I'm not a cop, so I'm just going to leave this here for those who care to comment.
I'm not a cop, so I'm just going to leave this here for those who care to comment.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
When an agency screws up the internal investigation and HR processes, this is the likely outcome. Agencies do get sued for those issues.Originally Posted by Stephanie B
Sometimes there are rulings against the agency because whoever heard the case doesn't believe the facts warrant the proposed discipline. It doesn't appear - from the article - that the court endorsed the behaviors, decision.
Without the benefit of knowing all the substantive facts, my guess is the decision to reinstate was made on a basis of procedural fault by the agency rather than as an endorsement of the officer’s actions. Similarly many unions are forced to defend a member not because the union endorses the member or his/her actions, but in defense of the bargaining agreement.
It’s in everyone’s best interest that a proper and thorough IA investigation be conducted and all proper HR type procedure be fastidiously followed. There is nothing worse, both for internal morale and external accountability, than having warranted discipline rescinded over a technicality.
Anything I post is my opinion alone as a private citizen.
Also not a cop but wondering what life on the job will be like for this guy? Reinstatement for administrative / legal / procedural reasons is one thing, acceptance by co-workers and supervisors is something else.
He'll make Lieutenant fairly quickly.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Former LEO. He is a S***stain and a disgrace to the uniform. I hope the true cops make every day a living hell for this individual. His actions, or more succintly, lack thereof, cost lives.
I agree but I see a stress/medical retirement coming if this happens.
I don’t wish ill will towards anyone, but sometimes helping them pursue success doesn’t mean with the organization. Honestly a medical retirement might be less costly to the agency than him continuing to work.
Seriously, for reasons of principle, integrity, leadership, and morale that guy needs to not have a badge.
Anything I post is my opinion alone as a private citizen.
I wasn't a union official when I was a cop, but I was a steward at my next job, which was in emergency management for a major city.
During an off the record conversation before a disciplinary meeting, a guy on the team was grousing about how "we can't fire anybody because of this fucking contract."
I was usually pretty reserved, but I retorted "You can't fire anybody because you people refuse to correctly conduct and properly document an investigation and progressive discipline. If you did my guy would be shit-canned and there wouldn't be anything I could do about it. Instead he's going to get a slap on the wrist."
I was right.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
While I might blame the failure of this sergeant on a personal failing or, hopefully, the fog of war and a misunderstanding of the situation, the overall failure of initial responding BSO personnel leads me to believe something more is to blame. In theory, according to the state commission report, BSO personnel received ongoing training in active assailant response. While issue has been made that BSO policy stated that officers "may" enter an active assailant scene as opposed to Coral Springs' mandate that officers "shall" enter, I don't think the wording is that big a deal. In many ways, I prefer "may" in doctrine as it would be foolish to pump patrol officer after patrol officer into a Beslan school incident.
That said, I suspect either BSO's active assailant training was ineffectual check-the-block training or that BSO's overall culture is to wait for approval from higher command. I doubt BSO intends doesn't want to hire cowards, but I think it may have inculcated a wait-and-see attitude as officers wait for....SWAT? The Sheriff himself? Delta Force? The Avengers Initiative?
As far as the sergeant being returned to duty, I suspect it has to do with failure of command staff to properly follow disciplinary procedures, perhaps coupled with vaguely written general orders. Agencies can become very emotional about perceived failures and take ill-advised disciplinary actions. Having went my career in law enforcement, I'd rather see the occasional idiot keep his or her job than allow command staff to screw over other officers (as my previous agency did me). I will also remark that agencies that bring doom on officers wearing short sleeve shirts when they should have long sleeves on will praise tough by-the-book supervisors who discipline fficers without regard to general orders or union contracts because, somehow, the book doesn't apply to them.
Two examples from an allied agency come to mind. I listened to a conversation between a lieutenant and the president of the FOP. The lieutenant was telling the tale of a school crossing guard who was using and perhaps dealing controlled dangerous substances. As I recall, the crossing guard had been forced to resign. Good riddance to bad rubbish, we all agreed. The union president (who did not represent school crossing guards), however, pointed out that the lieutenant had violated several personnel regulations. The LT was flabbergasted and mentioned that the crossing guard was a disgrace who needed to be fired. The FOP president agreed, but reitinerated that rules were rules. "But how do we get around this?" asked the lieutenant.
"You don't get around it," was the retort. "You follow the rules and fire her." That's something I kept with me throughout my supervisory career.
I have no direct knowledge of the second incident, but it's still a great cautionary tale. An FTO from the same agency (who was appointed FTO for reasons other than skill set) became enraged that his ex-girlfriend was seeing a new guy. On duty, he found the new boyfriend and shot him, critically wounding him. He then fled the scene in his cruiser, rookie officer aboard and expecting to be next. FTO first asked rookie to borrow some ammunition and then stopped at a convenience store where he was washing the blood of his revolver in the men's room when a sergeant arrived and arrested him.
The department was really mad at this guy and quickly fired him, general orders, personnel regulations, and the law enforcement officers bill of rights be damned. Just great, that'll satisfy the press. The FTO was convicted and sent to state prison--where he allegedly received his back pay from the county. I can't verify all parts of that story, but it doesn't surprise me.
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