(This is a guest post from FOtB RoadRich, speaking only in his private capacity as a citizen, and not representing the opinion of any organization. I’ve made a few minor edits, but no major changes. -DB)
I listen to local talk radio station KLBJ, and enjoy Jeff Ward and Ed Clements’ banter. I really enjoy them though on occasion I mildly disagree with one or the other.
Today I heard something that seemed really irresponsible – Jeff was incensed that the Dallas police chief had not fired Amber Guyger for the horrible and very very avoidable shooting death of Botham Jean. He said that Acevedo didn’t waste any time and fired Geoffrey Freeman for the shooting death of ‘teen running naked’ David Joseph. Jeff said that the Dallas chief said he didn’t want to interfere with the investigation and that excuse was bogus – it didn’t stop Art.
I know a little about internal investigations. I’m no cop. I’m no lawyer. But I did JUST hear a presentation by Austin’s Internal Affairs which reminded me of a key point.
So, I looked up an article on the local paper on my phone. I confirmed my thought – that former Austin Police Chief / current Houston Police Chief / lightning rod for use or misuse of a microphone did in fact fire Freeman… AFTER the internal investigation was over. That’s the key point.
*I* know that if you have an officer involved shooting you have two investigations, the internal one and the criminal one. The criminal one is different from the internal one in that you are COMPELLED TO SUBMIT INFORMATION in the internal one as a condition of your employment. You quit or are fired, and that investigation STOPS.
I didn’t know, but I suspected, that far less time had passed for the Dallas case compared to the Austin one.
I called the caller line, which I haven’t done in over a year. I spoke with the screener, said my peace, and went back about my business. I didn’t get on the radio, which I don’t have any need to do. I haven’t heard the topic come back around so I can only hope that the information was relayed.
Statesman article. Guardian.
Once in front of the computer I pursued my other thought – how long did it take to investigate Freeman, and how long has passed since the flood of bad decisions and poor luck caused some guy watching a football game in the supposed safety of his own home… to be killed by a cop.
You can find any number of articles on this, but I found this one.
From here, I did the math. It was simple. February 8, 2016 APD Officer Freeman is rushed by a naked teenager that was reported to be acting ‘erratically’. Freeman goes on the defensive and David Joseph is shot dead. March 21, 2016 fAPC/cHPC/lr4mum Art Acevedo fires Officer Freeman after the investigation, 42 days after the shooting. September 6, 2018 DPD Officer Guyger ends a long shift, thinks she’s parked on the right level, thinks she’s at her apartment, overlooks the red mat outside and goes on the offensive and Botham Jean is shot dead. Today is September 21 and it’s only been fifteen days, one third of the time that was taken for the Freeman investigation, which was pushed full
throttle, and some think ‘rushed’, others think not.
The overarching problem is that we think we know more (by ‘we’, I mean ‘them’ of course – naturally I think myself and my friends are well and above reproach)… and we are weaned on hour-long cop shows and think that random people showed up to the building they call the police department and JUST started working that day. (Born yesterday anyone?)
There’s a procedure for everything from investigating an officer ‘stealing a cup of coffee’ to one who takes the life of another citizen. The guys in the building learned the job, learned the processes, and are applying them. We… ok, THEY who are outside of this process think they get to make policy on social media — and broadcast media — and then get outraged because they weren’t proven to be a better judge of procedure, than policy manuals that reach nearly 1000 pages over decades of legal precedent.
It’ll get investigated. No one has more hatred for a bad cop than all the good cops.