|
|
|
| NEWS > 19 March 2007 |
Other related articles:
Weeding them out! 24 cops char
The assistant commissioner of police in charge of the Anti-Corruption Branch, Justin Felice, says 24 members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been arrested and charged with breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act since the start of the year.
For the corresponding period last year, four members of the force were arrested on similar charges.
Although the drive by the Police High Command to crack down on corrupt cops is enjoying some success, the man leading the initiative is not yet ready to pat himself on the back.
several factors
ACP Felice tol... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
Beloit Daily News - Beloit,WI,
19 March 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
Beloit Police Department, WI
|
PFC rejects firing officer
A Beloit officer has been spared termination by the city's Police and Fire Commission.
The commission delivered its decision to Police Chief Sam Lathrop, calling for suspension of Vincent Brown for 30 days without pay, instead of following the chief's request to fire him for violations.
“This decision by the Police and Fire Commission sends a different message to our officers and the community than what we are taught and have been teaching,” Lathrop said. “It says that you won't lose your job if you deceive, or that you won't lose your job if you decide that today is a day that you don't feel like doing what you should be doing.”
Brown, a 12-year veteran of the department, was charged with lack of attentiveness on duty, leaving his duty post, unsatisfactory performance, not being truthful, failing to use radio communications, insubordination and violating the code of ethics. The commission found him guilty of all charges except the last two.
An internal investigation looking into Brown's misconduct points to specific days on which violations were committed: Dec. 14, Dec. 9, Dec. 8, Nov. 14, Nov. 15, Nov. 13 and Nov. 28. Each incident claims Brown was supposed to be in a school zone around 7:30 a.m., but instead he was at a restaurant in the 900 block of Fourth Street. Global positioning system records indicate he spent, on average, about 30 minutes at the restaurant on each occasion.
In their decision, the commission stated there was substantial evidence against Brown of all the charges except insubordination and violation of the code of ethics. Brown was charged with insubordination because he violated a direct order from a superior, Lathrop testified Wednesday during a hearing before the commission. On Dec. 14, Brown was told by his shift sergeant to go to his school zone at 7:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. But on Tuesday, Beloit Police Sgt. Dan Risse testified before the commission that he didn't remember if he specifically told Brown to go during those times, which led the commission to believe the order was not clear.
“The commission interpreted this rule to mean that Officer Brown would have had to absolutely refuse to obey an order to be insubordinate. A majority of the commission felt the order to go to the school zone on Dec. 14, was unclear,” states the commission's ruling.
However, Risse testified that the order was part of the department's Beat Management Plan and the plan calls for officers to be in their school zones for the first two weeks of each semester. The commission concluded that the change in this policy was not written and part of the department's regulations and procedures. Therefore, Brown could not be found insubordinate for not following the order.
Brown was not found guilty of violating the code of ethics because the commission concluded the language of the code is too broad to apply to this case.
“The allegation of a violation of the code of ethics is repetitive of the allegations of a violation of other rules and regulations,” states the commission's ruling.
According to the ruling, the commission believed termination was too severe for the violations committed.
“Chief Lathrop applied the rules without discrimination against Officer Brown. However, a majority of the commission concludes that the rules were not applied fairly against Officer Brown when compared to the discipline of Officer E.”
Officer E was one of five officers given a three-day suspension on Feb. 5 for gathering together instead of patrolling while on duty. Officer E has a substantial disciplinary history and engaged in conduct similar to Brown but was given a much less harsh punishment, the commission's findings stated.
The commission also stated, “the proposed discipline does not reasonably relate to the seriousness of the violations and to Officer Brown's record of service with the Beloit Police Department because a majority of the commission finds that a termination of employment for the violations of the rules and regulations found by the commission to be too severe.”
On Wednesday, Lathrop told the commission that one of the reasons he asked for the termination of Brown was because of Brown's extensive disciplinary history and the severity of the violations. Brown was hired in 1994. He was disciplined 13 times during his tenure in Beloit. On Jan. 26, 2006, Brown was suspended for 10 days without pay for unbecoming conduct and lack of attentiveness while on duty.
Despite, the commission not ruling in his favor, Lathrop is committed to moving past this dismissal request.
“We all look forward to marking this dismal chapter as finished and getting our focus back to where it should be -- providing the best police service to this community that we are capable of,” he said.
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
