File # 20040112

Statement of Michael E. Di Rosa

in complaint of the conduct of

officer S. Jones (payroll #115025)

Nature of the complaint:

On January 15, 2004, Officer S. Jones (payroll #115025), while performing his duties concerning the impounding of my vehicle, did refuse to complete and did hamper the completion of a reasonably competent inventory of the contents of my vehicle, despite the fact that the document he inaccurately claims I refused to sign clearly states that it is a “JPSO Vehicle Storage, Wrecker Request and Inventory Record”. [emphasis added] This action has put my property in jeopardy since I now have no way of proving what, if anything, has been stolen from my vehicle while it was in the custody of the Jefferson Parish Police.

Statement of the facts in support of the complaint:

I was stopped by officer Jones for routine traffic violations for which he wrote complaints. In this phase of the performance of his duty he handled himself in a very professional and courteous manner, and of this I have no complaint of his conduct.

Officer Jones then informed me that he was going to have to impound my vehicle, and confiscate the license plate. I asked the officer if there was any way that I could stop the seizure of my vehicle. He told me that there was no way to stop the impounding of my vehicle. I asked the officer about the contents of the vehicle (my personal property) and I was told that I could either put the property out on the side of the road or the property would be impounded with the vehicle and I would have no access to the property until such time that I pay all of the appropriate fees to recover my vehicle. I then informed the officer that there was a lot of stuff in the vehicle, and that I would need a inventory of all of the items of personal property seized with the vehicle. To this he replied that this would not be a problem.

Luckily, I was able to contact a friend who came with a station wagon to assist me in the removal of my property. Since the vehicle being impounded is a full size van filled with personal property to the extent that virtually no floor space was left unused, and the vehicle supplied to aid in the protection of my personal property from seizure is considerably smaller, I was forced to leave some of my personal property in the vehicle.

During the course of removing my personal property and transferring it to the smaller vehicle I witnessed officer Jones attempting to remove the license plate with his thumbnail and offered, and did lend him a screwdriver to complete the task. I state this fact to show that I was not being belligerent nor abusive to the officer. In fact, I had stated to the officer, on numerous occasions, that I was aware that he was just performing his duty, and any grievance I may or may not have with the situation was best handled, by me, at a latter date, in a court of law.

Upon completing the transfer of my personal property (what portion of it that would fit in the smaller vehicle), the officer told me that I should call out the items remaining in the vehicle, and that he would write the list. To this I agreed, after all, this officer had been, to this point, performing his duties in a very professional and courteous manner. I then began to call out the commonly recognized name of each item and the quantity. I had resisted the temptation to demand a precise and accurate inventory complete with model number, serial number, condition relative to new, and any other pertinent information necessary to accurately describe each article as opposed to any other similar article, although I do believe that to have been my right. An inventory is, at best, a long and tedious endeavor that I had no desire to prolong. I started at the rear door and began to call out the items, logically working my way to the front. At a point, midway through the center of the cargo area, a distraction occurred the nature of which I can not positively recall. It may have been the arrival of the tow truck, or it may have been a question from my friend who had been tying some of my property to the roof of his vehicle. In any case, the distraction was short in duration, and we returned to the task of inventory. I asked the officer, what was the last thing I had called out? I had been working logically from rear to front, and that information would have allowed me to pick up right where I had left off. The officer refused to tell me the last item that he had written, even after numerous requests and explanations. I then had to move back to a point that I knew I had covered (again resisting the temptation to start from the beginning) and I continued to call out items, to which he would reply that he had written that item, until he reached a point and began to respond “OK”.

We had reached a point immediately behind the front seats when the officer told me that he did not need my signature on this form, and that the inventory was over. He further told me that if I didn't give him the key to the vehicle they were going to break the steering column lock and proceed to remove the vehicle. He then ordered me out of the vehicle. Not wishing to see the vehicle damaged, I surrendered the key to all locks on the vehicle. I tried to explain to the officer that we were almost finished with the inventory, and that I would have no way of proving what was or wasn't in the vehicle without an inventory. He replied with a lack of concern. He then gave me a copy of the of the “JPSO Vehicle Storage, Wrecker Request, and Inventory Record”. [emphasis added]

This is when I learned that the officer had shortened the description to such a level that I could not even recognize the article by the description, and, in most cases, the specific quantity was reduced to a simple plural, and in some cases, not even that. I also learned, at this time, that the officer asserted that I had refused to sign the document. This is incorrect. Whereas it may be true that I would have refused to sign this inaccurate inventory, in actual fact, I was never afforded an opportunity to see the document much less given an opportunity to refuse to sign before it was thrust into my hand as a completed document. At this point I knew that, in my agitated state, I may be better served to refrain from speaking to the officer or risk arrest and further damage. So I informed the officer that this was not legal, and that I objected. To which he again replied with a lack of concern. I then refrained from speaking to the officer unless asked a question by the officer, to which I would reply. My vehicle, and my property, were then removed from my possession, and all parties dispersed.

I acknowledge that this statement is in my own words and/or meaning and that the information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

_______________________

Michael E. Di Rosa

6535 Wuerpel St.

New Orleans, LA 70124

504-484-6319