welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers crime scene contamination filing a formal complaint and officer retaliation and comes to us from the batosis channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve before we dive into the interaction i want to give a big thanks to the sponsor of this episode news authority supervisor on february 4th 2020 street musician michael malinowski was playing guitar at the jackson redline station in chicago illinois when a 38 year old mentally ill woman attacked him 35 year old chicago transit authority supervisor martisa lee received a call over her radio about the incident and responded immediately officers from the chicago police department quickly arrived on the scene arrested the suspect and called for medical assistance for mr malinowski authorities determined that the platform was a crime scene but were unable to cordon off the area because they did not have enough of their standard yellow tape to do so the chicago tribune reported that more than a dozen people walked through the unmarked crime scene before officer raymond herron spotted mrs lee and confronted her as an the slide awesome they got to go on the outside this is all a crime scene yeah he's grabbing after the victim watch out ma'am man come on wait the toes are not just tell me out here oh yeah you need to get out of the crime scene man please get out of the crime scene that's what i'm telling you and you're trusting me because you're in the crime scene you're and don't go through the crime scene again don't touch me again don't go through the crime okay it's very simple we can go back and preserving the condition of a crime scene is a vital element of the investigatory process and as noted by assistant director of the criminal justice institute dr cheryl may crime scene contamination usually results through the actions of the personnel at the scene in general the greater number of personnel at the scene the more likely it is that the scene or evidence will be contaminated the national institute of justice's crime scene investigation manual states that controlling identifying and removing persons at the crime scene and limiting the number of persons who enter the crime scene and the movement of such persons is an important function of the initial responding officers in protecting the crime scene and institutes a policy that the initial responding officers shall identify persons at the crime scene and control their movement the manual's procedure instructs officers to control all individuals at the scene and prevent them from altering or destroying physical evidence by restricting movement location and activity while ensuring and maintaining safety at the scene and to exclude unauthorized and non-essential personnel from the scene including law enforcement officials not working the case although some people had walked through the crime the officers were making a legitimate effort to secure the area and officer herron was well within his authority to control the movement of anyone walking through the scene who was not directly investigating the crime that had taken place approximately seven minutes after officer herron removed mrs lee from the crime scene sergeant william speicher arrives and mrs lee confronts him about officer herron's conduct but we can deal with this and then we'll start with that later why are you on the crime scene or something i'm walking talking and it was telling me that that's the situation he grabbed me and pushed me maybe you were in the crime scene i'm not sure do you want me to ask him why i want something to be done but if he tells me that you are obstructing the crime scene we're going to arrest you you're not going to yes we are my job this is my job this way that'll be his job mrs lee makes the assertion that because she was not in the exact area where the crime took place then she should not have been moved however the scope of a crime scene is not limited to the immediate area of which the crime took place the nij's crime scene investigation manual states that boundaries are established beyond the initial scope of the crime scene with the understanding that the boundaries can be reduced in size if necessary but cannot be as easily expanded the manual's policy states that the initial responding officers at the scene shall conduct an initial assessment of the extent of the crime scene and then establish and control its boundaries whether or not mrs lee was near any of the vital elements of the crime scene is irrelevant the officers are within their authority to establish and control any areas they deem relevant to the investigation now you're playing apples and oranges this is ours not to be pushed okay i'm going to ask him are you the supervisor yes i am is it worth it to you that serious for this yes because he pushed me did i push you out of the crime scene yes i almost took the blue tack tail they pushed me too because i didn't know i was in the middle i don't know let no man allow me i don't care he didn't push you down and it doesn't matter but he pushed he touched you exactly can i touch you and grab you the way you grab me we can touch you to move you out but i sent you and grab you the way he grabbed me ma'am we can touch you to move you out of a crime scene so i can tell you a movie no you can't touch me i mean her her job is is for uh is to serve the people right and and by definition it means doing a good job of the crime scene and a story but if that if that means getting touched pushed yeah so be it so what i mean this is not your job this is our job officers of the chicago transit authority have no investigatory powers in regards to violations of state laws as a cta supervisor mrs lee's primary function at the crime scene was to oversee stops in the loop and determine which train should be stopped or rerouted nothing in her official capacity would grant her access to a restricted crime scene once the chicago police department took over the scene it is important to review the moment that officer herron ushered mrs lee out of the crime scene as she continues to assert the notion that officer herron pushed her out of the way the body cam footage shows that the officer physically guided mrs lee out of the crime scene and did not forcefully push or shove her as she claims your job is to conduct exactly and i was talking to my manager your job is to con to work with the trains this is now our crime scene if you're in the middle but we can move you out of me yes i'm not i'm not trying to move you out of the crank but i'm not surprised there's no complaint if that's your complaint there's no complaint transfer if i have your legs okay yeah we're gonna have to i'm gonna talk to him man no that's fine but that's fine whatever you saying that's fine which one of you guys grabbed her because she was walking through the crime scene and i but anyway you said you needed one for me