Looks like the OHP takes it on the chin yet again.

[TeeDub]

Two troopers racing to be the lead pursuer killed another trooper, which does suggest a lack of formal discipline (if not discretion).

Man vs car....   Car always wins.

[patric]

They aren't accountable.    You and I are accountable for their mistakes when we have to pay out millions in settlements.  

That is what happens when you task them with apprehending criminals, you have to accept the consequences...   (Or change the policies.)

Deadly wrong-way pursuit led by troopers on Tulsa highway violates international model policy supported by Oklahoma Highway Safety Office
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/deadly-wrong-way-pursuit-led-by-troopers-on-tulsa-highway/article_fe600732-845a-50cb-86c0-7d8a88976d07.html




NORMAN — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has asked a district judge to empty the courtroom if testimony comes up regarding the agency's pursuit policy in a felony murder trial involving a state trooper's death — another instance in which the agency has vigorously protected that document.

A Tulsa World reporter had to leave an open public court hearing Monday afternoon in Cleveland County that was convened for just that — to argue how protected OHP's pursuit policy may be once the trial arrives. An attorney for the Highway Patrol objected to anyone being present during an OHP major's testimony and arguments in the courtroom who wasn't a trooper or involved in the case.

D'Angelo Burgess is charged with felony first-degree murder in OHP Lt. Heath Meyer's death in July 2017. Meyer succumbed to critical injuries 10 days after another trooper's cruiser struck Meyer at a roadblock on Interstate 35 in Moore as the Highway Patrol chased a vehicle that fled a traffic stop for following too closely.

"(A)ny time such material is shown, read or described in open court, whether during examination, argument, or otherwise, the court room will be cleared so no person other than the Judge, court personnel, attorneys, Defendant, witness testifying, and jurors are present."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/oklahoma-highway-patrol-wants-empty-courtroom-if-testimony-involves-its/article_97457204-64fd-5c2d-81f3-e592e93b3a69.html





"Democracy dies in the dark"
   -- Judge Damon J. Keith

[patric]

Gov. Kevin Stitt has put on hold the reappointment of the state's public safety commissioner until an investigation into possible corruption at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is complete.

Taking over the investigation will be Attorney General Mike Hunter's top agent, The Oklahoman has learned. The takeover comes after concerns were raised about an internal investigation at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol into blackmail accusations against a patrol captain.

Capt. Troy German is accused of trying to blackmail Commissioner Rusty Rhoades last year to get a promotion to major or help securing a political appointment.
He allegedly threatened to expose information of improprieties involving Rhoades and Highway Patrol Chief Michael Harrell in the promotion of a patrol captain, Brian Orr.

Of concern was the patrol was using its own investigators to look into accusations against German but not fully into his claims of promotion improprieties.

Rhoades, 51, of Choctaw, was appointed commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety in 2017. Stitt announced in December Rhoades would be reappointed.
"Following our public announcement of the commissioner, the governor's office was notified of allegations and an internal investigation of the matter at the Department of Public Safety, and we chose to hold the nomination until investigations were complete," a spokeswoman said Thursday.

Hunter said Thursday he consulted with Rhoades about the investigation. "It was determined to be in the best interests of the Department of Public Safety and all parties involved to allow our office to assume oversight, control and direction of the investigation," the attorney general said.

The Department of Public Safety said Thursday it will cooperate fully. "The agency and its administration continue to be committed to transparency and accountability, and are fully confident that the appropriate party or parties will be held responsible after (Attorney) General Hunter's examination of the totality of the evidence," a spokeswoman said.

German, 47, of Chandler, is on paid administrative leave. He denies wrongdoing and claims to be a whistleblower.
German met with Rhoades on Sept. 11 at a Charleston's Restaurant in Oklahoma City and Sept. 28 at a Starbucks in Midwest City, according to a court affidavit.

German in July secretly recorded Orr admitting he was told what would be asked by a promotion board. Orr was then a lieutenant.
The start of the recording was played for The Oklahoman by a source. In the recording, Orr said the chief disclosed in a phone call specific examination subjects such as what to do when a trooper is killed in the line of duty. Orr quoted the chief as saying, "You screw this up, it's on you."

