CHICANOS OPPOSE BINI RETURN

Jan. 17, 2001 - Joseph Bini still wants to be a cop.

Angry Chicano activists don't want him back on the street.

That was the fallout Tuesday after police officials gave the Denver
police officer a three-month suspension without pay for his role in
the 1999 death of Ismael Mena. Bini signed a search warrant with the
wrong address and SWAT officers executing a no-knock drug raid
fatally shot the Mexican immigrant.

Bini, 32, who is eligible to return to work immediately, said in a
rare interview Tuesday he's not giving up on a police career.

"It's truly an unfortunate set of circumstances," Bini said of Mena's
death. "I was part of a whole chain of events gone awry." But
activists saw it a different way.

"The underlying theme between the community and the police is trust,"
said LeRoy Lemos, founder of the Justice for Mena Committee, who was
among those who met Tuesday with Manager of Safety Ari Zavaras. "That
trust has been violated. And this is the ultimate violation. The
community is never going to forget Bini." In announcing the
suspension Monday, Zavaras and Police Chief Gerry Whitman said the
department was at fault for not training him properly.

Zavaras said he reviewed the entire case and felt that Bini's
punishment was sufficient because "he was in a role he shouldn't have
been in."

Because Bini has been suspended for 12 months, he can return to work
immediately and will receive back pay for the 9-month balance. Also,
in a court case last month, Bini pleaded guilty to first-degree
misconduct, a misdemeanor, and was ordered to do community service
and pay court costs.

The officer said Tuesday that he is "happy that there is some closure
here," but added: "I don't think our family will ever completely
recover from what we have gone through." The death of Mena, killed by
police when he fired on SWAT officers during the Sept. 29, 1999,
raid, was a tragedy, Bini said.

"Everyone suffers in a situation like this, not just the Menas, but
the police officers' families and the people in the community," Bini
said. "Anytime something like this happens, it's a tragedy, and no
police officer wants to be involved in the killing of anyone."

Four days after Mena was killed, Bini's 3-year-old daughter, Jackie,
was diagnosed with a mental and physical disorder, Bini said.

A month after that, his wife, Anna, had lumps removed from her
breasts that were found not to be cancerous. Bini said he later had
stomach problems and had exploratory colon surgery but was found not
to be suffering from cancer.

His son, Joey, 8, also has had problems in school because of the
publicity over the incident, Bini said. "My son said to me, "Dad,
it's getting embarrassing to go to school because you and I have the
same name.' It killed me. It just about put me over the edge." Bini
said.

"Obviously some of the tension has been eased around our house. It's
going to be nice to have a pay check again." During his suspension,
his family has survived on the largess of friends and family, Bini
said, and he wants to pay them back.

He said he and his wife, whose parents were born in Mexico, were
disappointed that some community activists have tried to make Mena's
death a racial issue.

Activists who met with Zavaras and a division chief Tuesday, said
they want Bini fired.

"Kids get more time for spraying graffiti, " said Mary Miera of the
Justice for Mena Committee, refering to Bini's court sentence of 12
months' probation and 150 hours of community service.

"What does it take for an officer to lose his job," said Glenn
Morris, local leader of the American Indian Movement and a professor
of political science at CU-Denver. "Here's an innocent, dead father
and here's a police officer who got his job back."

Zavaras said deliberate perjury, which Bini did not commit, would be
grounds for termination. "I'm not shy about terminations. I've done
it before but this case doesn't call for that."

Lemos complained that the police covered up the incident for two
months until the media began publishing and broadcasting stories
about the shooting. "It took the press and their investigative re
porters to pull out the facts. Nothing was forthcoming from the
police."

Cynthia Gallegos, another member of the Mena Committee, said the
police are sending the wrong image to the youth. "You're telling them
that police have a different level of accountability. It's alright
for them to kill."