June 02--While the overwhelming majority of officers in the Brunswick and Glynn County police departments carry out their duties to serve and protect exactly the way citizens expect, supervisors have disciplined some officers for mishandling criminal evidence, jeopardizing civilians by driving at unnecessarily high speeds and using poor judgment, a Brunswick News review of personnel records shows.
Among the discipline cases during the past 24 months involving officers still in the departments have been:
-- A Brunswick officer who failed to preserve evidence in a marijuana arrest, resulting in the case being dismissed because he claimed to have flushed the evidence down a toilet.
-- The same officer who fell asleep while driving his patrol car and hit a curb.
-- A Brunswick officer who allowed a convicted sex offender to stay at his home.
-- A Brunswick officer who drove 89 mph at a school zone on a school day and 109 mph near a park.
-- A Glynn County officer who used excessive force in arresting a woman he outweighed by 100 pounds for driving under the influence.
-- A Glynn County who officer used a Taser stun device multiple times on a suspect who was attempting to swallow a plastic bag of marijuana.
What ongoing significance those and other discipline cases of officers currently employed -- and excluding those who were dismissed or resigned -- have in a department depends on the perspective of the chief at the top.
In Brunswick, Chief Tobe Green tends to take a conciliatory view, acknowledging that police officers are under stress in their jobs and are humans who may make mistakes. In Glynn County, Chief Matt Doering says that while officers are human, they must adhere to a higher standard than others.
How much attention each department gives to an ongoing assessment of disciplinary actions -- whether some officers repeat the same problems or if there is a pattern among violations -- also varies. Brunswick does not maintain a central database that tracks officers. Glynn County does.
In Brunswick, the only way supervisors know if an officer is accumulating multiple disciplinary actions or if there is a pattern within the force is to look at the personnel file of each of about 65 officers. In Glynn County, supervisors can look at a computerized summary of names, dates, violations and actions taken.
Managing police department discipline is a complicated and highly important process, said Frank Rotondo, a former police chief and executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. Something that may seem serious could be minor, and a seemingly harmless mistake could indicate a serious problem, he said.
"Discipline is a complex matter -- and probably the most critical matter a chief deals with daily," Rotondo said. "What the police chief has to do is get the facts of the case and put it in perspective with the officer's history. The bottom line is every infraction may look the same on paper, but in actuality, it's not like that."
Aside from obvious ill effects directly related to officer misconduct, Rotondo says discipline problems can hurt a police department. "(Discipline issues) hurt motivation and morale of officers in a department," he said.
If an officer repeatedly violates rules, other officers may feel less motivated to operate at a high ethical standard, Rotondo said.
In that vein, Rotondo says a department that does not adhere to high standards will inevitably have more discipline issues, whereas a department that does not tolerate rogue officers will have fewer discipline reports.
Brunswick Chief Green says he has the final say on discipline issues at the department and he works with command staff and supervisors to determine how to deal with them. All incidents are different, he said. "What the public may see as severe, we don't see that way," Green said.
"With 12-hour shifts and towing the line all day, (officers) are going to screw up. It's the intention of that screw up that matters. Officers, of course, are all human. They are apt to make mistakes, and if the mistakes aren't so severe they mean life and death, we take that into consideration."
Glynn County Chief Doering takes a different view. He says officers must be held to a higher standard than the rest of the public.
"Discipline helps morale because it sets an environment of high expectations that ... misconduct is not condoned. This promotes a sense of better trust. Public support and trust is essential," Doering said. "(It) requires us to hold ourselves to a higher standard than others. By this, we set the example for others to lead. If we have low standards, it is harder to enforce the law as a standard we all are suppose to follow."
If the ultimate penalty for an infraction is dismissal, both chiefs show a willingness to employ it. In the past 24 months, since May 1, 2010, four Brunswick officers were dismissed or resigned during disciplinary proceedings and five Glynn County officers were dismissed or resigned.
The effect of the strict discipline that police chief's association director Rotondo describes surfaces in The News' review of 192 pages of discipline records for the Brunswick and Glynn County departments, provided under the state open records law.
Despite having a force nearly half the size of the county's, the Brunswick police department, since May 1, 2010, has filed more discipline reports on a higher percentage of its officers. With a force of about 65 officers, 28 city officers -- 43 percent of the department -- have been involved in 54 discipline actions. In that same two-year period, 30 of 128 county officers -- or 23 percent of the force -- have been involved in 39 discipline cases.
