"A lie has speed, but truth has endurance."

                                                Edgar J. Mohn

Sgt. Dale M. Baranoski - not your typical crime victim

Advisory - this site was last updated on May 2007 so you may want to check for additions and changes.

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Attitude

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t;

If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,

It's almost certain you won't.

 If you think you'll lose, you've lost;

For out in the world you'll find

Things begin with a fellow's will;

It's all in a state of mind.

 If you think you are outclassed, you are;

You've got to think high to rise;

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

 Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger of faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

 -Author Unknown

My name is Dale Baranoski. I grew up in a small town called Edgewater Park, NJ where my father was Chief of Police and by all accounts, a damn good one. In 1986 I chose to follow in his footsteps. I became a police officer for Westampton Township Police Department. In 1990 I was promoted to sergeant. Thereafter my squads and I always led the police department in all areas of productivity while maintaining few, if any citizen complaints. Indeed, the officers in my squad as well as myself, even as a sergeant, had work performance records far superior to other squads combined! Sadly, being a good cop is not enough. Indeed, it can be a liability as you will see. But I like to think that I was chosen as a *Paladin, in part, for my personal and professional intergrity and attributes so that first, I would survive and secondly, bring to justice those who have degraded the legal system for their own ends and advantages and targeted others - past, present and sadly, future victims.

This site will reveal rampant criminal conduct originating out of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office (AKA: the Burlington County Persecutors Office). Evidence and facts will demonstrate that this disorganized crime ring enlisted the aid of several local police departments and dates from the present to back to 1995. The list of victims involves both civilian and police officers in what can be termed localized terrorism. Strong words but appropriate ones. It will show, by fact, how the corruption has infected the entire legal system, including the State's judiciary from Municipal to the County and even the high courts, and how the NJ Attorney Generals Office has even been caught red-handed illegally covering for the criminal conduct of its subordinate, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office. Even US Attorney Chris Christie won't help, as you will see later.

"If the prosecutor is obliged to choose his case, it follows that he can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor: that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than cases that need to be prosecuted. With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone. In such a case, it is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it, it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him. It is in this realm--in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass, or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense, that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies. It is here that law enforcement becomes personal, and the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself."

                 Robert Jackson Supreme Court justice

Why has this site been created? Because sometimes it becomes necessary to shame the law into action. Every conceivable law enforcement agency has been provided the opportunity to take action and all have failed, most from intent. Also, all media sources were repeatedly contacted and asked to help expose what was happening to try to prevent any more victims. They too refused. Some reporters admitted that outside pressure was being applied to make sure no stories were being published, so powerful has this corruption become. Politicians, police unions (FOP and PBA), Governmental agencies both at the State and Federal level, and even the ACLU were all contacted and requested to provide aid, in any form. All refused. A list of those, who through act or omission, failed to render aid, are listed on the Hall of Shame. While none of the inept culprits have the courage to publicly challenge or threaten this victim, what they may do under the cover of darkness is another matter. Therefore, as I expose the crimes, I also raise the threat level. If you think the movie "Serpico" revealed major corruption, hold onto your seats for this one!

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do. 
                                                                                        — Edward Everett Hale

Sometimes all it takes is one man to step up and do the right thing. In my battle against this corruption, I have never shirked my responsibility to combat crime. Never has my integrity or honesty been impeached. After having exhausted all remedies to bring those responsible to justice, I have elected in exposing them, and a legal system in decay that allows such criminality to be managed through it.

Disclaimer: I have heard from several people (two to be exact) that indicated that they thought sites such as this one only offer one side of the events.  I do not know what else can be done; whenever possible I offer either the actual documents or excerpts from actual documents/statements. I offer anyone who wants to see anything the opportunity to do so by simply requesting them. While the many replies I have recieved have been extremely supportive and positive, I wanted to highlight the accuracy of this sites information. The site is fair and balanced. Simply because there is little if any negative information towards me is simply a statement of the dispicable nature of the subject matter, and not for lack of anything else. What may have started out as the proverbial "he said, she said" has evolved completely into a "she said, she got caught, they got caught!"

