Huntington Park Chief Revives Officer Probes

HUNTINGTON PARK — Responding to a rash of brutality claims against his department, Police Chief Geano Contessotto said last week that he has reopened all internal investigations of officers done since late 1984.

Contessotto said Lt. Frank Sullivan is now reviewing past misconduct allegations raised in citizen complaints, legal claims and lawsuits. The department will then consider whether retraining for officers is needed, the chief said.

“The purpose is to see if there is something we are doing wrong,” Contessotto said.

Huntington Park police, according to a Times survey in July, had the highest frequency of brutality claims among municipal police departments in the Southeast/Long Beach area. The 60-member department had 30 brutality claims in 1984 and 1985. A claim is the first step in filing a lawsuit. Of the 30 claims, so far 14 have become lawsuits.

Internal Investigations

The department’s internal investigations previously were performed by Capt. Martin Simonoff. He conducted 17 internal investigations for the department in late 1984 and 1985, and an undetermined number of internal investigations this year, many of which concerned brutality allegations. In the investigations done by Simonoff in 1984 and 1985, he sustained only one complaint.

In an interview last week, Contessotto conceded for the first time that the department “appears to have a bit of a problem” with brutality claims. But he said that the number of brutality claims has declined since April, when Simonoff was moved to supervise night patrols.

The chief said he reassigned Simonoff to provide increased supervision of evening patrols because the majority of brutality claims involved incidents that occurred during that shift. However, Contessotto also said that he relieved Simonoff of his internal investigation duties after he noticed a “deficiency.” Asked to explain what he meant, Contessotto said that Simonoff had “limited investigative experience” when he was appointed captain a few years ago.

“At the time, he (Simonoff) was the only person I had,” Contessotto said.

The chief also criticized Simonoff for writing an internal investigation last year that Contessotto termed an “obvious display of personal prejudice.”

Simonoff declined comment on all of the chief’s remarks.

The Times obtained a copy of the Simonoff report specifically criticized by Contessotto. The report concluded that Officer Mark Betor may have been aware of and participated in an attempt to cash a $5,000 check at the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens on Feb. 22, 1985. The check, which the Bicycle Club refused to cash, carried the forged authorization of the club’s general manager, according to Simonoff’s report and Bell Gardens police records.

In his report, Simonoff said Betor may have been guilty of several felonies, and the captain recommended forwarding the report to the district attorney for possible prosecution. In an interview last week, however, Betor said he was never aware of and never participated in any crime.

Contessotto declined to submit Simonoff’s report to the district attorney’s office because, he said, he was under no legal obligation to do so. Internal police reports are for the department’s own use, the chief said. He added that the Bell Gardens Police Department was responsible for investigating the alleged crime because it occurred in Bell Gardens.

Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven A. Sowders said Monday that his office frequently receives internal police reports and that Contessotto could have submitted the report. Sowders agreed, however, that the chief was under no legal obligation to submit the report because the alleged crime occurred in Bell Gardens.

No One Arrested

Sowders said his office is now conducting a review of the incident to see whether an investigation is warranted. (Earlier this month, Sowders had said that his office also was reviewing allegations of brutality raised in three legal claims against Huntington Park reported in July by The Times.)

Bell Gardens Police Chief William Donohoe said in an interview last week that no one was ever arrested or prosecuted for the 1985 Bicycle Club incident because of insufficient evidence. He said that to his knowledge no member of his department was aware that a Huntington Park police officer may have been involved in the incident. He added that the incident is now under further investigation by his department.

‘If there is any indication that we can resurrect a criminal prosecution, then we certainly will,” Donohoe said.

Last year, Contessotto suspended Betor for a month without pay after he received Simonoff’s report. Although the chief said a crime was “possibly” committed at the Bicycle Club last year, he added that “no criminal action was committed by Betor.”

The chief said he disciplined Betor severely, however, because he believed the officer was “screwing up his life” by gambling. He said he was also concerned about the kinds of people Betor was associating with. As one of the terms of discipline, Betor submitted to professional treatment for gambling, the chief said. He added that Betor is a “very productive member of this department” who has cured his former gambling problem.

Denies Gambling Problem

In an interview, Betor, 31, said he did not have a gambling problem. “I just think that gambling for recreation, enjoyment or relaxation is not detrimental to my career,” Betor said. He said, however, that at the chief’s request, he no longer gambles in any of the state’s casinos.

George Hardie, Bicycle Club general manager, said in an interview that Betor still owes the club $3,000 for a club customer’s check that was cashed Feb. 22, 1985. The bill has been turned over to a collection agency, Hardie said. Betor declined to comment on whether he owes any money to the Bicycle Club.

In his report on Betor, Simonoff said the off-duty officer was gambling at the Bicycle Club on that date in February, when he left the club to show a check to a friend. The check had just been initialed for cashing by club manager Hardie, the Simonoff report said. Shortly afterward, Simonoff said in his report, a third man attempted to pass a $5,000 check that contained Hardie’s forged authorization.

Betor, however, said he left the club to get a newspaper and that he never gave the check to his friend, although he conceded that somehow his friend saw the check. He would not elaborate. Betor said he returned to the club to gamble, and that he was unaware of any attempt to pass a check with forged authorization.

The Simonoff report concludes that several felonies may have been committed by Betor, including being an accessory to a crime, criminal conspiracy, attempting to procure another to be charged for a crime and attempting to pervert or obstruct justice.

‘Smear Campaign’

Betor, however, said Simonoff’s report contained numerous lies and was part of a “vicious smear campaign against me.”

Contessotto last week also criticized Simonoff, saying his report was “biased” and contained material that was “untrue.” He said, however, that Simonoff has not been disciplined regarding any deficiencies in the report.

The chief also said last week that he was initiating and personally taking charge of an internal investigation into how The Times obtained his department’s internal police report on Betor.

Contessotto said that publishing details of the report was an “embarrassment” to the department and part of an ongoing campaign by The Times to discredit his department.

“I’m not a crook, I don’t have any skeletons in my closet,” he said.