Orr, 46, is one of the state's more visible troopers because he has been a bodyguard for years for the University of Oklahoma's head coach at football games. He delighted fans in 2013 when he laid a blindside tackle on a man who ran onto Owen Field during a timeout.

The state Personnel Act prohibits a state employee from furnishing "any special or secret information" to someone seeking a classified state job.

Asked specifically whether the chief helped Orr, the Department of Public Safety said Thursday "mentoring" of troopers in the promotional process is not only acceptable but encouraged.

"The type and extent of assistance in preparation for examinations rendered to Brian Orr by both Michael Harrell and Troy German is evident from a review of the objective evidence provided to investigators," the Department of Public Safety said.

https://newsok.com/article/5620630/oklahomas-public-safety-commissioner-not-reappointed-because-of-investigation?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Gov. Kevin Stitt has put on hold the reappointment of the state's public safety commissioner until an investigation into possible corruption at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is complete.

Taking over the investigation will be Attorney General Mike Hunter's top agent, The Oklahoman has learned. The takeover comes after concerns were raised about an internal investigation at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol into blackmail accusations against a patrol captain.

Capt. Troy German is accused of trying to blackmail Commissioner Rusty Rhoades last year to get a promotion to major or help securing a political appointment.
He allegedly threatened to expose information of improprieties involving Rhoades and Highway Patrol Chief Michael Harrell in the promotion of a patrol captain, Brian Orr.

Of concern was the patrol was using its own investigators to look into accusations against German but not fully into his claims of promotion improprieties.

Rhoades, 51, of Choctaw, was appointed commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety in 2017. Stitt announced in December Rhoades would be reappointed.
"Following our public announcement of the commissioner, the governor's office was notified of allegations and an internal investigation of the matter at the Department of Public Safety, and we chose to hold the nomination until investigations were complete," a spokeswoman said Thursday.

Hunter said Thursday he consulted with Rhoades about the investigation. "It was determined to be in the best interests of the Department of Public Safety and all parties involved to allow our office to assume oversight, control and direction of the investigation," the attorney general said.

The Department of Public Safety said Thursday it will cooperate fully. "The agency and its administration continue to be committed to transparency and accountability, and are fully confident that the appropriate party or parties will be held responsible after (Attorney) General Hunter's examination of the totality of the evidence," a spokeswoman said.

German, 47, of Chandler, is on paid administrative leave. He denies wrongdoing and claims to be a whistleblower.
German met with Rhoades on Sept. 11 at a Charleston's Restaurant in Oklahoma City and Sept. 28 at a Starbucks in Midwest City, according to a court affidavit.

German in July secretly recorded Orr admitting he was told what would be asked by a promotion board. Orr was then a lieutenant.
The start of the recording was played for The Oklahoman by a source. In the recording, Orr said the chief disclosed in a phone call specific examination subjects such as what to do when a trooper is killed in the line of duty. Orr quoted the chief as saying, "You screw this up, it's on you."

Orr, 46, is one of the state's more visible troopers because he has been a bodyguard for years for the University of Oklahoma's head coach at football games. He delighted fans in 2013 when he laid a blindside tackle on a man who ran onto Owen Field during a timeout.

The state Personnel Act prohibits a state employee from furnishing "any special or secret information" to someone seeking a classified state job.

Asked specifically whether the chief helped Orr, the Department of Public Safety said Thursday "mentoring" of troopers in the promotional process is not only acceptable but encouraged.

"The type and extent of assistance in preparation for examinations rendered to Brian Orr by both Michael Harrell and Troy German is evident from a review of the objective evidence provided to investigators," the Department of Public Safety said.

https://newsok.com/article/5620630/oklahomas-public-safety-commissioner-not-reappointed-because-of-investigation?

Nope.  No collusion there, either...!

[patric]

A wanted man driving a stolen vehicle on the Creek Turnpike was handcuffed by a trooper. The suspect managed to drive off in the trooper's cruiser, so the trooper hopped into the stolen car and began to chase him.