"The best thing about telling the truth is that you don't have to remember when you lied."

                                                                Mark Twain

This site can only handle so much information and for those who wish to be kept up to date, or want more information or any help I can offer, will be kept on a mailing list if so desired for periodic update notices. Also, I have created the "Update Advisory" page. However, some changes have been added throughout as I have become more proficient web-wise, so a good look over too is a good idea.

To save web space, some things I can't upload, or don't want to overwhelm the viewer. However, if anyone wants, most of the information I refer to is already scanned and can be emailed. Let the horror story begin...

Round I -  The Drunk Driver

   This story needs to be told to lay the foundation for how the second matter came to be. Some critics would claim that this incident was the first sign of a cop gone bad, referring to myself. But cops like me can't go bad, it goes against our nature. One friend and fellow police officer gave me one of the highest compliments I have ever gotten. He told me that good cops learn to be such, but great cops are born. He said I was born to be a great cop.

   This first attack against me offers a glimpse into the way a system, even one involving law enforcement, goes bad. It is about good cops going bad, and bad cops becoming worse. I am not the first, nor sadly will I be the last such victim. The facts of this case will show how some police officers when given the opportunity would be willing to break the law to take out a fellow police officer for personal retaliation; or to eliminate professional rivalry for advancement. Having demonstrated this, it will be easier, although perhaps more sinister, to make the facts of the second incident easier to assimilate.

   1997: Discord was rising within my police department (Westampton Township, NJ) due to poor Administration from an inept Chief. Morale could not become any lower. My squad and I chose to ignore the internal politics and concentrated on just doing our job. However, once the Chief issued an illegal order to stop checking pedestrians and conducting traffic stops and from performing our sworn and oath-bound patrol duties and we refused to comply, we found ourselves to be the target of what I have coined "cop on cop crime." We were harassed and ridiculed for working, not only from above, but also from other officers in the department who felt we were "making them look bad."

As a police officer I always maintained high work ethics and morals. I always operated on the premise that I would do my job to my utmost. This is reflected by my early promotion to sergeant after just four years as a patrolman. It was my simple idea that the best way to judge a worker is by his work record. When I became sergeant I added to this work style of leading by example. My squads always led the police department in almost all areas of productivity, i.e., 70% of the total drunk driving arrests, 50% of the total drug arrests. Even as a road sergeant, only my own men came close to my own work performance. Conversely, crime always seemed to happen on the "other squads" and not ours, or at the least, was considerably lower on our watch. This is testament to the diligence we applied in being proactive. We didn't just do the glory details, we also made sure people and things were safe within our borders. My last squad and I always volunteered for nightshift and so remained together, also in part because the non-workers did not want to be assigned to a working squad. Its called a paycheck and we thought it should be earned. Go figure.

As I said then, only they could make themselves look bad. In essence this was a two-pronged attack; retaliation from a jaded police chief who imagined conspiracies against his position due to his incompetence, and a professional elimination by Internal Affairs Officer Sergeant Reed of a rival and a far superior patrol sergeant, yours truly.

 Sgt. Reed obtained his promotion only through the good graces of the department's police union. We felt bad that he could not pass the sergeants test (Reed could only obtain a 69 wherein a 70 was the passing score). Indeed, he was only promoted because of support from the then-Police Association to assume the position of Detective-Sergeant, an obsolete and non-sought after position. The idea being that such an uncoveted position would allow Reed to obtain a position that would have been otherwise unattainable to him.

Reed however was not content with this. Since all the current road sergeants were sufficiently intelligent enough to warrant passing whatever promotional testing that might come, Reed needed to eliminate the competition if he ever hoped to gain any higher positions. He started with the top choice first, me. He also knew that I would be the first to stand up to any shady attempts to circumvent the promotional process, which he had already tried when he expressed his desire to change the promotional process to next-in-line which, as the most senior, would mean HE would be promoted by default (no testing)when the Chief retired. Reed began by following through on a drunk driver's attempt to escape justice by filing a false allegation of police abuse after his arrest, a not uncommon trick and one which the suspect used before in another jurisdiction.

