POLICE WATCH INCORPORATED
Civilian Police Complaint Center
POLICE WATCH
POLICE WATCH INCORPORATED is a not-for profit organization duly incorporated under the laws of the State of California with its principal place of business in Oceanside, California. Presently, Police Watch operates statewide and will eventually culminate into a prominent national organization. The purpose of Police Watch is to expose all instances of police brutality, corruption and the like; to educate the general public regarding police misconduct; to advocate for meaningful change and accountability; to assist residents of the State of California with the filing of complaints relevant to excessive use of force and/or various kinds of police misconduct, to and including, racial profiling, falsification of reports, challenge to unconstitutional police practices; to petition prosecutorial authorities to initiate criminal prosecution of police officers that have engaged in acts of criminality perpetrated upon the residents of State of California; to petition legislators for the implementation and promulgation of laws specifically aimed toward punishing rogue cops for their unlawful conduct; community monitoring of police activities; work toward exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals caused by the unscrupulous conduct of corrupt cops; pushing for transparency in the public disclosure of the names of police officers that have multiple civilian complaints filed against them for excessive use of force, illegal arrest, deprivation of life and the disposition of such civilian complaints; establishing a clearinghouse to maintain documentation involving lawsuits against rogue cops and the governmental entities employing them; and to provide refuge for victims/witnesses whom file complaints against police officers to shield them from harassment, intimidation and retaliation.
POLICE WATCH INCORPORATED is a not-for profit organization duly incorporated under the laws of the State of California with its principal place of business in Oceanside, California. Presently, Police Watch operates statewide and will eventually culminate into a prominent national organization. The purpose of Police Watch is to expose all instances of police brutality, corruption and the like; to educate the general public regarding police misconduct; to advocate for meaningful change and accountability; to assist residents of the State of California with the filing of complaints relevant to excessive use of force and/or various kinds of police misconduct, to and including, racial profiling, falsification of reports, challenge to unconstitutional police practices; to petition prosecutorial authorities to initiate criminal prosecution of police officers that have engaged in acts of criminality perpetrated upon the residents of State of California; to petition legislators for the implementation and promulgation of laws specifically aimed toward punishing rogue cops for their unlawful conduct; community monitoring of police activities; work toward exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals caused by the unscrupulous conduct of corrupt cops; pushing for transparency in the public disclosure of the names of police officers that have multiple civilian complaints filed against them for excessive use of force, illegal arrest, deprivation of life and the disposition of such civilian complaints; establishing a clearinghouse to maintain documentation involving lawsuits against rogue cops and the governmental entities employing them; and to provide refuge for victims/witnesses whom file complaints against police officers to shield them from harassment, intimidation and retaliation.
Woman recants testimony in machete murder
June 23, 2011 1:55 a.m.
VAN NUYS — The woman who helped put a San Fernando Valley homicide
suspect behind bars 15 years ago recanted her original testimony in
Wednesday, saying she felt scared and pressured into naming Edward
Contreras, 40, as a murder accomplice. “I did it because I was under the
impression that was the only way to make sure Scott Taylor would never
get out,” said Lisa Garringer, 32. Garringer was a witness to the slaying
of Frederick Walker, who was killed in 1995 at a Santa Clarita backyard
barbecue. Taylor, 36, formerly of Canyon Country, and Contreras were
convicted of first-degree murder in Walker’s death.The victim’s body was
cut to pieces with a machete and dumped in Bouquet Canyon.Weeks after
the murder, then-16-year-old Garringer told sheriff’s investigators that
Contreras, also at the barbecue, hit Walker, 20, in the head and helped
Taylor decapitate and dismember the man’s body.She repeated those
statements during Contreras’ 1997 trial, helping seal his conviction and
life sentence without parole, despite his insistence that he never
struck or helped dismember Walker.But on Wednesday afternoon — during
day two of a hearing to appeal Contreras’ sentence — Garringer told a
different story.She said Taylor alone killed his childhood friend, and
she never saw Contreras touch Walker that day.Garringer said that during
questioning, she told investigators what she believed they wanted to
hear.“I just wanted it to be over with,” she said from the witness stand
Wednesday.By the time of Contreras’ 1997 murder trial, she felt it was
too late to go back on her story and was terrified that Taylor could be
released and seek revenge if she did, she said under
cross-examination.Traumatized by the murder she’d witnessed and racked
with guilt over helping incarcerate an innocent man, Garringer said, she
spiraled for years into depression and drug addiction.“I’ve been
waiting for a very long time to say what I said back then wasn’t true.
... And there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by I didn’t think about it,”
Garringer said Wednesday. “I hope Ed and his family can forgive
me.”Frederick Walker’s sister Michelle Walker, 39, was visibly shaken
after hearing Garringer’s testimony Wednesday, and said she now believes
Garringer should be prosecuted for standing by while her brother was
murdered.When asked if she still believed Contreras was guilty of
murder, Michelle Walker said, “Definitely.”Justin Brooks, director of
the California Innocence Project and Contreras’ attorney, said outside
the courtroom Wednesday that Garringer has nothing to gain from
exonerating the convict, and was informed hours earlier that she could
now face perjury charges.Contreras’ appeal trial is scheduled to
continue in August following a hiatus.Jennifer Caldwell-Ranus, CEO of
non-profit organization Police Watch, said she learned in 2008 that
Contreras had struggled for years to prove his innocence.With the help
of Sister Veronica Brutosky, a nun who became Contreras’ advocate via a
prison ministry program, the Innocence Project filed an appeal on his
behalf in 2009, Caldwell-Ranus said.
