Derek Sykes and his wife sat at the dining room table in the small house they share with their two daughters. They're happy to be there, literally. When he was fired by the LAPD back in 2009, the future looked bleak. He went from making six figures with overtime to working two jobs and some 70 hours a week to get by while he looked for full time police work. His house payments were delinquent for a year.
He fought back, and so far has made it though with a different department. He feels his LAPD family turned on him and set him up for reasons he still doesn't understand. And it hurts even more because his is a law enforcement family with his father and brother both on the job, and if that isn't enough his wife's grandfather has 32 years with the LAPD, so they know the drill.
Derek says his end began when he was the victim of a sting by undercover officers who were testing how he'd handle a backpack a cabbie wanted to turn in as evidence. It gets a bit complicated, but the department says he didn't deal with it the right way, and that would eventually land him before a Board of Rights hearing. Normally that wouldn't have got him fired, but years before Derek had taken a 7-day suspension over a disagreement with his superiors over how he handled a teenager with a small amount of pot, he apparently just had the kid toss it and gave him a lecture--his discretion he thought--but the brass didn't agree and he took a hit for that.
So when he was in front of the B of R for the next deal, he already had one strike against him. He claims that one of the two command staff officers judging him ordered the other two members of the B of R to vote against him on the orders of someone higher up. It's tough to prove, but he said that was told to him by someone very close to that officer. He was gone and never knew what hit him. This was a few months after Chris Dorner was terminated. They didn't know each other, but the complaints Dorner made rang true to Sykes just as they have with so many others we've been reporting in, that the system is not fair, and that if someone high up wants you gone, it's a done deal.
He feels the B of R's should be changed so that its officers currently working in the field who are in touch with the realities of police work that are the judge and jury rather than two command officers who've been pushing paper for 20 years, and a civilian not familiar with the intricacies of police work. There might be something to that.
In the meantime Derek and Christy fight to clear his name. It's tough to say Dorner made some good points because you risk sticking up for a vicious killer who ruined so many lives. But the said ironic result of Dorner's rampage is that people are now paying attention to what he wrote about in that manifesto that was initially dismissed as the ramblings of a crazy man.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which considers itself the definitive record of acceptable English words, has just formalized its status as a legitimate noun and verb in relation to social media site Twitter.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which considers itself the definitive record of acceptable English words, has just formalized its status as a legitimate noun and verb in relation to social media site Twitter.
Tuesday, May 7 2013 9:52 PM EDT2013-05-08 01:52:05 GMT
Three parties will split a $1 million reward that was offeredduring the hunt for ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner, the Los Angeles Police Department has announced.
Three parties will split a $1 million reward that was offered during the hunt for ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner, with the bulk of the money going to a couple who were tied up in their Big Bear cabin by the fugitive.
Tuesday, April 23 2013 7:23 PM EDT2013-04-23 23:23:25 GMT
Two women who were injured when LAPD officers opened fire on their pickup truck during the Christopher Dorner manhunt have reached a $4.2 million settlement with the city, officials said.
Two women who were injured when LAPD officers opened fire on their pickup truck during the Christopher Dorner manhunt have reached a $4.2 million settlement with the city, officials said.
They promised us April, but it may be May. That's the word on the status of the re-examination of the Christoper Dorner firing. FOX 11 talked to an ex-LAPD officer who's paying close attention to the case.
They promised us April, but it may be May. That's the word on the status of the re-examination of the Christoper Dorner firing. FOX 11 talked to a former LAPD officer who's paying close attention to the case.
Wednesday, April 10 2013 2:18 PM EDT2013-04-10 18:18:16 GMT
LISTEN HERE: San Bernardino County authorities released recordings of the 911 call that led to the fiery end to the manhunt for murder suspect Christopher Dorner in February.
LISTEN HERE: San Bernardino County authorities released recordings of the 911 call that led to the fiery end to the manhunt for murder suspect Christopher Dorner in February.
Wednesday, February 27 2013 5:52 PM EST2013-02-27 22:52:11 GMT
Deputy Police Chief Mark Perez explains the LAPD's Board of Rights hearing process and disciplinary procedures for officers, in response to questions raised in the aftermath of the manhunt for Christopher Dorner.
Deputy Police Chief Mark Perez explains the LAPD's Board of Rights hearing process and disciplinary procedures for officers, in response to questions raised in the aftermath of the manhunt for fired Officer Christopher Dorner.
Saturday, February 23 2013 1:59 AM EST2013-02-23 06:59:27 GMT
Nothing can excuse the murders of innocent people. But dozens of current and former Police Officers say that the allegations Dorner posted in his online "manifesto" about the LAPD rang true.
Nothing can excuse the murders of innocent people. But dozens of current and former Police Officers say that the allegations Dorner posted in his online "manifesto" about the LAPD rang true. Allegations of racism, and a code of silence that protects bad cops.
Monday, February 18 2013 3:12 PM EST2013-02-18 20:12:00 GMT
Here are the key events involving Christopher Dorner.
Here are the key events involving Christopher Dorner, the fired Los Angeles police officer suspected of killing at least four people including a police officer in Southern California and a deputy in San Bernardino County, and posting a manifesto on Facebook.