or something they need you to hold the tape they want you to see your supervisor you can hold the tape forward that the tape up but you have to get that from controls you know that's was she obstructing the crime scene yes i told her it's all my body camera i told her she had to get out of the crime scene she kept walking i told you to get that confidence did she continue do you want to have her arrested for obstructing her crime scene she could laugh all she wants but she cannot obstruct our crimes although sergeant spiker may be within his authority to arrest mrs lee for obstructing the crime scene it is clear that the motivation to effectuate an arrest was derived from mrs lee's intention to file a complaint against officer herron a former supervisor of chicago's police oversight agency lorenzo davis told the chicago tribune that it is unlikely officer herron would face disciplinary action for removing mindfulness but also stated everyone has a right to file a complaint chicago is one of the few cities that has both a bureau of internal affairs and a civilian office of police accountability which essentially work congruently with one another whenever a complaint is filed sergeant speicher does not retain the authority to dictate whether a complaint against an officer is valid and according yeah i think it's about being a bigger person and you don't do an action because somebody says it's going to do one right you want to do an action do it or you don't don't do it because they're doing something otherwise it's just weird it's just weird according to the chicago tribune city policy requires officers to report a complaint to the civilian office of police accountability within one hour of receiving it sergeant speicher chose to arrest mrs lee only after she insisted on filing a complaint which is an obvious act of retaliation yeah she obstructed her crime scene she did not exit when i told her i said maybe i got the crimes officer herron places mrs lee into handcuffs and mrs lee's manager arrives on the scene shortly thereafter after some negotiations with the cpd officers mrs lee is released and allowed to go free without any charges according to the chicago tribune mrs lee's name appeared on the cpd's official incident report accusing her of obstruction of justice and potentially contaminating the crime scene but failed to mention mrs lee's request to lodge a complaint or that she was detained for another seven minutes after officer herron removed her from the unmarked crime scene following the encounter mrs lee filed a formal complaint with the civilian office of police accountability who recommended that sergeant spiker be stripped of his police powers while it investigates the complaint chicago superintendent david brown has not yet responded to the notification and the sergeant continues to serve in his official capacity mrs lee has since filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the officers falsely arrested her and violated her first amendment rights and is still employed with the chicago transit authority overall officer herron and sergeant speicher get a scene although they were within their authority to order mrs lee to evacuate the crime scene they principally arrested her for attempting to file a complaint did not appropriately document the encounter and made no effort to de-escalate the interaction as mentioned earlier officer herron did nothing wrong by removing mrs lee from the crime scene however every complaint against an officer should be taken seriously and sergeant the the girl gets on so down give me a minute you know what she gets a d she gets a d d minus not f because she wasn't that bad after the fact but her job is is to um you know serve and protect and be a public servant right type of thing isn't that like the whole police thing is and i i think it's kind of weird to be to to be told hey man it's a crime scene you're going to contaminate it and you're you're going to ruin it whatever and and and having such a disregard for evidence i think that's a problem that that's the basis of policing she's just going to ruin it so that's the d minus smith soul of mrs lee's claims and reluctance to include her complaint in any official reports indicate that her arrest was an act of retaliation instead of assuming mrs lee was wrong and ignoring her complaint why she's not a police officer wait she's not i think this was the police well she's a what oh hell nah oh she's f he could have simply taken her complaint directed her to the proper resources for filing a complaint and allowed the bureau of internal affairs and the civilian office of police accountability to assess the validity of mrs lee's claims it is difficult to justify any of the cpd officer's actions beyond he's still demanding a scene and it will be interesting to see how the department handles the complaints and the ensuing lawsuit mrs lee also gets a c minor oh she might have been detained in retaliation she initially refused to leave the crime scene made false claims about officer herron pushing her and escalated the encounter by being hostile and confrontational much of mrs lee's conduct was driven by her damaged ego from being forced to leave the crime scene and she would have been better off filing her complaint with the proper authorities rather than seeking immediate reprimand imagine being wrongly convicted of a crime or some because i'm a will walk through a crime scene and your evidence imagine being in that position where you're running because of some mother sucking sir i did i have no doubt that mrs lee's detainment was unjust however her actions alone caused the initial dispute and she was extremely antagonistic about being lawfully removed from the crime scene all that said mrs lee should never have been faced with the choice of filing a complaint or being arrested and there is merit to her lawsuit against the officers in this interaction both parties were right in some ways and wrong in some ways and justice for one part the police should know better i'm sorry i'm just saying the police should know better it's their job no better though does not necessarily equate to justice for the other let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe for more police interaction content how there's a civilian you have any job except to follow the law right that's kind of your job as a citizen is to follow the law and not be a dumb right but if you want to be a dumb with the scope of the law you're still kind of chilling right the cops their job is to know the law apply it and not be a dumb even even outside of the law right like like remaining cordial being the bigger person like that and then yeah literally it's the job they're they're the public servants really they so the public your taxes pay for this so you should you should hope that they help my mind and i five exit roulette you pay for that check we'll transfer excuse me give me.