Thursday, May 23, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013

Cop sues Ramsey, city; claims she was punished for associating with husband

A Philadelphia police officer has sued the city, Commissioner Ramsey and others in federal court because she was punished for associating with an alleged criminal - her husband, according to court documents.

19 comments

Cop sues Ramsey, city; claims she was punished for associating with husband

POSTED: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 11:58 AM

A Philadelphia police officer has sued the city, Commissioner Ramsey and others in federal court because she was punished for associating with an alleged criminal - her husband, according to court documents.

Tonya Newbill-Jones claims she was handcuffed, left in the back of a police car for more than three hours, had her house and her body unlawfully searched and her car and home seized because her marriage to her husband fits the department's "overly broad" definiton of "associating with known criminals," the suit said.

In the suit, Newbill-Jones, who never names her husband, says he has never been convicted of a crime. The suit seems to allude that Newbill-Jones' husband was arrested on drug charges, but he was never or has not yet been convicted.

Newbill-Jones, who has worked on the force for 14 years, claims the police department acted against her because she is a black woman. She claims in the suit that white male officers have been arrested, but never convicted of a crime, and yet they remain on the force and other officers are allowed to associate with them.

Newbill-Jones said she was punished in several ways for being married to her husband. She was stripped of her detective position and gun and assigned to the Differential Police Response Unit, which takes reports over the phone for minor crimes, according to the suit. She said she was questioned about her relationship with her husband at the Internal Affairs Bureau, where he was described to her as a person of "ill repute," the suit said. She was also forced to submit to urine and hair drug testing, according to the suit.

She claims that she was pulled over on May 20 for no reason, put in to handcuffs, placed in the back of a police cruiser, had her keys and her car seized and was driven to her home, where she was left in the back of the police car for more than three hours.

Police entered her house that day without a warrant, seized items from her adult son's bedroom and seized her car and and her home, both of which remain seized and are the subject of a forfeiture action by the District Attorney's Office, the suit said.

Newbill-Jones claims she has suffered a loss of about $28,000 and also suffers from emotional stress which has caused her to lose hair, sleep and weight.

Stephanie Farr @ 11:58 AM  Permalink | 19 comments
19 comments
Comments  (19)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:18 PM, 03/31/2011
    Tell me this is a joke! This is completely WRONG!!!! She should sue their behinds...smdh
    muhmina
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:58 PM, 03/31/2011
    The Philadelphia Police Dept at it again. The biggest corrupt organization in the city. Disgraceful!!!!
    sv1968
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:23 PM, 03/31/2011
    Does anyone else, who can chew gum and scratch their heads, think there is something missing from this story?
    STEPHEN1988
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:28 PM, 03/31/2011
    So a cop was treated like most suspects and gets all mad.
    Economics
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  • 0 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 1:34 PM, 03/31/2011
    I hope you're joking mummina. definitely a lot missing from the store, but sounds like she was caught by the field unit if they seized her vehicle and served a warrant on her house. Dont act like a pos and you wont get treated like one.
    RR20
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:17 PM, 03/31/2011
    If her husband is convicted what was done was right,also if drugs were found on her husband it is apropreate action by the P.D. The amount of proof in an employment termination case is different than in a criminal case which is beyound a reasonable doubt!! SHE SHOULD BE FIRED!! I know a prison guard who got married to a three time convicted felon and he got arrested last year with 3 GUNS,DRUGS A SCALE AND she is still married to him!!! regulations do not permit that so why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    joe pultrone
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:24 PM, 03/31/2011
    Aren't we always saying how the department needs to weed out the corrupt? Would love to hear what her husband did....
    Vote for Dickie
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:42 PM, 03/31/2011
    Typical Philly cop - lazy, uneducated, corrupt lowlife
    intelliwoman
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:55 PM, 03/31/2011
    Racism from who? Are there any white people left in the Philly P.D.? Just like with the failed school system, you get what you deserve for consistently voting in unqualified candidates because of their race.
    Laketownbard
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:03 PM, 03/31/2011
    Who is her husband??? Why wouldn't she give his name? The story is too vague.
    ih8liars
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:19 PM, 03/31/2011
    My guess is that she probably benefitted from the weight loss.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:29 PM, 03/31/2011
    The Mayor ,Police commissioner,Asst police commissioner and most of the upper management are AA's where is the racism coming from? The problem is when they drop the Psych exams,lie detector tests and changed the exams to make them easier the City got what it deserved crooked stupid cops!
    Phillycityofmediocrity
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:43 PM, 03/31/2011
    here is a little light reading
    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2011cv02221/412869/
    Phillycityofmediocrity


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About this blog

Philly Confidential, which covers crime in Philadelphia and the suburbs, is written by Daily News staffers Dana DiFilippo, Stephanie Farr and Morgan Zalot.

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