New POBR Case Protects Whistle Blowers in Law Enforcement

A new case came down today from the 4th Appellate District, Jaramillo v. County of Orange, which establishes that POBR waivers are not enforceable for any Law Enforcement officer, even executive staff.  This case, factually, exposes extreme corruption in the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.  The Appellate Court made every attempt ...Read More

DR. CONRAD MURRAY CONVICTED OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, WILL LOSE LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE

DR. CONRAD MURRAY CONVICTED OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, WILL LOSE LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE A Los Angeles County jury convicted Dr. Conrad Murray of involuntary manslaughter on Monday, November 7, 2011. Lost in all the media hype and outrage by the throngs of fan of the deceased pop icon, is the reality of ...Read More

Is The Penalty Really Appropriate?

 People make mistakes.  In most cases, responsible adults are often willing to admit they’ve made a mistake and are capable of learning from it and moving forward.  While this may seem to be a simple notion of modern society, what happens when the person who made a mistake wears a ...Read More

How Do the Big Teacher’s Unions Get Away With It?

How Do the Big Teacher’s Unions Get Away With Such High Dues? As a California public school student through high school, son of a public school employee, and a  long time coach at a public school for fifteen years, I have seen how hard the majority of teachers work, despite ...Read More

Defense Against Misappropriation Allegation

Allegations of misappropriation usually arise from a police officer or other public employee taking items that belong to the public entity or other persons and keeping these items for themselves.  The misconception is that just because these items are not being used, or have been sitting stagnant for long periods ...Read More

G&A lawyers Defend Failure of Good Behavior Causing Discredit to the Department

Failure of Good Behavior Causing Discredit to the Department One of the more common allegations imposed against Peace Officers, Correctional Officers and other public employees is “Failure of Good Behavior Causing Discredit to the Department.”  This allegation may be the result of  a simple interaction between a public employee and ...Read More

The Key to Successful Defense Against Incompetence

Successful Defense Against Incompetence A possible misconception many officer may have is that once they their basic training they will be found to be competent in all aspects of their job.   In actuality and as in many other professions, training really begins when an officer begins working and gaining real ...Read More

How to Avoid a Sick Leave Abuse Allegation

Sick Leave Abuse               The recent economic recession is leading to a familiar scenario: Budget cuts cause an agency to reduce its staffing levels and no new hiring occurs.  The agency resorts to minimum staffing and mandatory overtime for its public safety officers.  As a result the officer is ...Read More

Salary Reductions

One of the most common forms of disciplinary action taken against public safety employees is a reduction in pay for a period of months.  Generally this reduction will take the form of a 5 or 10 percent reduction for however many months are imposed.  There are both some key pros ...Read More

Response to Adverse Comments in Personnel File

Response to Adverse Comments in Personnel File Disciplinary action can take many forms when it comes to public safety employees.  Sometimes it is not as heavy as a suspension without pay or a demotion.  Often correction may come in the form of a counseling memo or a “documentation of verbal ...Read More