While discipline can involve such administrative breaches as failing to file a report on time or housekeeping violations such as not cleaning up the interior of a patrol car at the end of a shift, violations the past two years among some officers on the forces have risen to levels of jeopardizing public trust and safety:
At the Brunswick department, the majority of offenses included tardiness, absence from training or failing to qualify with firearms during training. But other reports involved more serious issues:
-- CASE FILE: Mishandling evidence, falling asleep at the wheel
Brunswick Officer Demetrius Dixon was issued a written warning March 1, 2011 after he reportedly did not log as evidence marijuana he confiscated after he arrested a man while working an off-duty detail on Dec. 18, 2010, at Club Mayhem, 1824 Norwich St., Brunswick. The man was charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and reportedly had outstanding arrest warrants against him from outside of Glynn County.
When a Glynn-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team agent tried to find the marijuana to test it, the pot had not been turned over to the evidence custodian. Dixon told supervisors he had flushed the marijuana because it was only a burnt roach -- or the remains of a marijuana cigarette. The lack of evidence led to the case being dismissed in Brunswick Municipal Court.
In the discipline report, Dixon's immediate supervisor said he was "an excellent, hard working and very productive officer," and said he "believed this was just an error in judgement and does not affect Officer Dixon's ability and productivity and honest desire to excel in his job."
In the past two years, Dixon has received two counsellings, three verbal warnings, three written warnings and two suspensions totaling six days off.
Those reprimands were associated with six other incidents in which Dixon allegedly fell asleep at the wheel of his police car while on patrol, causing $883 of damage when the car hit a curb, failed to follow up on calls for service, failed to log confiscated property from a person he arrested, was disrespectful to residents and disobeyed orders to abandon vehicle pursuits in residential areas.
Prior to the two-year period The News reviewed, Dixon was the officer investigated after being found with a prostitute by a Glynn County police officer in September 2009. That incident led to the dismissal of then Police Chief Edna Johnson.
-- CASE FILE: Having a known criminal in the house
Brunswick Officer Bradley Burch received a written reprimand March 23, 2011, after, according to the disciplinary file, letting a convicted felon and sex offender stay at his residence Feb. 24, 2011.
Burch said in a rebuttal letter to Chief Green that he had known the man was recently released from jail for passing bad checks, and had heard a rumor that he had a sex offense on his record, but he didn't know or inquire about the extent of the visitor's criminal history.
Burch received a written warning and was told to "be careful of the people he hangs with and with the people his roommates invite into his residence."
In the past two years, Burch has received counseling, a verbal warning and two written warnings in three other disciplinary actions involving tardiness, failure to follow up on a call for service and failure to provide documentation for being absent from work.
-- CASE FILE: High-speed driving
On Jan. 25, Brunswick Officer Brandon Kondo received a written warning for driving at excessive speed on Glynn Avenue while responding to an accident without injuries.
According to the report, Kondo reached a speed of 89 mph as he approached a school zone at 1 p.m. Jan. 5, the date students returned to class after winter holiday. He later drove between cars in traffic on residential streets at speeds from 50 to 76 mph.
Kondo had received an oral warning two months before, on Nov. 25, 2011, for driving 109 mph between 11 a.m. and noon Nov. 1, 2011, on Newcastle Street near Fourth Street, in the area of Selden Park, while he was responding to an accident at which other officers were already at the scene.
During the oral warning, Kondo was told to lower his speed unless it was warranted. In an appeal to his supervisors, Kondo reportedly said he responded at high speeds because often at collisions injuries are not immediately apparent but can become serious later. For the speeding infractions, Kondo was suspended for eight hours over two days without pay.
In two years, Kondo has received counseling and a verbal warning in two other incidents, for failing to notify court personnel that he was going on vacation and for allowing a resident to ride in his patrol car without authorization.
CHIEF'S ASSESSMENTS
Chief Green explained his position on each of the disciplinary issues involving Dixon, Burch and Kondo, saying that they are good officers, and that he was satisfied with the disciplinary actions taken in each instance.
In Dixon's case, Green said while Dixon has received a number of disciplinary actions against him, supervisors investigated each incident and the actions taken were appropriate.
In Burch's case, Green said allowing the visitor to stay in his home was a mistake, but nothing illegal occurred, and Burch's lack of judgment was corrected. He also said Burch has not had other serious disciplinary issues.
Kondo, Green said, was simply excited and has a strong desire to do his job.
"Sometimes, officers get hyped up, because of the adrenaline. Sometimes officers feel like they need to get to incidents as soon as they can, and they fail to obey their supervisor to slow down," Green said.
