FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010
KLMNO
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Fenty friend Moten jumps into the fray
debate from B1
dio by guest panelists Mike DeBo- nis of The Washington Post and Eugene Dewitt Kinlow of DC Vote. Meanwhile, Ronald Moten, a
CLARENCE WILLIAMS/THE WASHINGTON POST Detective Dewayne Corbett and Lt. Ozetta Posey investigate a fatal shooting in the 5000 block of D Street SE. Killing pushed officer to make changes posey from B1
colleagues with her blunt, by-the- book style.
Cut no corners. Work all an- gles.
‘Dead or in jail’ The daughter of a military
man, Posey was raised through- out the mid-Atlantic states and played college basketball. She be- came a police officer in 1994. She started in patrol, during the height of the city’s crack wars. Posey, 47, moved to the vice unit, buying narcotics from street-level dealers. The work was exciting but frustrating. “You want to lock up all the drug dealers in the world, then you lock up one and you realize you have eight more to take his place,” Posey said. Eventually, she made detective and was assigned to the 4th Dis- trict in upper Northwest, the as- signment that led her to the scene of her brother-in-law’s slaying. Robert Bundy was 43 when he was killed that November morn- ing. A resident of the block found him and called police, probably hours after he was shot. Posey and her family remem- ber a good man who loved old R&B music and working on cars — including Posey’s first, a vin- tage Mustang. Her brother-in-law left behind a son who shares his name. At the time, the younger Robert Bundy began skipping classes at Alice Deal Junior High. He missed more than 60 classes before his family found out. He and his friends were being pulled into a life in which drugs, drinking, smoking and fighting were rou- tine.
A mother and now a grand-
mother, Posey feared he’d be lost to the streets, so she moved him out of Petworth and into her home in Montgomery County. She set rigid rules and applied for permanent guardianship. Now he is a rising senior at Vir-
ginia Union University, studying criminal justice. “She didn’t take no stuff,” said
Robert, 21. “All that nonsense, I had to cut all that out. I can hon- estly say that if she didn’t do what she did, I would be dead or in jail. She’s my angel.”
A new approach to cases
At work, Posey applied the same stiff rules of accountability. In March 2006, she made the jump to homicide as a sergeant, in charge of a squad of veteran detectives. She had never investi- gated a homicide. But she knew this about her brother-in-law’s case: Investiga- tors did not speak to her even though she had spent hours with
Fenty friend and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Peace- oholics, continued to insert him- self in the mayoral race. Moten called WPFW in Adams Morgan on Thursday to challenge the as- sertion by the Gray campaign earlier this week that he is a “cro- ny” of the mayor. After the de- bate, he presided over a chaotic news conference that challenged the D.C. Council’s move to mon- itor election fraud following alle- gations that Moten paid partici- pants in a recent straw poll to vote for Fenty. Moten, who saw his organiza- tion prosper with millions of dol- lars in contracts under Fenty, said he worries that the council’s leg- islation will hinder his efforts to organize go-go concerts to rally African American support for Fenty. “My thing is, what is pay- ing people?” Moten asked. “Is giv- ing someone a T-shirt paying somebody? Is when you do an event and there is free food, is that paying somebody? That is what’s got to be clear.” Moten, who is one of the may-
or’s most visible surrogates, has urged Fenty to veto the legisla- tion. The mayor has embraced Moten, whom he has known since high school, calling him “a fantastic Washingtonian” in an interview with Washington City Paper before the debate. “If everybody in D.C. did one-tenth of what Ronald Moten does for the community and for D.C., this city would be 10 times as far ahead as it already is,” he said. Polls show that Fenty’s popu-
larity has plummeted about four years after he swept every pre- cinct in his race for mayor. Resi- dents often point to million-dol- lar contracts the city awarded to firms owned by Fenty friends and fraternity brothers to renovate recreation centers and parks. A special D.C. Council committee and the D.C. Auditor and the Of- fice of the Inspector General are investigating how the contracts were handled. Gray called the Fenty adminis-
MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST Posey with the homicide squad that had the department’s highest closure rate for three years.