What happened next in those high-stakes moments on an evening in February 2018 in Broken Arrow? The public won't know because the trooper didn't document those actions, which the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says weren't a pursuit anyway.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/what-happened-when-a-trooper-chased-his-stolen-cruiser-in/article_d802152a-89d3-5204-a5ab-68ae188af5e5.html

[patric]

The defense read aloud and repeatedly emphasized a part of the OHP pursuit policy that says terminating a pursuit "may be the most rational means of preserving life and property of the public, the (trooper) and the suspect."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/testimony-in-murder-trial-over-trooper-s-vehicular-pursuit-death/article_86945dc3-dfdf-58cc-a5f3-ac18ea9056f3.html

[patric]

Tulsa World editorial: Why was the OHP fighting so hard to keep this a secret?

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol fought long and hard, but now, everyone knows the secrets of its pursuit policy ... and that it wasn't worth hiding at all.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/editorials/tulsa-world-editorial-why-was-the-ohp-fighting-so-hard/article_002840a2-764a-5a20-9862-8ed1cbf80c19.html

[patric]

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt replaces Public Safety commissioner

A shake-up is underway at the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the state agency that runs the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and handles the issuance, revocation and reinstatement of driver's licenses.

Out are Rusty Rhoades, the DPS commissioner, and Col. Michael Harrell, the chief of the Highway Patrol.

Taking over as commissioner is John Scully, the director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.

Gov. Kevin Stitt made the change after months of turmoil at the Department of Public Safety and repeated delays in coming into compliance with the federal REAL ID law.

Scully, 58, ran the state narcotics bureau for three years after working for the Oklahoma City Police Department for more than 32 years. He was a deputy chief for the police department his last eight years there.

Rhoades held the agency's top spot less than two years. Both he and Harrell retired abruptly Monday afternoon.

The departure comes just 17 days after a former patrol captain filed a civil rights lawsuit against them in Oklahoma City federal court.

The former captain, Troy German, claims Rhoades falsely accused him of blackmail to discredit his effort to expose a cheating scandal. He alleges Rhoades, Harrell and a patrol captain, Brian Orr, presented fabricated evidence to prosecutors that resulted in a criminal case against him.

German alleges the chief — at the commissioner's direction — gave Orr ahead of time the specific questions that would be asked by a promotional board.

The criminal case against German was dropped in June after Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater was subpoenaed to testify as a defense witness and after German agreed to retire.

Prater was expected to testify that Rhoades had wanted a charge filed even though no investigation had been done yet. Prater also was expected to testify that Rhoades in their December meeting — when asked — could not articulate what exactly German was threatening to expose and what he specifically was supposed to do to prevent it.

In law enforcement circles and inside the highway patrol, serious questions arose about Rhoades' accusations because he didn't make them until long after he met with the captain at a Charleston's Restaurant and at a Starbucks in September.

Rhoades told investigators in December that German had threatened to expose wrongdoing in the promotional process unless he was made major or got support in his bid for a political appointment.

Rhoades only came forward in November after learning German had spoken with the chief of staff of the Senate president pro tempore, according to an internal investigative report. He told investigators he had promised to help German because he "decided it was the best way to keep German from spreading lies that ultimately would be embarrassing and sound horrible to the public."

German denied making any blackmail demands. He claims he met with Rhoades, at the urging of the former director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, to give the commissioner "the opportunity to correct the wrongdoings."

Because of the controversy, the attorney general in February called for policy changes in the promotions process at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol "to avoid any appearance of impropriety."

https://oklahoman.com/article/5640247/public-safety-commissioner-replaced   https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/world-analysis-trooper-activity-high-in-same-area-where-new/article_9d660b95-63ec-5756-acf0-1b3910ae4018.html

[heironymouspasparagus]

Whistleblowers everywhere demonized...

[patric]

Trooper disciplined for high-speed chase that ended when patrol car rolled on Tulsa highway

A state trooper received "informal discipline" about weighing a vehicular pursuit's risk against an offense's seriousness after he rolled his cruiser on a Tulsa highway while chasing a motorist for failure to yield and speeding.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol released 44 pages of documents Friday, nearly a year and a half after the Tulsa World first requested records related to the April 7, 2018, incident. The agency provided the newspaper three weeks ago with video of the chase, which doesn't show the crash because the rollover caused an 'equipment malfunction', according to the agency.
"I'm fine," Trooper Jamie Guinn can be heard saying soon after the wreck, with audio recovered from that point on.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/trooper-disciplined-for-high-speed-chase-that-ended-when-patrol/article_9ceb94ba-b908-5338-a678-925bf114e2d1.html


The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a Tulsa man was killed when the vehicle he was driving crashed while being pursued by troopers.
OHP spokeswoman Sarah Stewart said 35-year-old Aaron Starks was being pursued by two highway patrol troopers at speeds of nearly 120 miles per hour when he lost control while swerving to avoid stop sticks placed on the roadway by a third trooper.

