...The marks against Gaudelli began to mount when, as an officer at the West End station, he said he responded to a domestic violence call at the home of [Police Chief Robert] McNeilly and his wife, police Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly...CITY POLICE OFFICER SUES HIS BOSSES, CLAIMS
Jim Mckinnon, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
June 4, 1999
[Excerpts] A Pittsburgh police officer has sued his bosses in federal court, charging that they have retaliated against him for doing his job, which he said has included filing complaints against other officers. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Edmond N. Gaudelli Jr. names as defendants Mayor Murphy, Deputy Mayor Sal Sirabella, police Chief Robert McNeilly, Deputy Chief Charles Moffatt, several assistant chiefs, commanders and sergeants, a doctor at the training academy and an internal investigator, among others. Gaudelli, 32, a police officer since 1990, says in the suit the defendants had conspired to retaliate against him since 1996, when he filed a grievance against several officers, including a complaint that opposed the appointment of McNeilly as police chief... The marks against Gaudelli began to mount when, as an officer at the West End station, he said he responded to a domestic violence call at the home of McNeilly and his wife, police Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly. Gaudelli said in the complaint that McNeilly had told him to phone his supervisor and have records of the call removed from the running sheet... Gaudelli says the department has denied him training that would have led to promotions or better assignments. Instead, he says in his court complaint, he has been reprimanded at every turn and bounced from zone to zone, finally being assigned to menial tasks at the Warrant Office, Downtown. On assignment at a store in Waterworks Mall, Gaudelli said, he was disciplined again because he tried to arrest Officer Cindy Harper for shoplifting. Gaudelli said Harper's husband, Assistant Chief Nate Harper, intervened and then was part of a conspiracy to have him fired...
IN PA:
ReplyDeleteI learned of a 1996-1999 case in Pennsylvania (which has a reputation for being so anti-DV, through PCADV, and other groups.) It involves 11th Amendment immunity, and reminds me of the Jessica Gonzales case, out of Colorado, now in international appeals level, when a restraining order didn't restrain, yet no one is accountable.
Perhaps you should blog the George & Jill Burrella case (officer-involved DV escalating into his suicide and attempted murder, though she survived) in PA. They have 3 children, and for 3 years she called 911, fled, sought to get her officer husband help. This is link to the Appeals case, in which she tried to sue the dept. and others for some damages but it failed the constitutional obligation to protect. They kept trying counseling, psychiatric hospital, failing to arrest (ever, that I can see), downgrading to "domestic disturbance" and in short not investigating it. Predictably, he killed himself, leaving 3 children and a seriously injured wife.
http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=04-1157/2495&s=PA&d=34010
This is the 2007 appeals, but has a narration.
Use the search box on the blog and type in
ReplyDeleteBurella (one "r")