Acting Philly Police Commissioner Christ Philadelphia
Acting Philly Police Commissioner Christine Coulter Apologizes for Wearing Controversial L.A.P.D. T-Shirt in the 90s, Councilwoman Calls for Resignation
After Coulter's statement, Cindy Bass, Philadelphia City Councilor, read from a letter to Mayor Jim Kenney calling for Coulter's resignation.
A hearing on racist social media posts by police officers in Philadelphia City Council took a dramatic turn Tuesday when Acting Police Commissioner Christine M. Coulter apologized for the controversial t-shirt she wore in the 1990s, urging the councilwoman to call for her resignation.
The hearing addressed a report, released by the Plain read Project in June, that showed the results of a biennial review of over 3,000 racist Facebook posts and comments from both current and former officers in Philadelphia and seven other U.S. police departments.
The findings resulted in 72 Philadelphia cops being placed on administrative leave, including the suspension of 13 officers with the intent of being dismissed. at least seven officers resigned shortly afterwards announcement was made.
While giving the opening statement during Tuesday’s hearing, coulter shifted the main focus to herself, by addressing a t-shirt she wore 25 years ago. A photo, first reported by Philly.com, shows a coulter wearing a shirt, "L.A.P.D. We're treating you like a King. Some interpreted the words as referring to the heavily advertised, caught in 1991 by four Los Angeles police officers of beating Rodney King's on camera
Coulter initially said the image was taken during a gathering with other officers at the Jersey Shore when she worked within the 25th District, according to Philly.com. At Tuesday’s hearing, coulter said that she didn’t believe at the time that the shirt was referencing the Rodney King incident. She still apologized for wearing it, however.
“It is obvious that it was a bad decision on my part and I would not wear that shirt today,” she said. “Certainly, as I look into the past week and the hurt and damage it has caused people whom I care about to communities that I always care about, I should have known.”
After Coulter’s statement, Philadelphia councilwoman Cindy Bass read from a letter written to Mayor Jim Kenney in which she called for Coulter’s resignation.
“I don't believe that the Acting Commissioner Christine M. coulter will effectively manage the external relationships necessary to address police and community tensions which are fully required of any commissioner,” Bass said in the letter.
Bass asked for coulter to step down straight off, which drew cheers from the crowd during the hearing.
A representative from the mayor's office told that while Kenney believes the shirt was in poor taste, he's glad coulter is taking responsibility for wearing it. The spokesperson also said Kenney hopes coulter is judged on her nearly 30 years of service rather than one poor decision.
"About all this, my heart was broken," Coulter said. "There are people in this room that I have served in their communities who know my heart and know that I have been serving in black and brown communities for 30 years with everything I have ever had to give, never treating people unjustly or unjustly because of their race. I treated people like gentlemen, even people I had to arrest.
Coulter became Philadelphia's top cop last month after former Commissioner Richard Ross' sudden resignation. He stepped down one day after 2 female police officers filed an amended cause alleging Ross didn’t properly deal with their accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination against other members of the department. Ross was also accused of getting an affair with one of the women.
Coulter was listed as a suspect in the federal lawsuit.
Philadelphia's managing director said an all-out search is on for a permanent police commissioner with the goal of hiring one by the end of the year. the city also released a survey residents can fill out online expressing what they need from a new commissioner.
Casinos in Atlantic City face huge losses due to Coronavirus closures
According to the figures released on Friday, Casinos in Atlantic city saw a 65% fall in their profits in the first quarter of the year.
The first quarter only covered two weeks of closure in March due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The officials are sure that the numbers will be even worse for the second quarter as casinos were shut all of April and so far, May, with no reopening scheduled soon.
The figures from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that nine casinos collectively earned only a profit of $29.6 million in the first quarter this year as they had earned $85.6 million in the same period last year.
The big decline is "not surprising, given that most casinos continued to pay employees for two weeks after the shutdown," said Jane Bokunewicz, coordinator of a gambling studies institute at Stockton University outside Atlantic City. "With only internet gaming and a small number of sports betting revenue to offset payroll expenses, a significant decrease was inevitable."
Three casinos had suffered huge losses as compared to last year's first-quarter profits.
Bally's faced a loss of $8 million this year as compared to $2.8 million last year. Caesars went from 10.8 million profit to a $593,000 loss, and resorts went from a $3 million profit to a $3.4 million loss.
