways Pedersen Is Not Like Cooke”
I have to agree with most of the statements about Chief Ted Cooke in last week’s story, except for the following.
“Cooke did not hold grudges, despite what you may have heard,” said the officer. “As long as you did not lie to Cooke, you were okay. If he called you on something, and he knew the answer, you were better off if you said, ‘you’re right, Chief.’ That would be the end of it.
“However, if you tried to give him a line of bull, and lie, he would fire you or give you a month off or do the maximum, whatever he could do to you. He hated that. He always wanted to take care of things between him and the officer.”
It has been my experience and the experience of others who were disciplined and had their careers destroyed by Ted Cooke that it was not a case of if you lied to the Chief, but the fact that all of these people refused to lie for Chief Cooke.
In my 31 years at the Culver City Police Dept., I was asked to lie for Chief Cooke before the City Council, in court, in depositions, and to the community.
When I refused to lie for the Chief, I was ordered to Lie or remain silent. I remained silent for years, unless I was asked to testify in an official hearing. When I testified truthfully in sworn hearings, I was disciplined/threatened by attorneys hired by the city, told that if I continued to testify truthfully they would ruin me and my family.
Chief Don Pedersen is not Ted Cooke.
I hope that he has not lied to any one in his position as Chief of Police.
Although the city succeeded in damaging my career at Culver City, as hard as they tried they did not ruin me or my family.
For the community of Culver City you have been lied to for years by people you have paid very well to serve you.
One area that you have been consistently lied to about over the years is the city’s crime stats.
If the Police Officers Assn. board members are stating facts that are supported by the police officers on the street then I would believe the police officers.
Councilman Andy Weissman does a good job making his point that crime is down in Culver City and the police officers are not accurate.
I think Mr. Weissman should have been representing the Bell City Council and city management before they got into the mess they are in now.
After all, the city of Bell police officers were the first ones to speak up about the corruption in their city. People in that community stated for years that they were just not telling the truth(most of those people are in jail now).
My only regret in all of this is that I did not speak up sooner.
Mr. Smith may be contacted at scsinvest@sbcglobal.net