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/tulsa-man-dies-ohp-chase

[patric]

Instead of having officers engage in a potentially escalating and dangerous chase with a fleeing vehicle, police can use the helicopter to easily — and safely — track the vehicle from above. Then, when the fleeing vehicle stops, its location can quickly be relayed to officers on the ground.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/we-re-a-force-multiplier-tpd-unveils-new-million-high/article_d2c24e41-b55d-544c-ac46-884b58d7d8fa.html

Reality:

An unidentified Coweta man was critically injured when state troopers forced a fleeing vehicle off the road.
"A TPD Air Support unit arrived and took over the pursuit near the entrance to the Muskogee Turnpike," Tulsa Police Lt. Joel Ward states in a news release.
An OHP trooper performed a "tactical vehicle intervention", according to an OHP report. The Ford Focus ran off the highway and rolled about 2½ times. The driver was listed in critical condition, according to Tulsa police.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/stolen-vehicle-pursued-about-miles-before-crash-forced-near-wagoner/article_595d8055-9894-5a5f-bab1-59c39a5a7344.html



Oklahoma Highway Patrol IDs victims after another fatal pursuit but leaves unanswered questions
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol provided few details Wednesday but did release the names of two people burned to death in a rollover crash in when a trooper's vehicle maneuver spun out their car during a pursuit.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/oklahoma-highway-patrol-ids-victims-after-another-fatal-pursuit-but-leaves-unanswered-questions/article_435e6fc6-8a0a-5389-926d-64107dea34c5.html



The stolen vehicle pursuit that recently led to the deaths of an uninvolved woman and her daughter in east Tulsa had at least one stretch in which the eluder drove on the wrong side of a street and state troopers apparently continued the chase.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol's pursuit policy prohibits troopers from chasing a fleeing vehicle "the wrong way in opposing lanes of traffic" when there are at least four lanes. An arrest affidavit states that the eluder in the fatal Tulsa pursuit drove the wrong way on 41st Street — a five-lane roadway.
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/ohp-pursuit-that-left-two-uninvolved-motorists-dead-included-quarter-mile-stretch-with-eluder-in/article_e84ab562-811e-11eb-9194-afa0b5a7e874.html

[heironymouspasparagus]

Instead of having officers engage in a potentially escalating and dangerous chase with a fleeing vehicle, police can use the helicopter to easily — and safely — track the vehicle from above. Then, when the fleeing vehicle stops, its location can quickly be relayed to officers on the ground.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/we-re-a-force-multiplier-tpd-unveils-new-million-high/article_d2c24e41-b55d-544c-ac46-884b58d7d8fa.html

Reality:

An unidentified Coweta man was critically injured when state troopers forced a fleeing vehicle off the road.
"A TPD Air Support unit arrived and took over the pursuit near the entrance to the Muskogee Turnpike," Tulsa Police Lt. Joel Ward states in a news release.
An OHP trooper performed a "tactical vehicle intervention", according to an OHP report. The Ford Focus ran off the highway and rolled about 2½ times. The driver was listed in critical condition, according to Tulsa police.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/stolen-vehicle-pursued-about-miles-before-crash-forced-near-wagoner/article_595d8055-9894-5a5f-bab1-59c39a5a7344.html

Have said it before.  Will say it again.  It is the height of ignorance to not have the means to turn a car - or motorcycle, truck, etc - off at the beginning of a pursuit!  The technology has been there for many years!   (Longer than Onstar has been installed in every GM car.)  And it is dirt cheap and garage door opener simple!   Just a simple click of a button and the car stops.  No wrecks, rollovers, bursting into flame, etc.  Just stops.