‘PROFILE' TROOPERS
COP PLEA
January 15, 2002 -- TRENTON - Two state troopers avoided jail time by pleading guilty yesterday in a New Jersey Turnpike shooting that forced the nation to examine the issue of racial profiling.
The men said they were encouraged by their superiors to target minorities.

In a deal with prosecutors, James Kenna and John Hogan pleaded guilty to official misconduct and providing false information. They had been charged with aggravated assault; Kenna had also been charged with attempted murder. They were fined $280 each.

In 1998, the troopers fired 11 shots at a van they pulled over for speeding on the turnpike in Mercer County. Three of four people in the van were wounded.

As he left the courthouse, Kenna said he had a message for the four young minority men, who did not attend yesterday's hearing.

"I've been thinking about you ever since this occurred," he said softly, speaking directly to television cameras. "I'm sorry."

In deciding not to give either man probation, Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey said he could not expect that they would commit further crimes.

"They are not only victims of their own conduct, but victims of the system that employed them," Delehey said. The men claimed that profiling was encouraged by New Jersey officials and at the federal level. Under the plea agreement, Hogan and Kenna will be forced to resign and will be barred from ever holding jobs as police officers in New Jersey.

AP

We wouldn't want to offend anyone by targeting groups that commit crimes.( I should clarify that I don't know the whole story, but if a particular group has a penchant for criminal activity, whether it's racial or not, they shouldn't be surprised when calls for the authorities to do something lead them to targeting that group.)

why did they shoot at them?
i dunno the whole story
anyone?

"Vee ver only following zee orders of our zuperiors"?

Hmmm, interesting defense.

Of course, as someone has pointed out, we don't know some details - like why did they shoot at them?

Now you guys need to settle down. The two police officers that shot and wounded three people are obviously the victims here.

"First , the basic facts of the incident in question. On April 23, 1998, Trooper John Hogan and his partner Trooper James Kenna were riding patrol on the New Jersey Turnpike when they encountered a minivan breaking the law.

After initially failing to pull over, the Troopers then quickly and cautiously approached the van. [b]The van then lurked backward and struck Trooper Hogan, knocking him to the ground.[/b] The motor vehicle was rented by an individual who was not present in the van and thus being driven by an unauthorized driver.

[b]Furthermore, and a fact that seems to have been completely overlooked by the media is that the drivers' license was revoked.[/b] Once struck, Trooper Hogan's training and desire to live permitted him to defend himself as the 4000 pound vehicle was used as a weapon against him.

[b]The van then went into reverse again, across two lanes of Turnpike traffic, striking one vehicle that soon burst into flames.[/b] The van finally became disabled after crashing into a tree lined embankment."

More found here...[url]http://www.trooperhogan.com/facts.htm[/url]



...and now you know the rest of the story.

"Hogan and Kenna were suspended without pay in 1999 after a state grand jury indicted them on charges, separate from the shooting, of illegally searching motorists and repeatedly lying about the skin color of the motorists they stopped, allegedly to cover up racial profiling."

hmm dont sound like victims to me...

This came from the www.trooperhogan.com website, hardly an unbiased source.  I've been following this in the papers since it occurred.  None of what you quoted has been in the papers, not the knocking Hogan down, not the renting, not the expired or revoked license, not the crossing lanes of traffic, not another vehicle bursting into flame.  In fact, I specifically recall the original news stories.  The unburnt van was still off the right side of the turnpike where it was initially stopped, no trees.  It was described as belonging to the driver's father.  They were on the way to a basketball game.

I love the phrase, "encountered a minivan breaking the law".  The minivan was pulled over for speeding.  Anyone here not done that?  Didn't think so.  

Some more of the story, from the Trenton Times.  Both troopers admitted to falsifying records of many previous tickets issued.  They falsely recorded drivers stopped as white, when they were not.  They said they were trained to do this.  Why?

They claimed they were repeatedly told to lie by their superiors.  They were told what to say & how to say it with no regard for the truth.  They both reported a great concern over "how this would make the troopers look."  None of their superiors have been accused of anything.

All that said, I defy anyone to tell the race or color of someone in another car at night.

They fired 11 shots into a van, wounded 3 people, and they got fined $280 each? All I can say is
DAMN! [whacko]

edited to add the whacko icon, this case certainly deserves it.

Yeah, I know it's biased.  I figured it was "their" side of the story.

Swap "system" with "environment" and we have the excuse many minority groups use as the reason they commit crime. Something is certainly wrong here.

Aggravated assault and attempted murder knocked down to official misconduct and providing false information? Why would the DA bring those heavy charges to begin with against two LEOs unless they had a case?

Keep in mind this same argument can be used against individuals who possess firearms.

Ding! Get that man a Kewpie doll!

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=86405[/url]

Yep, I've noticed. All topics on very touchy issues. However, I enjoy most of them as they are pretty interesting. Some are kind of stupid though.