Pubdate: Wed, 17 Jan 2001
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2001 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author: Marilyn Robinson and Mike McPhee

CHICANOS OPPOSE BINI RETURN

Jan. 17, 2001 - Joseph Bini still wants to be a cop.

Angry Chicano activists don't want him back on the street.

That was the fallout Tuesday after police officials gave the Denver 
police officer a three-month suspension without pay for his role in 
the 1999 death of Ismael Mena. Bini signed a search warrant with the 
wrong address and SWAT officers executing a no-knock drug raid 
fatally shot the Mexican immigrant.

Bini, 32, who is eligible to return to work immediately, said in a 
rare interview Tuesday he's not giving up on a police career.

"It's truly an unfortunate set of circumstances," Bini said of Mena's 
death. "I was part of a whole chain of events gone awry." But 
activists saw it a different way.

"The underlying theme between the community and the police is trust," 
said LeRoy Lemos, founder of the Justice for Mena Committee, who was 
among those who met Tuesday with Manager of Safety Ari Zavaras. "That 
trust has been violated. And this is the ultimate violation. The 
community is never going to forget Bini." In announcing the 
suspension Monday, Zavaras and Police Chief Gerry Whitman said the 
department was at fault for not training him properly.

Zavaras said he reviewed the entire case and felt that Bini's 
punishment was sufficient because "he was in a role he shouldn't have 
been in."

Because Bini has been suspended for 12 months, he can return to work 
immediately and will receive back pay for the 9-month balance. Also, 
in a court case last month, Bini pleaded guilty to first-degree 
misconduct, a misdemeanor, and was ordered to do community service 
and pay court costs.

The officer said Tuesday that he is "happy that there is some closure 
here," but added: "I don't think our family will ever completely 
recover from what we have gone through." The death of Mena, killed by 
police when he fired on SWAT officers during the Sept. 29, 1999, 
raid, was a tragedy, Bini said.

"Everyone suffers in a situation like this, not just the Menas, but 
the police officers' families and the people in the community," Bini 
said. "Anytime something like this happens, it's a tragedy, and no 
police officer wants to be involved in the killing of anyone."

Four days after Mena was killed, Bini's 3-year-old daughter, Jackie, 
was diagnosed with a mental and physical disorder, Bini said.

A month after that, his wife, Anna, had lumps removed from her 
breasts that were found not to be cancerous. Bini said he later had 
stomach problems and had exploratory colon surgery but was found not 
to be suffering from cancer.

His son, Joey, 8, also has had problems in school because of the 
publicity over the incident, Bini said. "My son said to me, "Dad, 
it's getting embarrassing to go to school because you and I have the 
same name.' It killed me. It just about put me over the edge." Bini 
said.

"Obviously some of the tension has been eased around our house. It's 
going to be nice to have a pay check again." During his suspension, 
his family has survived on the largess of friends and family, Bini 
said, and he wants to pay them back.

He said he and his wife, whose parents were born in Mexico, were 
disappointed that some community activists have tried to make Mena's 
death a racial issue.

Activists who met with Zavaras and a division chief Tuesday, said 
they want Bini fired.

"Kids get more time for spraying graffiti, " said Mary Miera of the 
Justice for Mena Committee, refering to Bini's court sentence of 12 
months' probation and 150 hours of community service.

"What does it take for an officer to lose his job," said Glenn 
Morris, local leader of the American Indian Movement and a professor 
of political science at CU-Denver. "Here's an innocent, dead father 
and here's a police officer who got his job back."

Zavaras said deliberate perjury, which Bini did not commit, would be 
grounds for termination. "I'm not shy about terminations. I've done 
it before but this case doesn't call for that."

Lemos complained that the police covered up the incident for two 
months until the media began publishing and broadcasting stories 
about the shooting. "It took the press and their investigative re 
porters to pull out the facts. Nothing was forthcoming from the 
police."

Cynthia Gallegos, another member of the Mena Committee, said the 
police are sending the wrong image to the youth. "You're telling them 
that police have a different level of accountability. It's alright 
for them to kill."
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer