21 DPD Officers Disciplined For Breaking Pursuit Rules
Officers face one- to three-day suspensions
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 6:45 PM CST, Thu, Feb 26, 2009
Out of the nearly two dozen officers were faced disciplinary hearings Thursday for their role in a 2008 police chase that left an officer injured, only one officer was exonerated.
The 25-minute chase began on Sept. 8, 2008, after police answered a domestic dispute call. Officers said the driver tried to run them over when they arrived.
Officer Christopher Cordray, who was injured when his squad car hit a tree, was one of the officers disciplined.
"In our minds, there were some violations here in regards to misconduct, and we took action." Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson said.
Simpson said 13 officers received one-day suspensions, six received two-day suspensions, and one officer was suspended for three days.
Simpson said the violations were broken down into three groups: turning off the dashboard camera during the chase, getting involved in the chase and leaving other duties and basic violations of the pursuit policy.
"Our policing efforts have to be legitimate, and one of those things that we're charged with is that we take care of our driving in public while delivering a good police service," he said.
The three-day suspension was handed out to a field-training officer who had a rookie with him, Simpson said.
"He was not attentive to other crime-fighting duties, left those and joined the chase," he said.
All the punishments can be appealed.
First Published: Feb 26, 2009 6:19 PM CST
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