Oct. 17--GRAND HAVEN -- Some friendly bantering between two police officers allegedly went a little too far last month during a shift change at the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety. One officer spent a day on administrative leave after the incident, but came back to work and is still working now that an investigation into the incident is complete.
A letter sent to media by an anonymous source claimed that officers were joking around with Officer Todd DeVries early in the morning of Sept. 29, when DeVries reacted to some teasing and allegedly kicked another officer in the groin.
"The kick was hard enough to cause (the other officer) severe pain and brought tears to his eyes," the letter said.
The letter also claimed DeVries pulled out a pistol, removed some bullets and showed his co-workers a bullet on which was written the name of the officer he kicked.
"DeVries has been known to have other fellow officers' names written on bullets in his gun," the letter noted.
When shown the letter, Grand Haven Public Safety Director Jeff Hawke responded with a statement acknowledging that there was a situation that "involved an internal matter between employees and did not impact or involve service to the public."
"Action regarding a personnel issue was initiated on Sept. 29, 2012," Hawke said. "The situation was thoroughly investigated and appropriate steps are being taken through the personnel management process."
When asked about specifics in the letter, the findings of the investigation and what personnel action was taken, Hawke declined further comment.
The director also declined to comment when asked if officers' names were written on bullets.
Hawke did say that all officers are working their regular schedules and that the officer mentioned in the letter "is regularly employed."
Copyright 2012 - Grand Haven Tribune, Mich.
