October 18th, 2011
A New York police commander who pepper-sprayed protesters during the opening days of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations last month faces an internal disciplinary charge that could cost him 10 vacation days, the police said Tuesday.
The commander, Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, has been given a so-called command discipline, according to a law enforcement official. Officials said investigators found that the inspector ran afoul of Police Department rules for the use of the spray. The department’s patrol guide, its policy manual, says pepper spray should be used primarily to arrest a suspect who is resisting arrest, or for protection; it does allow for its use in “disorder control,” but only by officers with special training.
The Internal Affairs Bureau reviewed the episode and found that Inspector Bologna “used pepper spray outside departmental guidelines,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. He declined to elaborate.
The inspector can accept the charge and plead guilty, or he can opt for a departmental trial. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is the ultimate arbiter of punishment in such matters and has wide leeway in his decisions.
Inspector Bologna’s actions on Sept. 24, when he doused several penned-in women with the spray, was captured on video and spread widely on the Internet. It became a defining moment in the protests; four days later, Mr. Kelly said the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau would look into the inspector’s actions.
At the same time, the Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into the matter. On Monday, one of the women who was pepper-sprayed, accompanied by her lawyer, met with prosecutors and urged them to bring criminal charges against Inspector Bologna.
Mr. Browne could not immediately say where the commander is currently assigned.
But Deputy Inspector Roy T. Richter, the head of the Captains Endowment Association, said Inspector Bologna was still assigned to Patrol Borough Manhattan South.
“Deputy Inspector Bologna is disappointed at the results of the department investigation,” Mr. Richter said. “His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct. To date, this conduct has not been portrayed in its true context.”
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent city agency that investigates accusations against police officers, is “still investigating” the Bologna matter, said Linda Sachs, a spokeswoman for the board.
Late Tuesday afternoon, a few hundred people marched to the offices of Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, calling for him to immediately drop any criminal charges against people arrested during the monthlong protests.
Standing outside 1 Hogan Place, in Lower Manhattan, many of them said some officers had been involved in instances of brutality. The marchers took turns addressing the crowd and recounting what they said were their experiences of being arrested unfairly and handled violently by officers. One speaker said several people had singled out one commander, seen punching a man in a snippet of video from protests on Friday, saying they wanted him “off the streets.”
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using the number/letter grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
A = 1 J = 1 S = 1
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
Anthony Bologna
1528657 2636751 64
his path of destiny/how he learns what he is here to learn = 64 = Bummer. This sucks. Hitting rock bottom.
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numerology behind the news 