Ten years later,
justice is served

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Michael McKenna, William McKenna and Raymond Carnation lost a lot in 10 years.
The Northeast natives and former Philadelphia police officers lost their careers, many of their friends, much of their self-confidence and, in the eyes of some, their credibility as they continued to wrangle in the federal court system with their former employer.
And though, as things stand now, the men will be able to collect only a fraction of the $10 million in compensation that a nine-person federal jury recently awarded them after a 10-day civil trial and three hours of deliberation, the McKennas and Carnation gained at least one thing from the ordeal.
"We’ve been vindicated. We’ve been cleared of all the criticism, suspicion and guilt," Bill McKenna said. "We finally got justice after ten years."
On May 15, the former cops won a retaliation suit against the city and police department based on the poor treatment that they say they received from supervisors and fellow officers in the late 1990s after they spoke out against alleged cop-on-cop racism within the 25th district.
The three plaintiffs, who are white, filed two separate cases in late 1998 and early 1999. The actions later were consolidated. The racism, they claim, wasn’t directed at them, but rather several black officers assigned to the district, particularly its foot-beat squad, at the time.
Three black officers, Myrna Moore, Richard Safford and Sheila Young, were co-plaintiffs in the suit. According to Bill McKenna and Carnation, the black officers settled their racism claims years ago, long before the case went to trial. Each received several thousand dollars in compensation, according to Bill McKenna.
Meanwhile, the McKenna brothers and Carnation, who was Bill McKenna’s partner, refused to give up their own claims, even after U.S. District Court Judge Mary A. McLaughlin threw out their lawsuit in 2003 on the grounds that it didn’t pass summary judgment.
The ex-cops appealed to the Third Circuit Court, which in 2006 reinstated the case and sent it back to McLaughlin for trial.
"This just shows you what persistence does for you," Carnation said.
The jury awarded Carnation $2 million, Bill McKenna $3 million and Michael McKenna $5 million, all for pain and suffering. But because of federal law protecting municipalities and municipal employees in civil actions, each plaintiff may collect just $300,000. In accordance with court procedure, the jury was not advised of the pain-and-suffering cap prior to its verdict.
The plaintiffs say they plan to appeal the cap in order to collect the full judgment. They hope to be permitted to collect damages from individual defendants named in the case, payments that likely would also be covered by the city.
The city, meanwhile, is considering an appeal of the judgment, according to Solicitor Shelley R. Smith. The defense had a two-week window after the trial to file a motion of appeal.
"We did not believe their claims had merit, and we still don’t," Smith said.
"(But) juries do what they do. The jury obviously saw it differently. You cannot predict what a jury is going to do."
The activity cited by the plaintiffs in the suit was detailed in a March 31, 1999 news article published by the Northeast Times.
The McKennas and Carnation claimed that a supervisor in the 25th district used racial slurs repeatedly when referring to black officers, and that black officers were assigned to undesirable and dangerous duties in disproportion to their white counterparts.
Carnation and Bill McKenna had served nine and seven years in the police department at the time and were among the most-senior cops in the district. Michael McKenna had three years on the force. They say that when they individually confronted supervisors about the alleged racist behavior, they were subjected to similar treatment as the black officers, or worse.
They say they were routinely assigned to solo nighttime foot beats in the volatile "Badlands" of North Philadelphia in harsh winter weather, often without proper shift breaks. They claim they were subjected to verbal and physical taunting by fellow officers.
They say they were labeled "rats" in graffiti on bathroom walls inside the police station. In one instance, Bill McKenna said, he called for police backup after a shooting on the corner where he was assigned, yet no other officers came.
Chief Inspector William Colarulo, who now heads the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, was captain of the 25th district at the time. In February 1998, Carnation met the commander and other supervisors to discuss the issues
"(Colarulo) said if I make a (formal) complaint, he’ll make my life a ‘living nightmare,’" Carnation said.
In testimony during the trial, Colarulo denied making the threat and said he offered to call the appropriate office of the police department on Carnation’s behalf. An entry from the commander’s daily journal at the time was admitted into evidence and described the meeting in similar terms.
Bill McKenna and Carnation, who still live in the Northeast, say they never intended for things to work out for the bad. Rather, at the outset, they were merely trying to bring together a district that was divided along racial lines.
According to McKenna, within his own squad, black officers and white officers had separate cliques.
"We observed the black officers distance themselves from white officers," he said.
While many white officers had nothing to do with black cops, Carnation added, he felt he could act as a conduit.
"You don’t want to have to take sides, but that’s what it was," he said.
"I tried to incorporate (black officers) back into the squad. I thought we could relate to them and bring them back into the squad. Instead, we got blackballed.
"I knew how things were, but I never thought it was going to get to that point with the backlash."
Eventually, all were placed on limited duty or sick leave because of "job-related stress," then later lost their jobs. Bill McKenna was fired for leaving home without authorization during his sick leave.
In a 55-day period in early 1999, Bill McKenna says, the department executed 50 "sick checks" at his home. He refused to answer the door, however, and was reported in violation 33 times.
At one point, Bill McKenna’s wife was arrested for harassment when she went to the local home of a deputy police commissioner to complain about her husband’s treatment. The woman was ordered to pay a $100 fine and serve probation.
Michael McKenna, who lives in Florida, was laid off because of a permanent wrist injury that he says he suffered during a physical altercation with another officer inside the 25th district station in early 1998. The fight was related to the racism issue, he claims.
For years, McKenna collected workman’s compensation, but then the department reclassified the injury and pulled his compensation. Several weeks ago, McKenna won back his retired disabled status.
Carnation collects disability for job-related stress. In the lawsuit, he also sought compensation for back pay, his forward pay to his retirement age of 50, and his pension. The judge was to rule on that claim on May 28.
The McKennas did not claim lost wages or pension in their initial lawsuit. In pretrial motions, the judge turned down their request to add those economic damages to their claims.
Regardless of the financial outcomes of the case, the officers say they have many regrets.
"We never knew it was going to escalate like this," Bill McKenna said.
"We thought we were doing good. But we got fired and my wife got arrested. If I had to do it again, it wouldn’t be worth it."
Carnation says he hopes to start a foundation to provide support financially, legally and emotionally to officers who break the so-called "blue wall of silence" and speak out about injustices within their departments.
"I guess that will be my calling since my calling with the police department is over," he said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com