My Rehovot ( ISSN 1817-101X )

Human skeletal remains were found this week next to an abandoned motorcycle on farmland east of Gedera. Rehovot police launched an investigation and will transfer the skull and bones to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute to be identified. After a farmer reported finding the motorcycle near one of his fields, detectives who arrived to investigate found the bones. The police located the owner of the motorcycle, who said he had sold it years ago. Police plan to search the area more thoroughly to determine whether the remains are related to a crime or a missing person. However, they have not ruled out the possibility that the skull and bones are archaeological remnants.

Source: Yigal Hai. Haaretz.com (4 April 2008) [FullText]

Labels: Rehovot Police Affairs

State Comptroller: Third of all public complaints justified

Lindesntrauss states that majority of complaints lodged with him since 2007 are justified, including unjust property taxes, government offices without Russian speakers

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, the public ombudsman, has reviewed a total of 9,749 complaints in 2007, 33.7% of which he believes were justified.

Topping the list of offending institutions was the National Insurance Institute of Israel which faced 998 complaints, followed by the Israel Police which faced 577, complaints and the Justice Ministry which faced 355 complaints. The Finance Ministry, Interior Ministry, Education Ministry and Science, Culture and Sport Ministry are next on this list of top offenders.

National Watchdogs

Comptroller prevents firing of corruption investigator / Aviram Zino

State Comproller Lindenstraus orders Finance Minister not to fire Dr Yaron Zelicha, accountant responsible for prime minister's corruption investigations

Of the long list of complaints that were lodged with the state comptroller, 64% of all complaints lodged against the Transportation Ministry and 45% of complaints lodged against the police department and court system were found to have merit.

The overwhelming majority of all complaints, some 80% to be exact, were formally lodged by members of Knesset. Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (National Union-National Religious Party) lodged 70% of these aforementioned complaints, with MK Ami Ayalon (Labor), MK Shelly Yacimovich (Labor), MK Arieh Eldad (NU-NRP), and MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) lodging two complaints apiece.

No Russian speakers available

Here are a few examples of the shortcoming and failings of our public institutions, as highlighted in the report presented by Lindenstrauss Wednesday:

A complaint lodged against the Ministry of Education indicated that a Russian speaker, who petitioned to have his foreign Doctorate degree evaluated with the ministry’s Division for Evaluation of Foreign Academic Degrees and Diplomas, was denied his claim because he had written the ministry in Russian and no Russian speakers were available to translate.

A Rehovot driver lodged a complaint with the city’s police department for their failure to locate and apprehend a fellow motorist which drove recklessly and threatened him while on the road. The complainant gave police officers the offender’s name, as well as two telephone numbers where he could be reached, but the police failed to follow up on the case and apprehend the offending party.

The complaint was found by the comptroller to have merit, as the Rehovot Police were clearly negligent in their investigation. The Police Department’s Central District Chief informed the comptroller’s office that disciplinary action will be taken against the three police officers involved in this case.

A resident of Dir Hanna in the Galilee petitioned the state comptroller after the town’s local council charged his son property taxes for a building that the son did not own. All charges owed by the alleged property owner were canceled, and the city’s property tax division was instructed not to collect property taxes from individuals until there is definitive proof that construction on the property is complete and it is fit for use... view article text in full at the original publisher web site, ynetnews.com

Labels: Public interest, Rehovot Police Affairs

Criticism from the touchlines by former senior police officers and internal leaks will not succeed in deterring the police's fighting spirit, Israel Police Chief Insp.-Gen. David Cohen vowed Monday during an angry speech at an awards ceremony for outstanding units in Rehovot.

"A fighter's spirit will guide the police, not leaks and shameful headlines," Cohen said. He fell short of pointing out specific controversies.

Most recently, the police came under fire for its handling of the March 6 Mercaz Harav terror attack, after it emerged that the first police officer on the scene failed to enter the yeshiva to engage the gunman.

With senior figures such as former police chief Aharon Franco in the audience, Cohen angrily slammed what he called "unhelpful snipings" by former police chiefs and other commentators "who once wore the uniform."

"Terrorist attacks were always prevented [when they were in charge]," Cohen quipped sarcastically.

"I take full responsibility for any operation and event the police is involved in," he said. Addressing the police officers in the audience, he continued: "You killed four terrorists in Bethlehem. You neutralized the terrorist in Jenin. Suicide bomb vests have been captured in the Sinai... dozens of kilograms of harmful drugs have been stopped at the border, [and] you have brought down the number of crimes and robberies."

