A civil lawsuit has been filed against the city of San Mateo and its police department on behalf of plaintiffs who were sexually assaulted by a police officer who committed sex crimes while on duty.
The three plaintiffs represented by Emanuel Law Group are seeking justice and general damages for the lifelong harm caused by former San Mateo police Officer Noah Winchester and to address what they say are the failures of the administrative and supervisory personnel at the San Mateo Police Department and the city of San Mateo that placed Winchester in his position of power and authority to abuse, according to the lawsuit.
“There needs to be significant civil accountability on the part of the San Mateo Police Department,” Todd Emanuel with Emanuel Law Group said.
Winchester was employed by the San Mateo Police Department when he sexually assaulted three women in San Mateo in 2015 and was employed by the Los Rios Community College Police Department when he abused one victim in Sacramento in 2013, according to the lawsuit. Winchester was 31 when he was accused of sexually assaulting women between 2013 to 2015 in San Mateo County. After a lengthy legal process that took years, he was convicted and sentenced to 81 years to life in prison in 2019.
Recommended for you
The lawsuit alleges that based on his previous actions while with the Los Rios Community College Police Department, the San Mateo Police Department and or city administrators knew or should have known that Winchester was convicted of a crime of dishonesty while with the Los Rios Police Department and subsequently hired with the San Mateo Police Department in early 2015. The lawsuit noted that those in the police department and city determined policies and procedures and were responsible for hiring, training, supervising, retaining and terminating Winchester. It alleges that Winchester’s actions as an officer of the San Mateo Police Department rendered the department or the city liable for the acts of its employee. The City Attorney’s Office declined to provide comment.
Emanuel said his clients want to see changes so other women won’t be victimized and are safe and to know what changes have been made since. His clients want institutional accountability and to know why Winchester was hired and why he wasn’t properly supervised.
“There is still a lot we don’t know,” Emanuel said.
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of California in San Mateo County on March 10. The City Council held a special meeting on May 22, with one of the topics being a conference with legal counsel about the case against the city involving Winchester.
Winchester was hired by SMPD because the previous law enforcement agency could not reveal his dishonesty, or anything else for that matter, due to that agency's HR personnel parameters and, I believe, state law. Conclusion: the big issue is why Los Rios didn't fire or terminate Winchester? If they had, Winchester would have come under much closer scrutiny in SMPD's hiring process.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(1) comment
Winchester was hired by SMPD because the previous law enforcement agency could not reveal his dishonesty, or anything else for that matter, due to that agency's HR personnel parameters and, I believe, state law. Conclusion: the big issue is why Los Rios didn't fire or terminate Winchester? If they had, Winchester would have come under much closer scrutiny in SMPD's hiring process.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.