Post by Shuftin on Feb 13, 2007 14:46:42 GMT -5
02/02/07
By KATRINA CORNWELL
Gallatin Police Officer Angela Negrin resigned Wednesday before finding out how the police chief would deal with her for admittedly using a Taser improperly on a civilian, personnel records show.
The officer’s decision to turn in her badge is the sixth in a string of resignations at the Gallatin Police Department.
Negrin, 35, faced three departmental violations for using what’s called a drive-stun technique, where the device is pressed against a person and fired, delivering an electrical shock.
According to records, the two-year patrol officer admitted during an interview and testified during an internal investigation concerning another officer that she had used a Taser in this manner.
Officer Negrin told investigators the civilian wanted to know “what it felt like to be stunned with a Taser.”
The incident happened while she was on duty, and in violation of the department’s use of force policy, since the Taser is considered a weapon.
The incident also violated a second department policy, which prohibits all forms of “horseplay,” personnel records show.
A third violation against the officer involved the police department’s policy on conduct and discipline, especially in terms of truthfully answering any and all questions in an investigation, records show.
According to records, Negrin admitted to investigators that she using the drive-stun technique once. She was questioned about a second incident, but she denied drive-stunning a civilian on a separate occasion.
Then, in testimony in the departmental hearing, she admitted to drive-stunning a civilian with a Taser in two separate instances, records show.
The News Examiner featured Negrin, a native of Puerto Rico, and her husband, Jose, a state trooper, stationed in Sumner County at that time, in a June 2005 article.
Chief John Tisdale talked about Negrin’s value to the police department, especially concerning her role as a contact to the city’s Spanish speaking community.
“She’s a good, young officer,” Tisdale told The News Examiner. “She’s dedicated. She’s a great example for other officers coming in.”
In her first week in uniform, she wrote 78 tickets in Gallatin. Before becoming a police officer, Negrin worked at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, where she worked for a year and a half as a “count room officer.”
She was responsible for keeping track of all the inmates if they had to go out to court, had visitation or any other kind of appointments.
The patrol officer had kind words for her colleagues in a resignation later dated Jan. 31. The reason she cited was to “further” her career.
“It comes with great sorrow that I write this letter. I have served with the Gallatin Police Department for over two years as a patrol officer and have tried to serve the department to the best of my abilities,” Negrin wrote.
“It has been an honor to serve with the men and women of this department. I appreciate the opportunity to have worked for such a department and the experience and training that I have received. I will miss each and every one of you.”
my.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070202/MICRO060101/70201104/1310/MICRO060101
By KATRINA CORNWELL
Gallatin Police Officer Angela Negrin resigned Wednesday before finding out how the police chief would deal with her for admittedly using a Taser improperly on a civilian, personnel records show.
The officer’s decision to turn in her badge is the sixth in a string of resignations at the Gallatin Police Department.
Negrin, 35, faced three departmental violations for using what’s called a drive-stun technique, where the device is pressed against a person and fired, delivering an electrical shock.
According to records, the two-year patrol officer admitted during an interview and testified during an internal investigation concerning another officer that she had used a Taser in this manner.
Officer Negrin told investigators the civilian wanted to know “what it felt like to be stunned with a Taser.”
The incident happened while she was on duty, and in violation of the department’s use of force policy, since the Taser is considered a weapon.
The incident also violated a second department policy, which prohibits all forms of “horseplay,” personnel records show.
A third violation against the officer involved the police department’s policy on conduct and discipline, especially in terms of truthfully answering any and all questions in an investigation, records show.
According to records, Negrin admitted to investigators that she using the drive-stun technique once. She was questioned about a second incident, but she denied drive-stunning a civilian on a separate occasion.
Then, in testimony in the departmental hearing, she admitted to drive-stunning a civilian with a Taser in two separate instances, records show.
The News Examiner featured Negrin, a native of Puerto Rico, and her husband, Jose, a state trooper, stationed in Sumner County at that time, in a June 2005 article.
Chief John Tisdale talked about Negrin’s value to the police department, especially concerning her role as a contact to the city’s Spanish speaking community.
“She’s a good, young officer,” Tisdale told The News Examiner. “She’s dedicated. She’s a great example for other officers coming in.”
In her first week in uniform, she wrote 78 tickets in Gallatin. Before becoming a police officer, Negrin worked at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, where she worked for a year and a half as a “count room officer.”
She was responsible for keeping track of all the inmates if they had to go out to court, had visitation or any other kind of appointments.
The patrol officer had kind words for her colleagues in a resignation later dated Jan. 31. The reason she cited was to “further” her career.
“It comes with great sorrow that I write this letter. I have served with the Gallatin Police Department for over two years as a patrol officer and have tried to serve the department to the best of my abilities,” Negrin wrote.
“It has been an honor to serve with the men and women of this department. I appreciate the opportunity to have worked for such a department and the experience and training that I have received. I will miss each and every one of you.”
my.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070202/MICRO060101/70201104/1310/MICRO060101