In his speech, Cohen pointed out that police in Israel were in the unique position of having to tackle violent disorders, crimes, and terrorism. Officers were also addressed by Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who cited falling crime figures. "We have good reason to be optimistic for 2009," he said.

He expressed concern at the rising number of attacks on police officers in the field, citing the recent death of First Sgt.-Mjr. Yigal Cohen last week, who was run over after trying to flag down a vehicle. Police have expressed a suspicion that the driver hit him deliberately.

Also addressing the ceremony via videoconference was Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who offered a message of encouragement to the hundreds of officers gathered there.

"I know that civilians get angry with you sometimes. Don't worry, they're angry with me too," Olmert said, to laughter.

"The Israel Police is fighting on the front line for quality of life, sometimes for life itself. I know how complex your work is in a country like ours. Your success is our life," Olmert said.

Prize winners included the Netanya police station; the Jerusalem Central Unit; the Lachish Central District; and the Southern Technological Unit and Rehovot police station for joint creative initiatives.

Source: Yaakov Lappin. Police chief raps 'unhelpful snipings' from predecessors. JPost.com (25 March 2008) [FullText]

Labels: Rehovot Police Affairs

The National Insurance Institute received the most complaints but the Israel Police outstripped it in the number of justified complaints investigated by the national Ombudsman's Office in 2006, according to the annual report released Monday on complaints filed by private citizens against public organizations.

The office is under the authority of State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss.

In another development, the Judge's Ombudswoman, retired Supreme Court justice Tova Strasberg-Cohen, released her annual report on complaints filed against judges and found that only 16 percent of the 1,234 complaints that were investigated were justified. Of the 198 complaints that were justified, 56% involved procedures that took too long and delays in handing down decisions.

Lindenstrauss dealt with 9,928 complaints filed in 2006, compared with 7,825 in 2005, 6,840 in 2004, 6,129 in 2003 and 6,147 in 2002. Over the five-year period beginning in 2002, the number of complaints filed by the public has increased by 62%.

The offices and ministries receiving the most complaints was topped by the NII (909), followed by the police (628), the Justice Ministry (406), the Interior Ministry (405), the Courts Administration (374) and the Finance Ministry (364).

Among local authorities, Tel Aviv-Jaffa (204) received the most complaints, followed by Jerusalem (183). The IDF registered 126 complaints, the Clalit Health Fund (168), and the Egged Bus Cooperative (58).

However the Ombudsman's Office found that only 32.2% of the complaints were justified.

The Ombudsman divided the complaints into four categories: "rejected out of hand," "the investigation was stopped in the middle," "the investigation was completed and the complaint was rejected," and "the investigation was completed and the complaint was accepted."

The police department had the most complaints falling in the latter category.

The ombudsman dealt with a total of 878 topics (a complaint may include more than one topic), including some left over from 2005. Of these, he reached a final decision on 366 and found that 165 (45.1%) were justified.

The ombudsman dealt with 1,252 topics related to the NII, and found that 150 were justified. More than half of the 164 topics included in the complaints leveled against the Israel Broadcasting Authority were found to be justified.

According to one complaint lodged against the police, a Rehovot resident was holding a party on December 30, 2005. One of the guests went out to a balcony to get some fresh air, when two policemen who were passing ordered him to go back indoors. The man refused and the police went upstairs and demanded to conduct a search. The owner of the apartment refused to let them in. The police called in reinforcements, searched the apartment and demanded to see the identity cards of everyone at the party.

The Ombudsman's Office wrote that police may enter and search a home without a warrant if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a crime is underway in the apartment, if someone in the home asks for their help or if the police are chasing a suspect who runs into the house. The ombudsman concluded none of these criteria applied in this case, and that the police had not had justifiable grounds to search the apartment. The department has taken disciplinary measures against the officers involved.

According to Strasberg-Cohen's report, 1,237 complaints were submitted last year against judges. All but three of them were investigated. Of these, 40% (499) were rejected out of hand and 735 were investigated, including 198 that were found to be justified.

Source: Dan Izenberg. Police, NII, judges come under fire in annual ombudsman reports. JPost.com (19 March 2007) [FullText]

Labels: Rehovot Police Affairs