him hours before he was killed. Investigators, against policy, noti- fied her juvenile niece instead of an adult family member, and they did so on the front porch of her home rather than indoors. Posey felt that as a fellow officer she was treated rudely and dismissively. Posey leaned on a few experi- enced colleagues for advice, in- cluding Robert Alder, then a 15- year veteran, who said he was near burnout. Alder, who has since made lieutenant, said Posey struggled at first. Her squad’s clo- sure rate was “very low.” Detectives were skeptical of the approach she implemented: When a case came in, unless something else was pressing, each detective in the squad would go full bore working as a team, following every lead for days in a row. The old way, particularly dur- ing the 1990s, was that detectives were given a set of cases, some- times as many as 30, that were their individual responsibility. “I don’t think her approach necessarily could have worked when we had 400-and-some mur- ders every year,” Alder said. To show her detectives she
wasn’t all talk, Posey joined them on the streets, visiting crime scenes, knocking on doors and passing out fliers in hopes of find- ing a lead. “She’s one of the few officials
that would go and do a detective’s job,” Alder said. Posey also rotated her schedule
between day, evening and mid- night shifts along with her squad. If her staff had to miss holidays and sleep, so would she. But her rules are clear. Don’t miss court
dates. Don’t get into trouble. Don’t make stupid mistakes. And this: “No crying, complaining and whining,” Posey told her staff.
She said many disagree with
her, especially the dozen or so de- tectives who left or were dis- missed from the homicide divi- sion.
But those who remained be-
tween 2007 and 2009 on one of her teams, Squad 5, posted the highest closure rate in the city for three years. The last two winners of detective of the year awards — Anthony Greene and Robert Ce- phas — worked for her. “You can say whatever you want to say, but you can’t argue with success,” said Alder, the District’s 2009 ser- geant of the year. “The numbers speak for themselves.”
‘These are the worst’ Recently at 4 a.m., Posey stood
bleary-eyed but well dressed in a crisp black blouse, tweed slacks and shined black boots. Silver hoops dangled from her ears as she repeatedly pulled her Black- Berry from its holster next to her service weapon. Ten feet away lay Dawan An-
thony Felder, 28, of Clinton, who was shot and left to bleed to death on the edge of a sidewalk near a Ford Bronco. The victim’s feet pointed to the entrance of a three-story apartment building, nearly every unit darkened. The 5000 block of D Street SE was empty except for the officers, uniformed and plainclothes, in- vestigating the case. No witness- es. No grieving family. No cam- eras. “These are the worst. You wake
up at 3 or 4 in the morning, take a shower, put on something pre- sentable and show up in an iso- lated part of town. Look at it: This is isolated,” Posey told a re- porter. “This is the part that hurts me the most. It’s agonizing. That’s somebody’s family mem- ber there, and no one seems to care.”
Since the shooting, Posey’s de-
tectives had been trying to identi- fy the victim, contact his family, and take officer and witness statements. After five years in homicide,
Posey knows, now more than ever, that’s not always possible. She has sifted through her broth- er-in-law’s case several times, but the case remains open. Some- times detectives make connec- tions, sometimes they don’t. Posey has two new squads, and
she’s trying to get them to be as successful as her previous teams. But for now, on this morning,
Posey and two detectives paced the crime scene, she limping slightly from an old injury she suffered as an undercover officer when she was hit by a car. They waited for a medical examiner’s van to remove the body and for a tow truck to haul away a vehicle that might contain vital evidence. Mostly, they just waited for the sunrise, which makes it easier to find such clues as shell casings or a blood trail. That day, a Sunday, Posey had planned to take one of her Har- ley-Davidson motorcycles out for a ride. But that would have to wait. There were doors to knock on, leads to follow and, hopefully, an arrest to make.
williamsc@washpost.com
Fairfax may be losing out on thousands of dollars fairfax from B1
county confusion in October 2007, finding that officers were often writing tickets using state legal codes instead of Fairfax’s. The fear, officers said, was that a judge might throw out a case when an outdated law is cited. Members of the police motor-
cycle unit notified officials of the error a year ago, said Supervisor Jeff C. McKay (D-Lee), and this week county staffers began the long process of updating the local law. A public hearing on the
changes is set for Sept. 14. “At a time when every dollar counts, we shouldn’t be sending additional money to the state for work our officers are perform- ing,” McKay said. Fairfax Police Chief David M. Rohrer issued a memo to his command staff in December 2007 making clear that county codes should be used whenever pos- sible. The change resulted in at least $1.5 million in additional annual revenue for Fairfax police, according to the county auditor’s report. Dittmer said the chief re-
iterated this year that officers need to write tickets based on the county code. As state speed limits have
changed, so has the technical lan- guage for many traffic offenses. Localities often make frequent changes to their laws to be in ac- cordance with state regulations. But the discovery of the legal problem also comes at a time of increased scrutiny for Fairfax po- lice’s record-keeping and case management. A new police computer system launched in January, I/LEADS,
was designed to streamline the report-writing process for the many officers who write traffic tickets and arrest information. But some officers have com- plained that the new system is too complicated and that it re- quires too much additional time to file reports. Police recorded a 28 percent drop in traffic tickets through the first 41
⁄2 months of
2010 compared with same period last year, in part because of the new system. The drop has result- ed in $1 million less revenue.
