2/2/24 – According to a 2021 Internal Affairs Investigation ordered by the Banning Police Department, Banning Sergeant Michael Bennett was found to have sexually harassed two different women on a total of five different occasions, while of duty. He remains on the job.

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FIRST SUSTAINED FINDING : SEXUALLY HARASSING TEXT MESSAGE SENT TO FEMALE EMPLOYEE

On September 12, 2020 Sergeant Michael Bennett sexually harassed a female employee of the City of Banning with the following text message :

“Listen , I’m not trying to get pussy or attraction. I just love your ass. Period… I’m not that guy. Even tho I talk shit. You are bad ass in my eyes”.

The message made the employee feel “uncomfortable” and “weird” (pg. 4 of Final Investigative Report).

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SECOND SUSTAINED FINDING : UNWANTED TOUCHING OF FEMALE OFFICER

On February 13, 2021 Bennett was is a briefing room with another female officer. The officer was eating a powdered doughnut while Bennett sat next to her. Some of the powdered sugar from her doughnut had fallen onto the top of her pant leg, about 2 inches down from the crease of her hip.

Without saying a word, Bennett took it upon himself to lean towards her, reach out with his hand, and dust off the powdered sugar from her leg with two swipes of his hand.

The victim stated that this made her “uncomfortable”. However, she stated that she did not say anything, because Bennett had “a lot of power and influence “ and that she was “just scared, to be honest”. (pg. 9 of Final Investigative Report).

Missing from this part of the investigation is any analysis of the criminal aspects of the unwanted and inappropriate touching. Bennett’s conduct could meet the definition of assault, possibly even sexual assault, given that the area touched seemed to be in close proximity to the victim’s private parts.

As for the victim’s assessment of Bennett being very powerful and connected, she appears to be rather correct, as the unconscionable disposition of this investigation will show.

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THIRD SUSTAINED FINDING : TAKING UNWANTED PHOTO OF FEMALE EMPLOYEE

On November 20, 2020 Bennett texted a photo to a female employee. Bennett had taken the photo of the employee without her knowledge or consent, while in the same room with her.

This creeped out the employee, who stated that Bennett’s behavior made her feel “uncomfortable”, as the incident was indeed a “very awkward moment” for her. (pg. 11 of Final Investigative Report).

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FOURTH SUSTAINED FINDING : SENDING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TEXT MESSAGE

On January 15, 2021 Bennett sent the following sexually explicit text message to a female employee of the City of Banning : “I’m in the mood for pussy m big time” . One minute later, the next text from Bennett read: “omgeeee that would be sushi….shushi,” His next text read: “Why would that ever correct to fucking pussy. So stupid.”

The victimized employee stated that she “played stupid” and sent him back laughing emojis, to which Bennett responded : “I guess the phone reads my mind”.

This last statement alone indicated to the investigation that Bennett did not have a technical issue with the auto-correct feature of his phone, a claim he subsequently had raised.

Even after 20 attempts the investigation could not duplicate an auto-correct mistake that would change the spoken word “sushi” to “pussy”. (pg. 19-23 of Final Investigative Report).

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FIFTH SUSTAINED FINDING : SENDING VULGAR, INAPPROPRIATE TEXT MESSAGE TO FEMALE SUBORDINATE EMPLOYEE

Less than 2 weeks later, on January 27, 2021, Bennett sent the following sexually explicit text message to a female employee : “You look fine as fuck”, supposedly referring to her recent weight loss efforts. The employee stated that Bennett was a Sergeant and therefore her superior, and should not have engaged in such foul-mouthed sexual language.

She stated that even if he meant it as a compliment, such a sexually tainted message from Bennett was “simply unwanted” (pg. 23-25 of Final Investigative Report).

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UNPRECEDENTED $1.85M SETTLEMENT KEPT FROM PUBLIC

Prior to repeatedly sexually harassing Banning city employees, Bennett had shot and killed an unarmed Banning citizen, without ever identifying himself as a police officer. The unarmed citizen was killed in his own driveway. The incident occurred in 2019 (for more on this story click here – scroll down to “claim #5”).

Subsequently, on March 25, 2020 the City of Banning settled a civil rights lawsuit brought by the deceased’s family for $1.85M. Yes, you read this correctly – 1.85 million dollars!

Coverup is the name of the game in Banning. That’s why failed City Manager Doug Schulze made sure that this enormous payout was never made public. Follow this link for the Federal Court docket entries (PACER) showing this unprecedented $1.85M settlement.

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2018 INVESTIGATION FINDS BENNETT MADE UP LIES WHILE ON DUTY

In 2017 Michael Bennett was investigated for use of excessive force, along with two other officers.

The investigation was formally sustained as to Bennett displaying “unsatisfactory work performance” (IA #2018-02 – pg. 29-30, click here). Bennett was found to have stated to three different witnesses that during a 911 call “yelling” was heard in the background by the the operator. Bennett used this (false) narrative as justification for his and other officers’ use force in response to the call.

