The Santa Ana City Attorney’s office has opened an investigation into Hank Cousine, a recently retired police sergeant who received a controversial payout for unused time off, according to the Voice of OC.
The Voice of OC reported that “For years, Couisine logged dozens of hours of overtime each month, records of overtime sheets obtained by Voice of OC show. And upon retirement he cashed out more than 3,000 hours in vacation, holiday, compensatory and sick time, equivalent to more than a year of eight-hour workdays.”
But there is more to this story that the Voice of OC is not reporting. Cousine was supposedly an “outstanding narcotics officer,” according to one of his former colleagues in the SAPD. In the 1980s he was shot in the neck during a standoff with a drug dealer. He not only recovered from the wound, which left him disfigured, but remained in top physical condition throughout his years on the force.
But did you know that Cousine’s son was a part owner of Santa Ana Superior Care, a medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana that was shut down by the Orange County Sheriff’s department? Their logo looked like it was based on the City of Santa Ana’s logo!
According to the O.C. Register, the dispensary on two occasions sold marijuana to an undercover officer who had a doctor’s recommendation, without telling the officer to perform any duties or to participate in cooperatively or collectively cultivating marijuana.
The Register also reported that “one of the operators of Santa Ana Superior Care was Hank John Cousine, 51. Cousine is a former Los Angeles police officer, Powell said. Cousine, a 15-year LAPD veteran, was fired for allegedly participating in a pyramid scheme in 1998, according to a 2004 article by the Los Angeles Times. In 1991, a Hank Cousine had been identified as one of the LAPD’s 44 “problem officers” by the Christopher Commission on the basis of citizen complaints, shootings, and other criteria, the Times said.”
If the senior Hank Cousine was such a great cop how did his son end up getting fired from the LAPD and having an ownership interest in a medical marijuana dispensary that was shut down by the cops?
I don’t know how Hank senior ended up being such a storied cop in Santa Ana. Let’s see what the city’s investigation can turn up.
Santa Ana authorities should start looking info the parole officers too just saying…
Cops get the best drugs.
I don’t give much credence to the Voice Of OC anymore.
At first, they gave the appearance of objectivity, but those days are long gone. I can think of three recent Santa Ana stories and two other countywide posts that were so one sided, it was hard to read.
Certainly, if true this guy hosed the city, the citizens, the taxpayers and the people who are neither (the majority of residents). This is why the VOC build up is so scary. Tomorrow, the SAPOA and the SIEU face of with the city. The first of MANY such meetings.
Do you really think David Benavides or Michele Martinez has the skills to comprehend these discussions? I don’t.
If we are going to talk about Cousine’s adult son, then we should certainly be discussing Michele’s brother, Roman’s brother, Sal’s Son, and most definitely insist on Benavides answering the still unanswered questions about his wife………………….right???
Cousine’s was an EMPLOYEE, not an elected official. Let’s start by holding the leaders to the same standard we do the rank and file.
I would LOVE to know the details about the so called “taxpayers”.
“we should certainly be discussing Michele’s brother, Roman’s brother, Sal’s Son”………… Hmmmmmm
And don’t forget Jennifer Villasenor’s brother Admin.
“Do you really think David Benavides or Michele Martinez has the skills to comprehend these discussions? I don’t.”………. Hmmmmm
Well they are objecting and Pulido is not, so, they are more qualified than Pulido.