I was looking for the true crime topic of the day last week and I came upon this: New Haven, Connecticut:A female citizen standing outside of an appointment, smoking with a friend and her boyfriend. A couple of cops roll up. They tell the three that they are looking for a man, who bears a resemblance to the woman's friend so they are going to be searched.
What do you think is going to happen next?
A: The 3 are separated, questioned, searched and more officers called [they might want more officers]
B: The woman [remember, they aren't looking for a woman, they said so] has her hands grabbed and placed behind her back, and the officer begins to go through her purse without warning [good thing she didn't have an open knife or needle in there]
C: One or more of them is a criminal and it's going to get bad really fast.
If you answered B, you are right, that's what happened to Michelle Weir, of New Haven. I can't figure that one out either, because most cops are smart enough to know not to stick their hands into a woman's bag like that. What the hell! She could have had a firearm in there, a dirty needle, anything. Even the security guard around my apartment complex is smarter than that. She protested when he did it, I probably would have too even though that's not a popular action with the police as we can see all too clearly these days. The officer [ I believe his name is Santiago] actually said to Michelle,"I am authority, I can do whatever I want, I don't have to ask you to hand me your purse." Wow.
Michelle went further. She complained against this whole episode, and what did she get in return for trying to hold this situation up for examination? The distribution of her private emails regarding this matter distributed between officers within the New Haven Police force. I have seen these emails and I have to admit I was disgusted by the whole thing, I really was. [her language was compared to a porn novel and she was accused of getting meth, none of which I saw] I don't know if those should be reprinted. The officer that I contacted in regards to all this refused to return any of my calls or email requests for a statement, because to make an allegation against an officer is something I would think should be taken seriously. I will say her name is Sgt. Tammi Means in case anyone reading this might want to contact them and see if these are unfounded allegations. Hit me up here and I'll give you her phone number! Or, you can just call the New Haven Police Department! The entire email exchange is so professionally embarrassing I wouldn't want anyone to see it if they were my team.
The police can do a lot of things....but whatever they want, that I seriously doubt. Best of luck to you Michelle. We'll always love you for speaking your mind and standing up for what is right.
I had written an email to the New Haven police explaining that the officer who put his hand in my purse made me feel violated. I explained how he almost touched my boob, and that my boyfriend thought he was only grabbing my purse to attempt to grab my boob, and how he got too close to my face and was breathing on my neck and whispering in my ear, and I was outraged, repulsed. So the New haven wrote back to me and said again, "We are cops we can do whatever we want. We shouldn't have even entertained an email like this but if you question the law, you WILL get a response."
I explained how the situation bothered me because I am a rape victim, left it alone, told her to have a nice day.
Then I get a response hours later while I am in school "NOT HOW SHE SOUNDED. SHE SOUNDED LIKE SHE WAS WRITING A PORN NOVEL. AND HOW BOUT I COME TO NEW HAVEN TO GET MY METH." (included a large laughing emoticon at the end)
She was forwarding my messages to someone in her phone and making her own degrading commentary, SENDING IT TO ME, "by accident." It said "sent from iphone, gave her name, her cell phone number, etc"
I sent internal affairs all of the emails, and made a written report on how the officer sent me such a disgusting email, and with no surprise to me, its almost been two weeks, have not gotten a response.
I looked her up on facebook, and to my disgust, recently posted "Not all cops are bad."
The whole reason I was in New Haven that day was to receive my therapy that I've continued to receive since the rape. She accused me of getting methadone, (a lot of methadone clinics are in new haven), but even though I was violated, I don't need methadone or any other drug to "numb my pain."
We've been talking about these cops that are supposed to "protect us" in my therapy group, and even professional therapists still say that reached in my purse without asking, could have put them in danger and ask "what were they thinking?" And have advised me to ask a lawyer about her (tammi means) forwarding my emails and defaming my character. Thanks for the post, annarocket!
Best, Michelle
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Tuesday 28th of July 2015 05:51:21 AM
It's true all cops are not bad but some training might be in order before this turns into another police department we see in the news where something bad happens or someone "commits suicide" while in police custody. This is becoming a commonplace occurance these days. Ask the family of Sandra Bland!
The bottom line is that you can't do anything you want. The police may be in a position of authority, but they are in no way allowed to do anything they want. That's not how it works.
I was writing in to give you an update on the whole situation. I submitted a complaint through internal affairs, and I had my first interview with the officers from internal affairs. All went well, in fact they agreed that the officer had no right to stick his hand "inside my purse." They are getting the video footage to the scene where it happened, and they unfortanetly could not do much about the emails because the officer Tammi Means tried to weasel out of it by saying she sent me the email, meaning to send it to someone else. A lie, of course, but her word against mine.... so they are going to make a case about the officer sticking his hand in my purse. The person they were looking for, which was not related to me or any persons I was with, was supposedly carrying a knife, so in that situation, I have learned that when an officer searches someone, it is only etiquette that they tell you in advance that they are going to touch you, that there is no law stating that he or she must "warn you beforehand." But in my specific case, he said, there is a guideline they are supposed to follow, to only pat the outside of a purse and if there is a possible weapon, then will proceed to search the purse, whether it be on the person or not, without warning. But since he just stuck his hand INSIDE my purse, he is going to be facing consequences, I am not sure exactly what, yet. He also said "police CANNOT do whatever they want, that there are procedures that must be followed with guidelines." And made the statement that if the officer had said "hand me your purse," or "im going to search you," or any simple statement, that most police officers do, that he wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. As for the emails, she got away with saying some pretty bad things about me, and there is literally nothing I can do about it, because her lie that it was "sent to me by mistake" got her out of it. Slick, but either way disgusting and unprofessional.... Thanks again Anna... <3 Michelle
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Friday 14th of August 2015 07:17:20 PM
That's some crazy time nonsense if you ask me. "Oh wait, she didn't MEAN to send it to all her friends? Let's just tell her to knock it off. That should do the trick!"
