Case: Internal Affairs and Discipline
On January 23, 2012, at approximately 2235 hours, Officer John Smith of the Asheville Police Department stopped a vehicle at the corner of N. Main St. and Elm St. for suspicion of DWI. The vehicle was a 2003 Toyota Corolla driven by Frank Jones, Black Male, DOB 03/28/1959, of 327 Wells Street in Asheville, NC. At approximately 2240 hours, Office Steve Roberts arrived as backup. There are no other witnesses. Mr. Jones is arrested at approximately 2250 hours for DWI; Resist, Obstruct, and Delay; and Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer. Mr. Jones refuses to take a Intoxilyzer test.
On January 27, 2012, Mr. Jones appeared at the Asheville Police Department to file a complaint of employee misconduct against Officers Smith and Roberts. In his complaint, Mr. Jones alleges that Officer Smith had no reason to stop him in the first place, that Mr. Jones was not intoxicated and therefore should not have been arrested, and that Officers Smith and Roberts had beaten him up. Officers Smith and Roberts are both white. Officer Smith is a rookie officer who has only been out of the field training program and on his own for approximately six months. Officers Roberts is a seven year veteran of the department and is considered one of the informal leaders on his shift.
You are the Internal Affairs Investigator for the Asheville Police Department and are charged by the Chief of Police with investigating this complaint. You investigate the complaint and interview all parties and pursue all leads and avenues of inquiry.
Due to your superior investigative skills, you discover the following facts about the case:
1. Officer Smith observed the vehicle driven by Mr. Jones make a wide turn while driving. Officer Smith then followed the vehicle for approximately 2 miles during which he observed the vehicle cross the center line on three occasions, make a left turn without signaling, and make that left turn very wide and go almost entirely into the other lane of travel.
2. Officer Smith stopped the vehicle and upon approaching the driver smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the driver's breath and about his person. Officer Smith also observed what later proved to be an empty beer can in the passenger floorboard. Mr. Jones was alone in the vehicle at the time of the stop. Officer Smith noticed that Mr. Jones' eyes were red and bloodshot and his speech was slurred. Mr. Jones was also somewhat belligerent in his attitude towards Officer Smith.
3. Officer Smith got Mr. Jones out of the vehicle to administer a field sobriety test. As Mr. Jones was getting out of his vehicle, Officer Roberts arrived on the scene. Officer Roberts observed Officer Smith administer a standardized field sobriety test to Mr. Jones in which Mr. Jones definitely appeared to be impaired. During this time, Mr. Jones continued to make belligerent remarks stating that the officers were only picking on him because he was black and stated that if the officers would take off their badges, he would show them who the "real man" was.
4. Officer Smith advised Mr. Jones that he was being arrested for DWI. Upon this advisement, Mr. Jones raised his fist and took a swing at Officer Smith but did not make contact with him. Officers Smith and Roberts then subdued Mr. Jones and put him in handcuffs. While this was happening, Mr. Jones kept trying to strike the officers and to get away from them. The officers finally got the handcuffs on Mr. Jones and got him up off the ground. Officer Smith was very angry at this time and slapped Mr. Jones with his open hands twice while Mr. Jones was in handcuffs with his hands behind his back. Officer Roberts stopped Officer Smith from striking Mr. Jones a third time and told him, "You better cool down and get a hold of yourself!" Officer Smith then put Mr. Jones in the back of the cruiser and transported him to the Buncombe County Detention Center while Officer Roberts waited for the tow truck and did the vehicle inventory.
5. Upon arrival at the detention center, Mr. Jones refused the intoxilyzer test and was booked under a $2,000 secured bond. There were no allegations that any further physical conflict occurred between Officer Smith and Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones made bond and the case has not yet been adjudicated by the courts. Officer Roberts did NOT report to any supervisor that Officer Smith had struck Mr. Jones while Mr. Jones was handcuffed behind his back.
6. It is now February 14, 2012 and you have concluded your investigation. All of the facts in this investigation have been confirmed either by the cruiser's video camera, admissions by the officers, and admissions by Mr. Jones, etc. All of these are the facts of the case and are beyond dispute. Your report to the Chief of Police is due by 1700 hours today. Your report should contain the following information:
A. The allegations made in the case by the complainant.
B. The facts of the case as determined by your investigation (you really are a great investigator who had discovered every fact there is to discover in this case).
C. Your determination of what violations of policy (if any) the officers committed. Asheville does have a policy prohibiting the use of excessive force and specifically unnecessary force against and abuse of prisoners.
You should deal with each one of the individual allegations by the complainant and make one of the following determinations about each:
1) Sustained - the allegation is true - the events occurred and were not justified.
2) Non-Sustained - there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove the allegation (innocent till proven guilty).
3) Unfounded - the allegation did not occur and this can be proven by evidence.
4) Exonerated - the allegation occurred, but the facts justified the violation of the policy. An example would be where policy prohibits transporting a civilian in a cruiser unless they are under arrest, but a justifiable emergency made it necessary.
D. Your recommendations about discipline against the officers if they have committed any policy violations. This could range anywhere from no discipline to a written reprimand to retraining to a suspension without pay or to termination of employment.
Your report of the investigation and recommendations should be done in memo format addressed to Chief Frederick Johnson.