What all charges you can face on violating state stay-at-home orders
The shutdowns caused due to COVID-19 pandemic had completed more than two months, and some of the businesses and some people have been pushing the limits of statewide stay-at-home orders.
Some businesses started reopening their businesses despite shutdowns and are now facing citations and fines.
According to officials, most of the people follow the guidelines, but only some do not follow the orders. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that some "knuckleheads" cause headaches as the state battles the deadly coronavirus.
This issue was raised after the announcement by Gov. On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf states that all the counties under the strictest lockdown would move to the next phase of reopening from June 5.
Attorneys from the two states talked to our team and said that it is not beneficial to charge a large number of people as courts had already grown their backlog.
I'm not sure we want to clog the court system up with those kinds of cases," said Michael Donio, a retired New Jersey judge who now works in private practice.
Gov. Wolf said that strict actions would be taken for the people violating an executive order. According to state laws, anyone found violating an emergency order faces a fine up to $200 or jail time of up to 30 days. Those maximum amounts increase to $500 or 90 days for subsequent offenses.
Many Counties in Philadelphia will move to yellow phase by June 5 said Gov. Wolf
Gov. Tom Wolf announced that Philadelphia has a new timeframe for the reopening, which includes the reopening of Pennsylvania's 18 counties. As these counties were strictly locked down as a response to coronavirus, these will move from red to yellow by June 5.
The city with Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, will join other provinces which had already started reopening the businesses and services under the yellow phase of state reopening.
From May 29, eight counties will move to the yellow phase: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Schuylkill, and the remaining ten counties will move to yellow on June 5.
In his announcement, Wolf also announced that 17 more counties would move to green phase from May 29, including Bradford, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, and Warren.
Even the yellow phase will be strictly implemented as many businesses will continue to remain closed in the yellow period. These closures include gyms, casinos, theaters, and other indoor recreational, wellness, and entertainment venues, and no gathering of more than 25 people will be allowed.
Restaurants and bars are only allowed for limited carry-out or delivery. Businesses also have to follow the state and federal guidelines of sanitization and social distancing.
Atlantic city will reopen the hotels, motels and Airbnb from next week
As the reopening phases had started in the U.S., Atlantic City plans soon to reopen the hotels, motels and short-term rentals. City officials said that these might open from next week.
Mayor Marty Small Sr. said if a business can follow all the regulations for safety, they may start reopening, but they should ensure the safety of customers and employees. Those businesses were closed last month as a part of the pandemic lockdown.
"We depend on all those economic engines to drive our revenue, we are a tourist destination," Small said.
The city's director of licensing and inspections, Dale Finch, said that his department will reach 35 hotels and motels and will tell that they can open. The businesses can restart their businesses from next Friday, March 29.
Finch also said that some online businesses like Expedia and Airbnb have been calling almost every day to know the update on the reopening date.
Fire chief Scott Evans said that if a business did not follow the safety guidelines, then their business will be forcefully closed.
Small did not tell anything about the reopening of casinos, but he said there is a "constant conversation" about the timeline and safety concerns.
Man arrested for being accused of sexually assaulting ponies at an equestrian center in Delaware
A man accused of sexually assaulting ponies at an equestrian center in Delaware got arrested by the Police.
Michael Riego, 31, has charged for two bestialities and two burglaries.
Police started the investigation after receiving reports of injured horses at the New Castle County Carousel Park and Equestrian Center. The staff at the center also told Police that they often arrive to work and see ponies with chords tied around their legs just above the hoof.
Detectives reviewed the surveillance footage and found that a man entered the barn during the night time on the days when incidents were reported.
On April 20, Police were reported about the same man that he was seen near the 31-year-old brown mare in the camera. According to footage, the man wore a mask on his face and entered mare's stall. Then the man tied up the mare's hind legs and sexually assaulted the animal.
All the ponies were treated by a veterinarian and all the well now with normal activities.
Police are still investigating the incidents and had said that Riego might suffer some more charges. Any farmer who has any information related to Riego or had hired him for work contact police. Anyone with any information related to the incident should Detect Brian Lucas at (302) 395-8110 or email him at [email protected], or you can call the New Castle County Division of Police at 302-573-2800.