More than half of the officers at the Brunswick force have had no disciplinary issues in the past two years, which is how long Green has been chief. Most officers who do have disciplinary records do not have repeat offenses.
"Usually, that is what discipline is for. You get the officers' attention and prevent them from repeating that behavior. Most times, even that verbal warning will get them back in line," Green said.
Green prefers to use discipline to teach rather than reprimand, but there are infractions that will result in immediate termination, Green said.
"With domestic situations, if I find out that you are out there beating on your wife, I'll move for termination. If you are stealing, or abusing residents, to me, those are grounds for termination," Green said. "If you lie during an investigation, that's a red flag for termination. There are those red flags that will absolutely not be tolerated."
Green added that he does not spare the rod when it is needed.
"Since I've been in this position for the last two years, there have been officers terminated. It is not as though we are looking over behavior," Green said. "There are two things, negligent retention and negligent hiring. Those two things will get me in the bread line faster than anything else. I'm not going to risk my job to keep a bad officer."
At the Glynn County Police Department, the majority of discipline reports the past two years were for patrol officers who had accidents in their squad cars, missed court dates or failed to file reports on time. But three officers were reprimanded for using excessive force during arrests or driving without regard for public safety while responding to a call.
-- CASE FILE: Using excessive force in an arrest
Glynn County Officer Bobby Black received a written reprimand and three days' suspension April 1, 2011, after he reportedly used excessive force during an arrest March 10, 2011.
Black reportedly used "poor discretionary judgement in using more than the necessary amount of force in employing a take-down technique" while arresting a woman suspected of driving under the influence.
Black, who is 5-feet, 10-inches tall and weighs 240 pounds, used a leg strike to trip the woman, who was 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighed 135 pounds, instead of properly positioning her off balance with less force.
In addition to the suspension, Black was given additional training on the use-of-force policy and proper handcuffing procedures, according to the discipline report. Black has not had other disciplinary issues the past two years.
-- CASE FILE: Improperly using a Taser
On Feb. 15, Glynn County Officer William Duggan received verbal counseling after he reportedly used his Taser multiple times on a suspect at West Way Apartments who reportedly was trying to swallow a plastic bag of suspected marijuana.
Duggan ordered the man to open his mouth and remove the bag, and used his Taser to "touch-tase" the suspect multiple times by touching the electrical probes to the suspect before he deployed the Taser from firing range when the suspect did not comply.
This was a breach of county use-of-force policy, according to the report, and Duggan received remedial training on the policy and techniques to use when suspects hide evidence in their mouths. Duggan has had no other disciplinary actions in his nearly three-year career at the department.
-- CASE FILE: Driving too fast
Glynn County Officer Stephen McGregor was given a written reprimand Feb. 8 and placed on a six-month disciplinary probation after he reportedly sped through two intersections on Perry Lane Road without proper regard for public safety.
After passing through the intersection of Cate and Perry Lane roads, the rear wheels of his squad car swerved into the opposing lane of traffic before he sped through the intersection of Perry Lane and B and F roads, according to the report. McGregor was reportedly responding to an accident with injuries.
Aside from the February incident, McGregor has been disciplined in two other incidents the past two years with verbal counseling and a written warning for an at-fault vehicle accident and for breaking the windshield of his squad car by leaning on it, according to reports.
CHIEF'S ASSESSMENTS
Chief Doering said disciplinary reports speak for themselves. Doering said he works to prevent disciplinary problems, first by checking backgrounds of potential employees, and by using continuing training for all officers.
"We prevent misconduct by selecting the best possible candidates, conducting regular ethics and other performance and behavior training, setting high standards of work performance and holding officers to those standards," Doering said.
Discipline records
Glynn County Police Department disciplinary actions since May 1, 2010:
-- Number of officers on force: 128
-- Number of discipline incidents: 39
-- Number of officers involved: 30
-- Verbal warning or counseling issued: 22
-- Written reprimand: 13
-- Probation: 1
-- Suspension: 4
-- Termination or resignation: 5
-- Demotion or reassignment: 1
Brunswick Police Department disciplinary actions since May 1, 2010:
-- Number of officers on force: 65
-- Number of discipline incidents: 54
-- Number of officers involved: 28
-- Verbal warning or counseling issued: 28
-- Written reprimand: 25
-- Probation: None
-- Suspension: 7
-- Termination or resignation: 4
-- Demotion or reassignment: 1
Copyright 2012 - The Brunswick News, Ga.
