Codename Section
12-30-2014, 11:29 AM
This is what I mean, if an ordinary person did this: extorting sexual behavior from a female minor he would have felony charges slapped against him and go to jail.
The police are above the law and all that happened was that he was removed (http://www.unionleader.com/article/20141228/NEWS03/141229456).
People notice this.
so the back story is that she was caught with beer under 18 and the cop told her he could make it go away if she posed nude.
Four days later, Seastrand called her to the police station. The former chief told Westfall he needed to meet with her alone, and began discussing alternative measures of punishment, like community service, for the misdemeanors.
Westfall, who worked frequently as a babysitter, and who was planning to major in early childhood education, said she grew more scared.
Seastrand explained, she said, that they would go into the basement. "He said would grab the station's camera to shoot a series of nude photos of me, and then he'd hold it over my head for two years to be sure I didn't commit another crime," Westfall said.
"That's when it was really chilling," she said. "He's standing there in uniform, he had his gun strapped on his side."
Seastrand told her he would deny the whole incident if she told anyone. She asked him to call her father, and she left the police station. She then called a friend, as well as her uncle and aunt, who are both police officers. They told her to write down everything she remembered. Her father, meanwhile, called state police.
.
Seastrand, who was not reachable for comment, and whose lawyer did not return calls asking for comment, resigned on April 4, 2013, surrendering his certification as a police officer after serving for 27 years.
State prosecutors, while calling Seastrand's actions "abhorrent behavior and unacceptable behavior for anyone in that type of a position," did not file criminal charges against him.
.
They later explained that the only law applicable to the case was the abuse of power statute, under which a public official is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she knowingly commits an unauthorized act "which purports to be an act of his office" or "knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office."
The decision was explained to Westfall, but she didn't like it.
.
"I was hurt, I was hoping for more than that," she said. "I was ready to testify in court, though the thought of that freaked me out, even being in the same room with him again would creep me out."
Westfall and her attorney, Richard Lehmann, say two things need to be changed by the legislature: the language of the law needs to be rewritten so prosecutors can more easily prosecute police in a case like this, and the penalty of the crime "has to be more than a misdemeanor," Westfall said. It would also be good if all police were required to have on-body video cameras, she said.
The police are above the law and all that happened was that he was removed (http://www.unionleader.com/article/20141228/NEWS03/141229456).
People notice this.
so the back story is that she was caught with beer under 18 and the cop told her he could make it go away if she posed nude.
Four days later, Seastrand called her to the police station. The former chief told Westfall he needed to meet with her alone, and began discussing alternative measures of punishment, like community service, for the misdemeanors.
Westfall, who worked frequently as a babysitter, and who was planning to major in early childhood education, said she grew more scared.
Seastrand explained, she said, that they would go into the basement. "He said would grab the station's camera to shoot a series of nude photos of me, and then he'd hold it over my head for two years to be sure I didn't commit another crime," Westfall said.
"That's when it was really chilling," she said. "He's standing there in uniform, he had his gun strapped on his side."
Seastrand told her he would deny the whole incident if she told anyone. She asked him to call her father, and she left the police station. She then called a friend, as well as her uncle and aunt, who are both police officers. They told her to write down everything she remembered. Her father, meanwhile, called state police.
.
Seastrand, who was not reachable for comment, and whose lawyer did not return calls asking for comment, resigned on April 4, 2013, surrendering his certification as a police officer after serving for 27 years.
State prosecutors, while calling Seastrand's actions "abhorrent behavior and unacceptable behavior for anyone in that type of a position," did not file criminal charges against him.
.
They later explained that the only law applicable to the case was the abuse of power statute, under which a public official is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she knowingly commits an unauthorized act "which purports to be an act of his office" or "knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office."
The decision was explained to Westfall, but she didn't like it.
.
"I was hurt, I was hoping for more than that," she said. "I was ready to testify in court, though the thought of that freaked me out, even being in the same room with him again would creep me out."
Westfall and her attorney, Richard Lehmann, say two things need to be changed by the legislature: the language of the law needs to be rewritten so prosecutors can more easily prosecute police in a case like this, and the penalty of the crime "has to be more than a misdemeanor," Westfall said. It would also be good if all police were required to have on-body video cameras, she said.