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Shooting of Paul Heenan by out of control police officer Stephen Heimesness
Please contact the below individuals with the following message.
Mayor Paul R. Soglin
City of Madison Mayor's Office
210 MLK Jr Blvd, Room 403
City-County Building
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 266-4611
mayor@citmayor@cityofmadison.com
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Look up your Alder: Common Council - City of Madison, Wisconsin
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District 6: Alder Marsha A. Rummel
1029 Spaight St # 6C
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-772-4555 district6@cityofmadison.com
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Message
We the citizens of Madison Wisconsin:
1. Demand an independent investigation
2. Demand the officer charged by the district attorney
3. Demand the Chief of police be put on suspension for knowingly putting
the public at risk by having Officer Stephen Heimesness on the streets.
4. Demand an independent audit of officers to make sure there are no other
officers that are a danger to the public.
MADISON, Wis. -
On Sunday, Madison police revealed the identities of the officers involved in the Friday shooting that killed Paul Heenan, 30, of Madison.
Police said Officer Stephen Heimsness was the officer who was "directly involved in the incident." Heimsness has been on the Madison police force for 15 years. Officer Stacy Troumbly provided emergency life-saving measures on Heenan after he was shot. Troumbly joined the MPD in 2011.
Both officers are on administrative leave, which is standard protocol.
MADISON, Wis. -
On Sunday, Madison police revealed the identities of the officers involved in the Friday shooting that killed Paul Heenan, 30, of Madison.
Police said Officer Stephen Heimsness was the officer who was "directly involved in the incident." Heimsness has been on the Madison police force for 15 years. Officer Stacy Troumbly provided emergency life-saving measures on Heenan after he was shot. Troumbly joined the MPD in 2011.
Both officers are on administrative leave, which is standard protocol.
It looks like this cop has a bad temper. Take him off the street. If they can't fire him, put him at a precinct desk or something.
throw his ass in prison with the general population.
Yeah seriously. When you're job is to uphold the oath to serve and protect, I think you need to have a bit of a cooler head. Otherwise, you shouldn't be a cop. We're hearing too many stories these days of cops gone wild, and it screws it up for the good ones.
An independent investigation makes sense. One of the problems here is the lack of effective citizen oversight with respect to the Madison Police Department. In theory there’s a Police and Fire Commission, but it doesn't function as an actual citizen review board. One indication of the problem is the complaint sustain ratio for complaints against Madison police. Nationally, 8% of excessive force complaints are sustained (from Department of Justice stats). According to one study, in metropolitan areas with a citizen review board, 18% of complaints are sustained. In Madison (which essentially relies only on MPD internal review), only 1.4% of excessive force complaints are sustained. Basically, MPD will almost always clear its own officers, regardless of the circumstances. And that contributed to this tragedy.
Paulie (the deceased) wandered into the wrong house (two houses down the street). He had moved into the new address only a week before. Both houses are structurally similar, painted blue, with similar porches. It appears that Paulie was disoriented (likely intoxicated). The owners were upstairs and called 911, fearing a burglary. When he went downstairs, the husband realized it was his neighbor and was walking him home. Cop pulled up, pulled his gun, ordered them down on the ground. Paulie walked up to the cop. The husband was shouting to the cop that it was his neighbor, whom he was walking home (i.e. so that the cop wouldn't shoot). Cop shot Paulie (who was unarmed) three times.
The officer involved is a poster child for this kind of incident. Given his history, this was predictable. He perfectly fits the statistical models for a cop who is at high likelihood of being involved in a shooting.
To quote from an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal: "But the propensity of troubled officers to shoot has been shown in at least two studies based on internal police records. One, by The RAND Corporation in 2008, looked at the New York Police Department. A year later, Los Angeles County examined its sheriff's office. 'It is absolutely legitimate,' said Samuel Walker, a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and author of The New World of Police Accountability. 'Any time there's a controversial incident, look at that officer's history.' Law enforcement experts say police departments need effective early warning systems to identify cops who are sloppy or whose actions in minor incidents presage bigger -- and perhaps more deadly -- things to come. Walker said that police have realized a small number of officers account for a large share of problems. 'Historically, the dirty little secret in policing is that police know who the problem officers are,' Walker said."
I was disturbed watching Police Chief Noble Wray's press conference. Even now, he’s engaging in spin – essentially providing only info that would tend to clear Heimsness (while not conveying incident info that would reflect unfavorably on Heimsness).
I partly hold Officer Pat Malloy (MPD internal investigation), Noble Wray, and former DA Brian Blanchard responsible for what happened. If you look at the investigation files from the 2006 Steve Heimsness police brutality incident – the preponderance of the evidence clearly shows use of excessive force (thus Madison ended up paying out in the subsequent lawsuit), and the witness statements pointedly contradict Heimsness' account on crucial details (i.e. it appears that Heimsness didn't give a fully truthful account in that incident). It seems that there basically was a predetermined decision to not sustain the excessive force complaint, and to not charge Heimsness. That was a critical decision. Had the 2006 excessive force incident been handled in an unbiased, professional fashion, Paulie Heenan probably wouldn't be dead today. (i.e. On top of the 2001 excessive force shooting incident, the 2006 brutality incident should have led to Heimsness being dismissed or at least pulled off the street).
Having said all that – I personally don’t feel comfortable (at least at this point) with demanding that the DA charge Heimsness in the current shooting. That decision needs to be made based on the particular facts in this case (and the investigation is ongoing – though it’s MPD investigating, and they’re motivated to clear their own – thus problematic). I’m also not sure I agree with pressing for the suspension of Noble Wray (though IMO his handling of both the 2006 incident and the current incident are extremely problematic). The other two points I tend to agree with. There does need to be accountability and a system the effectively keeps violence-prone officers off the streets.
Last edited by Copepod; 11-28-2012 at 12:02 AM..
Reason: adding a detail (2001 incident)
even if what you said is true, then why is the person making the complaint the one that is dead?
it should be the crook, not the victim getting shot by the cop. that cop needs to be fired, tried, convicted and imprisoned.
I think an impending investigation should be taking place on this case. This is sad, and what a good point!right it should be the crook and not the victim, that is shot by this cop.
Too many slap happy cops these days, some do go unpunished, and this is not right. I should hold judgement till the end of the investigation is over, but too many cases as this one happening.
All too often the police, gets a slap on the wrist. I hate to say this, really don't want too, but there is a code of honor in some professions, where people protect their own.
People's animals getting shot by police, even dogs, with no temper at all, shot for no reason, this has got to stop.
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