Even though American police are some of the most violent and dangerous anywhere in the world, they clearly are not nearly violent enough for some Independent Arbitrators who review actions taken against violent cops and have the power to determine whether they get their jobs back or not, if fired.
Independent Arbitrators means a neutral and impartial arbitrator (i) who is listed on the American Arbitration Association’s national roster of arbitrators, (ii) who has not had and does not have any past, current or potential business, professional, or personal relationship with any of the parties involved in the arbitration proceedings which would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out their responsibilities as an arbitrator, and (iii) whose conduct is guided by the Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Commercial Disputes.
The sad reality for aggrieved individuals, families, and communities that have borne the brunt of police violence this definition is not worth the paper it is written.
In far too many cases, the so-called independent arbitrators who review cases of police abuse generally end up siding with the police, even though they represent a clear and present danger to the communities they policed.
What’s worse is that in more cases than not, they get to return to police communities that no longer want their service or wish to see them as authority figures in those communities.
We reported on this case where a Sacramento Sheriff’s deputy roughed up a 14-year-old boy two years ago, resulting in the firing of the deputy. Now an arbitrator has ruled that the deputy’s firing was too harsh, so the Sheriff was forced to give the ex-deputy his job back.
This monster now has the power and the backing to do more harm, and he can now kill the innocent based on a single arbitrator that is beholden to the police.
Arbitrator Gives Job Back to California Deputy Captured on Video Beating 14-Year-Old Boy, Says Termination Was Too Harsh
Arbitrator Gives Job Back to California Deputy Captured on Video Beating 14-Year-Old Boy, Says Termination Was Too Harsh“The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office will comply with the mandate of the independent arbitrator and integrate Deputy Fowell back into the organization,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said in part.
The reinstatement sparked outrage in the activist community. Local NAACP president Betty Williams said she is “pissed” about the decision to bring him back into law enforcement.
“I’m pissed,” Williams said. “This is basically a slap in the face to the community that he is back.”
She continued, “How can we trust your law enforcement when you know you have an officer who did something like this and you bring him back to that same community and you ask us to trust you? That is absolutely a slap in the face.”
The altercation between the officer and the teen was captured in a 15-second cellphone video in April 2020 and went viral causing millions to chime in, including then-Sen. Kamala Harris, who called the deputy’s actions “a horrific abuse of power.”
In the clip of the detainment, Fowell is seen grabbing the back of Tufono’s neck, pushing his face into the ground, and punching the teen three times in his arm. The clip does not show what led up to the incident or what happened after.
The officer approached the young man after he asked a stranger for some tobacco.
“And that’s when the cop pulled up,” Tufono said at the time. “And he asked me what was that in my hand. And I had gave him, as soon as he asked me that, I just gave it to him.”
He said initially he was not coöperative, saying that was his “mistake.”
Two years ago, after the altercation, the teen’s aunt Leata Tufono said at a press conference that he was emotionally and physically scarred, ABC 10 reports.
The deputy was terminated by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office after a professional standards unit investigated his engagement with the 14-year-old, determining he went too far when detaining him.
Fowell’s attorney William Creger filed his appeal on his client’s behalf in October 2020, claiming his termination was unwarranted.
“The sheriff’s office was entitled to take Deputy Fowell out of the public spotlight for a while,” the lawyer said. “The arbitrator said (Fowell) didn’t do everything perfectly, he could’ve handled it in a different way … but it didn’t need to rise to the level of termination.”
An arbitrator determined he was unjustly fired, ruling his employment should be restored.
Touting accolades like the officer being named the 2019 “Employee of the Quarter” for the force and later the same year receiving the life-saving medal for his saving a little girl’s life by using CPR, the lawyer argued Fowell’s exemplary law enforcement record was instrumental in the decision in his favor.
Much of the details of his restoration to the police force are not public. Fowell is considered a “peace officer” under California law and their records are protected and not available.
According to a recent amendment approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30, 2021, relating to peace officers, “peace officer personnel records and specified records maintained by any state or local agency, or information obtained from these records” are to be kept “confidential” and not “disclosed in any criminal or civil proceeding except by discovery.
Tufano’s attorney John Burris said in a statement, “It raises real safety concerns for the client who’s been nervous about this officer and hopes that he doesn’t have the chance to see him.”
“At the end of the day, I hope the officer has been retrained on how to deescalate situations, particularly when he’s dealing with teenagers who are involved with minor transgressions,” the lawyer said.
“His conduct, in this case, was over the top and clearly did not give consideration that this was a young person.”
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has not released any further statements on Fowell’s rehiring.