Is this considered a "conflict of interest"?

[lynnlock]

Ok. My 16 year old son was the victim of an assault and battery in which he received a fractured nose, a black eye, and several abrasions to his face. The perpetrator of the crime is a 21 year old male that is currently enlisted in the National Guard. We live in a rural area. An arrest warrant was issued for the 21 year old, but the police can't seem to find him, (even though I have given them information on his location, as well as his cell phone #, not to mention the fact that he is active in the military and his CO would be able to contact him immediately.) I've recently come to find out that the officer in charge of the case has many "friendly" ties to the perpetrator's family, as well as the perpetrator. (I went on this man's (the perpetrator's) facebook wall, checked out his friend's list and there I found the officer.... checking out the officer's list, I found that the perpetrator and the officer share 44 of the same friends including ALL of the perpetrator's family members) So, now to my question; does this situation constitute a "conflict of interest"?
One last thing, I have checked out some of the other police officers friends lists, (guys who are NOT involved with the case) and NONE of them share this common tie to the perpetrator, except the one covering the case. I do not feel that this is being handled as well as it should be. I just got one bill in the mail for the x-ray of my son's nose and I can't file a civil suit until he is arrested, because no one will give me a copy of the police report. Another thing, we have had the same pickup truck (unknown vehicle) showing up around our house 3 times that I know of. The last time it was seen, it picked up a man that had run off of the trail that my son had just walked home down. The man had followed my son 1/4 of a mile in the dark, through the woods, to my house. Police are aware of ALL of this.

[Citicop]

The officer in charge of the case, up to this point, has taken a report, applied for warrants at the prosecutor's office, and obtained arrest warrants against the suspect.

I fail to see how you can manufacture a case that the officer is biased here.

A warrant has been issued. He'll be arrested in good time and the case will go to court.

-Citicop.

[lynnlock]

I understand what you are saying, but my problem is this: Shouldn't he be doing EVERYTHING to try to catch this guy? Especially when I've reported that someone has been hanging around our house and following my son. My son can't even carry pepper spray around here, because he is a minor. Shouldn't the officer have called the Guard? And why, with such a close connection to the family didn't he turn the case over to someone without a connection? I feel that he could find him with little effort, but that isn't happening. Like I said, we live in a rural area... not much for cops to do around here with the exception of traffic violations. I'm thinking about just going to the Nat'l Guard and informing them, so that someone will take care of it. My son shouldn't have to be a prisoner or accompanied by an adult, just because this guy is on the loose. There isn't even a protection order against him/as we were assured this would be attached to the guy's bond condition. It's been over a month, now.

[lynnlock]

Oh, and PLEASE don't get me wrong... I do NOT have anything against police, because I understand how hard your job is. I totally respect the police. It's just hard as a parent, when your child comes home looking like he had just been in a car accident. You want the person responsible to be held accountable for his actions. I'm not attacking anyone, I just don't understand why it is so hard for the officer to find him, when I don't even know the "suspect", yet I've been able to provide quite a bit of information on him without the resources that the police have. I spoke to another officer from the same department (only about 8 officers in the whole department, including the sheriff), and he was totally unaware that there was a warrant issued for this individual. That astonishes me.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

You are understandibly frustrated, but you must understand that your son's is almost certainly NOT the only case that this officer has to work. You expect things to work according to an unrealistic timeline as set by TV or movies, while in real life, real police work takes longer (sometimes a lot longer).

You are always free to sit down with the detective's supervisor if you are dissatisfied with his progress in the case, or to express your concern with his personal connections to the suspect.

[basher52]

Have you thought about contacting the military yourself? There are always two sides to a story and I hate to comment without a direct statement from the other side (assigned officer), as to what has been accomplished.

That being said, based on what was written in your original post, I do have a problem with it. If I were the squad commander or chief, I'd have it assigned to another detective. Hey, but thats just my opinion.

[Nole795]

In some agencies, investigation unit handles the cases until a warrant gets issued. After that, the warrant normally goes to a warrant/fugitive squad with the Sheriff's Office to serve. I have so many cases that I will get a warrant and let the local fugitive unit pick up the target. This may be the case.

As already mentioned, your case is not the only one he is handling, and there may be more pressing matters that the police have to deal with.

Personally, from what you posted, the officer should have recused himself from the case if he is friends with the subject. I know I would have.

[mcsap]

Contact the Chief of Police with your concerns. Be prepared to supply documents to back up your claims.

Contact the military CO and advise them of the situation and be prepared to give them the info on the Police Agency , charges and arresting officer's name.