Post by Critique on Jan 13, 2007 3:27:39 GMT -5
January 10, 2007
A Commerce police sergeant was fired Dec. 16 for allegedly stealing $300 in cash from an undocumented immigrant.
Sgt. Larry Floyd was named in a complaint filed Oct. 30 alleging “criminal misconduct” against a private citizen, Police Chief John W. Gaissert confirmed.
The investigation of Floyd continues. According to Gaissert, the internal investigation has been completed, but the summarizing report will be made public Jan. 15.
The complaint apparently alleged that Floyd stole the money from an undocumented Mexican immigrant’s wallet following a traffic accident. Gaissert, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney’s office reached the conclusion that the case was not strong enough to pursue criminal charges, the police chief said.
The investigation began after the Hispanic male came forward and filed the complaint.
“You have two choices (with which to proceed) once you have an allegation,” Gaissert said. “You can pursue it administratively under what is called the ‘Garrity Rule,’ which is based on case law that established guidelines of due process for police in administrative investigations, or you can conduct it (as a criminal investigation).”
In the latter scenario, the officer is treated like any other criminal suspect and, for example, can refuse to talk. In the former case, any statements made by the officer may be used only for departmental investigation purposes and not for the prosecution of a criminal offense, but the officer can be compelled to take a lie detector test.
“You’ve got to make that choice,” Gaissert said. “If you think you’ve got a (prosecutable) criminal case, you would pursue it that way. Otherwise, you go under Garrity.” In this case, Gaissert indicated, the language barrier and the lack of physical evidence or witnesses led to proceeding under the Garrity Rule.
Other sources indicated that the complainant and Floyd were subjected to polygraph tests. The victim passed the test, while the police officer failed it, the sources said.
The Peace Offices Standards and Training (POST) Council is also getting involved. That is the organization that certifies peace officers in Georgia, and its interest is in protecting the integrity of the organization through enforcement of its standards.
“POST assigns an investigator. He comes in, takes the internal affairs record and all documentation developed by the agency and does his own investigation,” Gaissert said.
The results of that can range from POST taking no action to suspending, probating or revoking POST certification, which is required for service as a police officer in Georgia. That investigation has not been completed in Floyd’s case.
“I take this kind of allegation very seriously,” Gaissert said. “We received the complaint, we took it seriously, we investigated it and we took decisive action.”
The police chief said that Floyd was a “technically competent officer” who was “well liked in the community and had a good working relationship with other officers.” Floyd was also reported to have been in the midst of a divorce.
PERSONNEL FILE
Floyd’s personnel file appeared fairly typical. It contained several letters of commendation, but also a notice of a three-day suspension, a demotion and a pay cut in 2004 stemming from his having his wife report him too sick to work - after which he went to see a performance of “Larry the Cable Guy.” It also contained a reprimand related to a few bounced checks.
www.mainstreetnews.com/2007/January/C0110A.html
A Commerce police sergeant was fired Dec. 16 for allegedly stealing $300 in cash from an undocumented immigrant.
Sgt. Larry Floyd was named in a complaint filed Oct. 30 alleging “criminal misconduct” against a private citizen, Police Chief John W. Gaissert confirmed.
The investigation of Floyd continues. According to Gaissert, the internal investigation has been completed, but the summarizing report will be made public Jan. 15.
The complaint apparently alleged that Floyd stole the money from an undocumented Mexican immigrant’s wallet following a traffic accident. Gaissert, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney’s office reached the conclusion that the case was not strong enough to pursue criminal charges, the police chief said.
The investigation began after the Hispanic male came forward and filed the complaint.
“You have two choices (with which to proceed) once you have an allegation,” Gaissert said. “You can pursue it administratively under what is called the ‘Garrity Rule,’ which is based on case law that established guidelines of due process for police in administrative investigations, or you can conduct it (as a criminal investigation).”
In the latter scenario, the officer is treated like any other criminal suspect and, for example, can refuse to talk. In the former case, any statements made by the officer may be used only for departmental investigation purposes and not for the prosecution of a criminal offense, but the officer can be compelled to take a lie detector test.
“You’ve got to make that choice,” Gaissert said. “If you think you’ve got a (prosecutable) criminal case, you would pursue it that way. Otherwise, you go under Garrity.” In this case, Gaissert indicated, the language barrier and the lack of physical evidence or witnesses led to proceeding under the Garrity Rule.
Other sources indicated that the complainant and Floyd were subjected to polygraph tests. The victim passed the test, while the police officer failed it, the sources said.
The Peace Offices Standards and Training (POST) Council is also getting involved. That is the organization that certifies peace officers in Georgia, and its interest is in protecting the integrity of the organization through enforcement of its standards.
“POST assigns an investigator. He comes in, takes the internal affairs record and all documentation developed by the agency and does his own investigation,” Gaissert said.
The results of that can range from POST taking no action to suspending, probating or revoking POST certification, which is required for service as a police officer in Georgia. That investigation has not been completed in Floyd’s case.
“I take this kind of allegation very seriously,” Gaissert said. “We received the complaint, we took it seriously, we investigated it and we took decisive action.”
The police chief said that Floyd was a “technically competent officer” who was “well liked in the community and had a good working relationship with other officers.” Floyd was also reported to have been in the midst of a divorce.
PERSONNEL FILE
Floyd’s personnel file appeared fairly typical. It contained several letters of commendation, but also a notice of a three-day suspension, a demotion and a pay cut in 2004 stemming from his having his wife report him too sick to work - after which he went to see a performance of “Larry the Cable Guy.” It also contained a reprimand related to a few bounced checks.
www.mainstreetnews.com/2007/January/C0110A.html