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Topic summary

Posted by George W. Maschke
 - Aug 13, 2009, 05:37 AM

Angela Garbarino after Beating by Police Officer Wiley Willis

A police officer who was terminated for brutally beating a woman in his custody has been reinstated because the polygrapher who interrogated him as part of an internal investigation failed to make a recording of the polygraph examination. Shreveport, Louisiana Police Officer Wiley Willis' brutalization of Angela Garbarino on 17 November 2007 became national news in 2008 when video from the incident was released. In the video, shortly after Willis handcuffs her, Garbarino asks, "Is this on the record?" She then looks into the camera and says, "Good." However, Willis later turns off the video camera, and when he turns it back on, Garbarino lies on the floor in a pool of blood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KM1ukwBGv4

Now, the Shreveport Times reports that Wiley Willis has been reinstated with back pay because polygraph operator Wayne Nissen failed to record his polygraph examination of Willis, in violation of Louisiana's Police Officer Bill of Rights (Louisiana Revised Statutes, Title 40, Chapter 25, §2531), which mandates among other things that "All interrogations of any police employee or law enforcement officer in connection with the investigation shall be recorded in full."

Shreveport Police Officer Wiley Willis

Here is the relevant portion of Shreveport Times reporter Loresha Wilson's coverage of the story:

Quotehttp://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090813/NEWS03/908130319

Board reinstates Willis, says city violated his rights
Panel says Shreveport violated Wiley Willis' rights

By Loresha Wilson • ljwilson@gannett.com • August 13, 2009

The Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board's seven members made the ruling Wednesday in the case known nationally for video footage of the handcuffed woman lying in a pool of her blood in a police interrogation room.

The ruling means Wiley Willis can return to duty once his in-service and firearm requirements are met.

"He'll get a year and a half of back pay, benefits, retirement, everything," said Michael Carter, president of the Shreveport police officers union. And as far as he knows, Carter added, Willis intends to continue working for the Shreveport Police Department.

The Civil Service Board ruled that Willis' rights, under the Police Officer Bill of Rights, were violated because an expert failed to record a polygraph examination Willis took as part of the Police Department's investigation into Garbarino's injuries, including a broken nose.

Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn called the panel's finding a technicality and said he is "disappointed with the board's ruling." The police chief said he is moving forward with the city's legal department to pursue an appeal.

"This is not a technicality, this is the law — the Police Bill of Rights," Michael Carter, president of the Shreveport police officers union, said after a news conference Wednesday evening.

Carter also said Willis was fired for failing to administer first aid — a detail the Police Department never has released and would not confirm. Carter pointed out that police officers haven't been trained in first aid since 1996 and are not equipped with any type of medical supplies.

Wayne Nissen, who administered the polygraph, testified before the board that he was aware the Police Department was investigating Willis' actions. He said he wasn't given a line of questions to ask during the exam but was told to ask questions about the night of Garbarino's arrest.

However, Nissen said, he was unaware of the Police Officer Bill of Rights, which provides a certain level of protection for officers during investigations and personnel matters.

...

This unfortunate situation could have been avoided had Mr. Nissen been in the habit of routinely recording all polygraph examinations. Just as there is no excuse for Officer Willis having turned off the video camera in the detention room, there is no excuse for any polygraph examination not to be recorded in its entirety.