kravitzd@washpost.com
Trustee Sale Notices
ADAMA.WESCHLER & SON Auctioneers – Appraisers
SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEES’ SALE OF VALUABLE real estate known as
614 Longfellow Street,N.W. Washington,D.C. 20011
In execution of a Deed of Trust, Security Agreement, Assignment of Leases and Rents and Fixture Filing dated September 28, 2007 and recorded among the Official Records of the Washington, DC Recorder of Deeds on October 15, 2007 as Document No. 2007132130 (the ‘Deed of Trust’), in accordance with Public Law 90- 566 notice filed May 18, 2010, and at the request of the party secured thereby, the undersigned Substitute Trustees will offer for sale, by public auction, on July 22, 2010, at 11:00 a.m., at the offices of ADAMA.WESCHLER & SON, INC., 909 E STREET, N.W., THIRD FLOOR, WASHINGTON,D.C. 20004, the land and premises known as
Lot 87, in Square 3207 in a subdi- vision made by Dino Forman and Angelina Forman, as per plat recorded in Liber 146, at Folio 67 in the Office of the Surveyor of the District of Columbia.
TERMS OF SALE: ALL CASH, deposit of $75,000.00 by certified or cashier’s check may be required of bidder(s) other than the party secured by the referenced Deed of Trust, before a bid is received and accepted, to be refunded to bidder unless the property is sold to him. Settlement in 30 days. Interest due to date of settlement on unpaid balance of purchase price at cur- rent note rate. If purchaser cannot or does not comply with the terms of the sale, or fails to settle within 30 days, the Substitute Trustees may forfeit the deposit and read- vertise and sell the property at the risk and cost of the defaulting purchaser, or without forfeiting the deposit, avail themselves of any legal or equitable rights against the defaulting purchaser. If the Substi- tute Trustees cannot or do not comply with or complete the terms of the sale, purchaser’s remedy shall be limited to the return of any deposit. By bidding, purchaser agrees that purchaser is not enti- tled to any legal or equitable rem- edy in the event the Substitute Trustees did not have the right to sell. Balance of purchase price due in cash, certified check or wire transfer at settlement. All costs of conveyancing, examination of title, recording and transfer taxes and settlement fees to be at the cost of purchaser. Sale is subject to taxes, water rents and sewer charges. Neither Substitute Trustees nor secured party assume any oblig- ation to deliver possession of the property. Substitute
Trustees reserve the right to post- pone or adjourn the sale for any reason. Further terms may be announced at the sale. The prop- erty shall be sold ‘as is’, ‘where is’. No representations concerning status of title, leases, occupancy, zoning, physical or environmental conditions, access and/or avail- ability of utilities are made either by Substitute Trustees or secured party. Sale is subject to matters appearing among the land records and/or upon inspection of the property. The property shall be conveyed by Special Warranty Deed.
Peter A. Dingman Kenneth E. Labowitz Substitute Trustees
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter A. Dingman, Esq. Dingman Labowitz, P.C. 526 King Street, Suite 209 Alexandria,VA 22314 703-519-0999 (Telephone) 703-519-1511 (Fax)
Volunteer in the community and earn PostPoints.
tration’s transfer of city funds to the D.C. Housing Authority to award the contracts “surrepti- tious, clandestine and circu- itous.” The rerouting bypassed the council, which must author- ize contracts exceeding $1 mil- lion. Gray, who began his campaign
in March with a promise to re- turn integrity and accountability to the mayor’s office, peppered his responses Thursday by fre- quently using the word “crony- ism.”
“If you are a fraternity brother or someone associated with the mayor, you will get a contract,” he said.
But Fenty aggressively offset
Gray’s attacks by talking about probes that have targeted the council chairman, stopping just short of calling Gray a hypocrite. He pointed to the installation of a fence at Gray’s home, which the city has ordered taken down or shortened because it was built without permits. Fenty wrongly said the fence was built by a contractor that had business before the council. Though developer William C. Smith & Co. helped with other re- pairs at Gray’s home, the Office of Campaign Finance found no vio- lation of law. The campaign fi- nance office also cleared Gray in using his council stationery to so- licit contributions for the local Democratic Party, but Fenty raised the controversy during the debate. “Why don’t you get your facts
straight?” Gray asked. But Fenty continued to talk about Gray’s tenure as director of the Department of Human Ser- vices during the 1990s, saying the agency was “run over a cliff.” “That kind of management rec- ord shouldn’t even be on the same table,” he said. Gray denied mismanaging the
agency and said some services improved under his leadership. At one point, Gray injected some humor into the back-and- forth with Fenty: “Jonetta’s going to be the traffic cop. Start writing tickets.”
stewartn@washpost.com craigt@washpost.com
Staff writer Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
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