 In March of 1997, what was becoming a hostile work environment took a turn for the more criminal aspect. I will let the investigation report from that night tell what happened:

   Several days after this incident, this three-time drunk driver came to the police station to file an allegation of police misconduct. The suspect had nothing to lose by trying this tactic. He was facing a ten-year loss of license! Now, I don't complain that the initial complaint was taken; all complaint policies require it. The problem is when it is suspected that the complaint is false. Sgt. Reed took the suspect's statement even though it was clear from the report that the suspect was lying. The suspect, for no logical reason except to have a "witness" and alibi, stated to Reed that he and his girlfriend had "been together" and that she had jumped out, and he was allegedly just minding his own business looking for her when the nasty, bad cops for no reason, began chasing him! The initial police report (above) includes the existence of a tape recording of the girlfriend who said she was not with the suspect! See, having had past experience with this suspect from a previous police chase just several months before, I was wary and on-guard. Therefore, I had activated my belt microphone that tied into our police cars in-camera video/audio system. As you can see above, this conversation was also noted verbatim in the police investigation report on the last page. Clearly she was never with the suspect as they claimed since she was recorded as saying she had sent him out to get her cigarettes!
 
   Sgt. Reed then "interviewed" the girlfriend Tracy Lalkas since she was supposedly in the truck and the area as alleged by the suspect. It is important to note that procedurally, while internal complaints, even anonymous ones, are required to be investigated, false allegations of police misconduct are to be treated just as seriously. Indeed, there is a warning required to be told to the complainant that any false complaints would result in criminal action against them. As soon as the suspect and his girlfriend made the statements that she was there at the incident location and time, knowing that this wasn't true, the complaint now became a criminal act. Also revealed was the beginning of a conspiracy to do so with the help of Sgt. Reed. Sgt. Reed knew by way of the investigation report that I had tape-recorded the conversation between Tracy Lalkas and myself when she came to the police station after we had the suspect arrested, and did nothing when they stated she had been with the suspect, knowing this was false. He should have taken police action against them if his intentions were honest. Chief Harper, even without any real police abilities, had to know this too.

  Sgt. Reed, while clearly not the brightest, had been on the job long enough and had just been trained as the department's internal affairs officer. He could not overlook this falsehood, but he did! Indeed, when deposed the next year, Sgt. Reed swore under oath that the two versions (the suspect’s and the girlfriend's) were consistent with each other’s!

Deposition of Reed pg. 105-111: http://southjerseyjustice.com/Reeddepopg105-108.jpg

and: http://southjerseyjustice.com/Reeddepopg109-111.jpg

   As already demonstrated, from the very beginning, nothing could be further from the truth that the suspect's and the girlfriend's statements matched. But there are more examples. This is where the total volume of the pretense by Reed and his poor lying actually begin to make it difficult to follow. It becomes a pathological liar trail. The suspect stated that on the night in question that he had went to his brother's wedding. He confirmed that the girlfriend did not go to the wedding OR the reception because there was a personal conflict between a member of the wedding party and his girlfriend (Reed interview of suspect pg. 12):

 http://southjerseyjustice.com/CaceresIApg12.jpg

Now, remembering that the girlfriend said she wasn't even with the suspect as caught on the audiotape, here is her statement stating that she went to the wedding with the suspect!:

   Obviously the suspect and his girlfriend were intentionally lying and Sgt. Reed was helping. But lets take it further and show how Chief Harper handled getting direct information that this was the case when he was approached by Officer Ingling, who learned from the suspect's sister-in-law (whose wedding the suspect had been coming home from on the night in question, drunk as she thought!). She stated to Officer Ingling that she had been approached by the suspect's family and was asked to lie and then some. No official statement was ever taken from her so as to not damage the flimsy set up already in progress. The letter recounting of what transpired between Chief Harper and Officer Ingling speaks volumes:

*PALADIN

Main Entry: pal·a·din
Pronunciation: 'pa-l&-d&n
Function: noun

1.) A leading champion of a cause

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