The investigation found Bennett’s narrative to be completely untrue, as no yelling was ever heard during the 911 call. It appears that Bennett lied about the nature and circumstances of the 911 call while on duty.

During his response to the same 911 call, Bennett also gave false information to citizens that were attempting to video record him. The investigation found that Bennett stated that video recording of Police Officers was illegal according to a recent “8th Circuit Court of Appeals” ruling.

This too was a blatantly false statement. Everyone knows that video recording of police activity has always been protected by the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution. Since Bennett swore an oath to protect and uphold the Constitution, it appears that he intentionally misstated the law in order to intimidate the citizens. Therefore, this incident may qualify as another case of lying while on duty.

The circumstances regarding the sustained findings of this internal investigation may qualify Michael Bennett as a Brady Cop. A Brady Cop is a law enforcement officer who has engaged in dishonesty in the line of duty. This appears to be the case with Bennett lying about yelling heard on the 911 call, as well as his statement about the legality of video recording the police.

In any criminal proceeding the prosecution is required to disclose whenever a testifying police officer qualifies as a Brady Cop. This gives the defense an opportunity to impeach the officer’s testimony, making his court testimony essentially worthless.

Brady Cops are generally considered to be the lowest form of law enforcement. They are also often despised by their peers and become the laughing stock of Police Departments.

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CAUTION : CREEP WITH A BADGE ! – BENNETT REMAINS ON THE JOB

Based on all of the above, it could not be more clear that Michael Bennett is a disgrace to the badge. He has shown to lack the integrity necessary to be a law enforcement officer and clearly should have been fired long ago. But instead, he was allowed to remain on the job.

Next time you call 911, how would you like for this creep to show up at your door? If you are a single woman driving around Banning, would you feel safe if this unhinged sex pest was pulling you over?

Due to the failed leadership of City Manager Doug Schulze and his hand picked puppet Police Chief Hamner, both of the above scenarios remain a distinct possibility for Banning citizens:; these two bear sole responsibility for the unconscionable decision to allow Bennett to remain on the job. Not only that, but Schulze then failed to inform the public about this deranged officer, who he continues to allow to police Banning.

Five sustained incidents of sexual harassment, a $1.85M payout based on a civil rights lawsuit and false statements about a 911 call were apparently not enough to fire this officer.

So what was Bennett’s “punishment” for his ongoing sexual harassment activities, you may ask? Answer: Demotion to regular officer.

Schulze’s message : Should Banning City employees get caught committing sexual harassment, they can count on keeping their job, even if they do so repeatedly.

Good grief. This absurd outcome shows how Schulze and Hamner, who is employed at the sole pleasure of Schulze, are willing to run the city into the ground. Can you think of a city manager having a more reckless disregard for this city’s wellbeing?

As a side note, Bennett’s “silk glove” treatment is coming from a Police Chief who once forced the resignation of one of his officers for catching the wrong fish. Can we say double standard?

The above absurd actions are evidence of an ever increasing level of insanity of Schulze’s unchecked reign in Banning.

Here are some additional recent examples: having to pay over $2M in settlement to a Police Lieutenant that Schulze had falsely terminated, lying about the existence of public documents, selling city property to city employees and, last but not least, losing track of $30+ million dollars at the Banning Electric Utility, which stand to never be recovered.

Regrettably, all of Schulze’s repeated train wrecks remain unchecked due to an ignorant, if not complicit, city council majority. Four out of five council members consistently look the other way and never ask any hard questions.

Best described as brainwashed “Schulze groupies”, these clueless council members (Wallace, Sanchez, Minjares) can regularly be seen commending Schulze and even raising his salary.

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CONCLUSION

We already know that city manager Doug Schulze has a history of financial bankruptcy, evidenced by two declared personal bankruptcies and three foreclosures of his homes (see full documentation here).

But the Bennett case now also provides us with evidence of his moral bankruptcy, where justice, righteousness, accountability and public trust are turned on their head and go out the window, just because he says so.

Creepy, sexually harassing police officers are a disgrace to the badge. Creeps with a badge can only be found in corrupt Police Departments. Thanks to Doug Schulze and Matthew Hamner, Banning PD can now pride itself to be one of them.

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NOTE: You may wonder how we got in possession of internal investigation documents of the Banning Police Department. The documents referenced here required a full year of litigation to uncover. The City of Banning tried their hardest to suppress their disclosure. They even declared, under penalty of perjury, that the documents you see published here did not exist.

But, like with almost anything that City Manager Schulze and his team of bureaucrats contemplate, this pathetic stunt was bound to fail as well.

In mid 2023 Riverside Superior Court Judge Magno ordered all documents released. Schulze’s ill fated attempt to suppress the underlying documents ended up costing the taxpayer a six figure dollar amount – but who’s counting? This serves as another example of just how recklessly Schulze puts our tax dollars at risk.