I'm glad they are going to address at least part of this because the whole thing is so full of fail I could go on for days about it. And if you'd like to have me write a letter to the editor of the local paper [and the not so local paper, I know someone there too] just say the word. Nothing would please me more than to fight for you. You have been lovely and gracious to work with and it has been my pleasure to do anything I can to help you.
This is interesting. Dated 4-27-13, it comes from the New Haven Register News and goes into pretty good detail about a variety of lawsuits and accusations of misconduct on the New Haven Police Department and surrounding townships. I know that no department is perfect and there will always be internal issues as well as allegations of misconduct.
After hearing Michelle's story and reading up a little, I have to wonder, what in the hell is going on up there? I kind of thought, yeah, well I already got the heads up on these idiots from Michelle. But honestly, it's not just New Haven. It's everywhere. We need to get it together, people.
I didnt know that, and that's a really good point... I'm gonna check out the link. I had another realization that when I was interviewed by the internal affairs, they asked me more questions about my rape in the past than the situation at hand. They went on for more than a few minutes about something that had NOTHING to do with an officer sticking his hand in my purse, or an officer saying "ive probably never been raped." I realize now that its a week or so later that their questions about my past rape were not only irrelevant, but maybe even perverted to start a discussion about? What did my rape in the past, have anything to do with any of this? I was raped over a decade ago. Everyone was found guilty, everyone did their "time" (a probation of 10 years since it was their first offense. justice dont you think? NOT!)
What do you think? Think my rape as a child has anything to do with this? Think cops should be a little more sensitive to a subject that gave me P.T.S.D.? And nightmares that will never stop? Think me being raped needed to be brought up in the first place? Why so many questions about it? Do men just like those kinds of details? The internal affairs officers were both men.
I think all of this could have been handled so much more appropriately, and how are New Haven Police supposed to act, if even the internal affairs are being inappropriate?
Im sorry for writing so many posts but when is it all going to end? And how much worse will this get before it gets better? Will it get better?
*~Mylee Rose~*
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Thursday 27th of August 2015 06:18:19 AM
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Thursday 27th of August 2015 06:25:05 AM
As for your question about the local and non local newspaper, you can try if you'd like, I already tried to contact all the local news stations in my area, and did not receive any kind of response.... so if you want to try, go for it, but I don't know if you'll get any luck...
You can post as many times as you like. I created this thread to talk about what happened to you.
You being raped had absolutely NOTHING to do with the situation with the police, and it infuriates me to no end that they interrogated you about it. I wish more than anything you would have had a good lawyer with you. He would have shut that down. God, that really bites it. The sentencing guidelines for rape are a JOKE and I hate and resent the authority for not changing with the times and making them more cognizant of the victim and protective of their rights and the effects of PTSD.
Let me take a shot at the media. I may not win, but I love a good battle.
Michelle, you're a fighter. Don't give up. And it will get better. Nothing is ever easy, but if it was, victory wouldn't be as sweet. Hang in there. We're rooting for you.
There are fairy tale endings occasionally.... I got a letter today dated Oct. 13, 2015, Dear Michelle weir On July 15 2015 you filed a civilian complaint form with the new haven police department office of internal affairs division. I investigated your complaint and conducted interviews. I also reviewed and discussed this case with lieutenant ____. Based on the information i obtained during the: investigation, officer j. Santiago and sgt. t. Means were found to be in violation of -the new haven police department rules and regulations and were referred to cheif _____ for discipline.
I feel very relieved. I don't know legal stuff and who broke what laws only went with my gut that something felt very wrong and it feels good to have gotten a little justice. Without you anna who knows if I would have followed through to the end to make it right. Thanks again.
Mylee(Michelle weir)
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Monday 26th of October 2015 03:53:40 PM
-- Edited by mylee_rose on Monday 26th of October 2015 03:55:15 PM
This is really awesome news! I'm super happy to hear about all of this because there are times when the authority needs to be held responsible for the things they do that do not go along with procedure.
I'm so proud of you Michelle! And it was truely my pleasure to reach out and help you. You have my contact info, don't hesitate to hit me up anytime. I did have my surgery and I'm just being lazy until after the first of the year now! But if you need anything at all, call me and let me know what's up and how you are! Much and
down. God, that really bites it. The sentencing guidelines for rape are a JOKE and I hate and resent the authority for not changing with the times and making them more cognizant of the victim and protective of their rights and the effects of PTSD.
