Here's What's Hot On CBS11TV.COM:
Nov 4, 2009 6:26 pm US/Central
FWPD To Release Gay Bar Raid Investigation Results
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The Fort Worth Police Department has completed an internal investigation into a
controversial raid at a gay bar this summer.
Officials with the department will only say they are planning a Thursday press conference to announce
when and where they will discuss the results of the investigation.
Bits and pieces of what may be in the report are already leaking out.
Sources inside city hall tell CBS 11 News that attorneys have spent the day poring over the investigation, filtering out legally protected material, so an edited copy of the report can be made public.
City government sources tell CBS 11 none of the officers involved will be fired over the matter. But there is, sources say, the possibility of a reprimand or suspension for several days.
The report, which is said to be more than 1,000 pages long, says the officers involved in the raid did
not use excessive force on bar patrons.
The report will blame one officer for not writing a report about the raid at the end of his shift. The officer did not write his report until the next day, after gay-rights groups had started protesting about the raid. Department policy calls for officers to write reports at the end of each shift.
Some are wondering if the report's conclusions and any action taken by the city will be enough to earn back to the trust of the gay community.
"I think it's well past time we hear something, know what's going to occur. I'm confident that the police did their due diligence," Councilmember K
athleen Hicks said. "But for our city to move forward we need to know everything that happened and that proper steps are gonna be taken to ensure this never happens again."
Sources also say police officials met with the gay-rights group Fairness Fort Worth on Wednesday afternoon and shared the findings of their investigation.
Fort Worth police officers and agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) raided the Rainbow Lounge on June 28. They arrested several people. Club patron Chad Gibson was hospitalized for a week with a serious head injury he claims he received at the hands of the law enforcement officers. A TABC report says he fell because he was intoxicated.
The TABC released preliminary findings of its internal investigation in August.
Those initial findings concluded that the Rainbow Lounge raid violated the agency's policies.
Following the initial report, the TABC fired three agents who were involved in the raid. The agency also suspended a supervisor and issued a written reprimand to another supervisor. The TABC will release its full report on Thursday.
"The police department has to ensure they have the correct policy in place so they won't be seen as targeting any one institution, or club, or any group of people," Hicks said.
The Fort Worth Police Department and the
TABC both changed their policies about bar checks and investigations in the wake of the raid.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Hollywood Hair
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
