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Nov 5, 2009 12:30 pm US/Central
FWPD Suspends 3 Officers For Gay Bar Raid Conduct
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead in front of the Rainbow Lounge.
KTVT / KTXA
As a result of an internal Fort Worth Police Department investigation into a controversial raid at a gay bar this summer, the department has suspended three police officers.
Thursday morning FWPD Chief Jeff Halstead held a press conference in front of the Rainbow Lounge to announce the disciplinary action. There the chief confirmed that two police officers, Officer K.Q. Gober and Sgt. R.M. Morris, will be suspended for one day and Officer J.M. Back received a three-day suspension.
The officers were suspended for a violation of police procedures during the inspection of the bar.
The officer that was suspended for three days, J.M. Back, was cited for handcuffing a person without probable cause, for releasing that person without issuing a citation, bringing unfavorable criticism to the police department and for failing to complete offense reports the night of the arrest.
Sgt. Morris was suspended for using "poor judgment in his tactics" to conduct the bar check.
Officer Gober was suspended for making a conscious decision not to complete the required offense report before the end of his shift and did not complete the offense report until his return to work the following night. Gober was also reprimanded for the negative media attention that "could have been adverted had Officer Gober completed the required offense report with the true and accurate details of events that occurred during the Rainbow Lounge bar check."
The internal investigation report, which is more than 1,000 pages long, says the officers involved in the raid did not use excessive force on bar patrons.
The letter issued to Officer Back, notifying him of his suspension, said "Because of this delay, the Department did not have Officer Back's report available when responding to the ensuing public criticism the following day."
Department policy calls for officers to write reports at the end of each shift.
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.
Chief Halstead said that all of the suspensions are effective today and at the time of the incident there were few guidelines in place to regulate the actions of the officer's. Despite there being no specific rules broken, the investigation determined the actions of the policemen were still outside the realm of what is considered proper conduct of a police officer.
Members of the gay community, including the manager of the Rainbow Lounge, Randy Norman, say they're disappointed that there wasn't harsher punishment for the officers. But they say they've begun dialogue with the city that they feel in the long run will improve relations between the Fort Worth Police Department and the GLBT community.
The group Fairness Fort Worth says the measures by the police chief were not enough and are calling for an independent investigation into the matter.
When Chief Halsted spoke of the consequences for the officer's, during the press conference, he repeatedly stated that the suspensions would be a part of the officers records forever.
Lawyers for the City of Fort Worth are going through the internal investigation report to remove personal and privileged information and will release an edited copy to the public.
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