Posted on 05/05/2006 4:52:17 PM PDT by Jean S
A high-ranking official at the National Fraternal Order of Police cited the mishandling of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's (D-R.I.) car accident Thursday as just one more example of problems the Capitol Police Department is experiencing since Chief Terrance Gainer retired.
Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), said the fact that no investigation was conducted after Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) crashed his car into a security barrier at C and First Street SE was unacceptable but symptomatic of the way the Capitol Police Department is being run after Gainer's departure on April 6.
Gainer retired after charges of nepotism surfaced in early March.
"This is one of the reasons why Gainer is gone…It's no secret that 15 to 20 years ago the department was run by and for the good-old-boy and good-old-girl network," Pasco said.
He added that there are some individuals on Capitol Hill that are "not willing to continue the evolution," of the department.
Pasco also said he was concerned that encouraging officers to examine the political ramifications of an incident rather than allowing them to react to unlawful situations as they are trained to do could have dangerous results.
"This kind of political decision-making could lead to the injury of an officer," he said.
Pasco said this is the second incident in two months in which Capitol Police management has favored politics over protocol, citing Rep. Cynthia McKinney's run-in with a Capitol police officer last month.
McKinney struck the officer in the chest with her cell phone when she was stopped for bypassing a security checkpoint without identification.
The officer filed charges against McKinney; the U.S. district attorney is currently reviewing the case.
"There was ample evidence to arrest Ms. McKinney and it appears an investigation should have occurred in [the Kennedy incident]." Pasco said. "This is not a way to run a police department."
After crashing his mustang convertible into a security barrier shortly before 2:45 a.m. Kennedy stepped from the vehicle and informed the responding officer that he was late for a vote. Votes had concluded nearly three hours before the incident.
According to two knowledgeable sources, two sergeants responded to the accident, and after reviewing the incident with the watch commander, dismissed the rank-and-file officers.
The responding officers were not permitted to investigate the accident or conduct a field-sobriety test.
The sergeants then drove Kennedy home.
In a release issued after 10 p.m. Thursday night, Kennedy said a mixture of prescription drugs had caused him to become disoriented and to believe that he was late for a vote.
"Following the last series of votes on Wednesday evening, I returned to my home on Capitol Hill and took the prescribed amount of Phenergan and Ambien, which was also prescribed by the attending physician some time ago and I occasionally take to fall asleep," the release said.
Kennedy had been prescribed Phenergan for a stomach illness; Ambien is a prescription sleep aid.
"Some time around 2:45am, I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote," Kennedy said in the release. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication… At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol."
Kennedy told reporters later that he requested no preferential treatment and indicated he would cooperate fully with any police investigation.
On Thursday, an internal memo from the local chapter of the FOP was sent to Acting Chief of Police Christopher M. McGaffin demanding an investigation into the accident according to a source close to the incident.
The United States Capitol Police released a statement last night that said they are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident and the way it was handled.
"In addition to determining the existence of any evidence that would support traffic charges, the department is also reviewing steps taken during the initial accident investigation to ensure compliance with existing policies and procedures," the release said.
Despite the Capitol Police's stPasco was unsatisfied with the initial actions taken by police management.
"An investigation was terminated and obstructed," he said.
No charges have been filed against Kennedy.
The six-term lawmaker was involved in a fender bender on April 21 in Providence Rhode Island.
Kennedy lied to the cops when he said he was going to a vote. Isn't that a crime & an abuse of congressional privelege.
Isn't driving under the influence of perscription meds a crime?
My guess is he paid his bar tabs with a credit card, so a paper trail is there to make a lie of the Ambien story. And his cell phone records would refute the "at home in bed" BS.
My mom used to say, "if you tell one lie, you have to tell 10 more to get out of it".
This should be fun to watch! All the way to November!
1 Sue Doctor...did he tell me I shouldn't operate heavy machinery?
2- Sue CVS Pharmacy... Did they say I had to read the label?
3- Sue the bar I was not at for serving an obviously intoxicated person.
What we need are 50 Freepers in the DC area...roaming around at night, listening to the police scanners. Just start showing up at any DWI episode or accident...and start taking pictures. The odds of catching a dozen Demo's in one year is better than 50 percent. Obviously, the cops aren't going to do their job...so we ought to help them a little.
"It's a shame that a supposedly professional police department needs to lie in order to make some kind of ticket quota. I'm sure the Capitol Police were pressured by Rove & Bush. Capitol Police LIED!"
That's what they're saying in USENET POLITICAL NEWSGROUPS
Yes, I've read all that before, but thank you much for the link. It's just rather ironic that so many Kennedy's are drunks and Joe Kennedy amassed most of his fortune through bootlegging. If it wasn't for alcohol and bootlegging no one would ever have heard of the Kennedy's.
Very much like my post #45 to Radix, LOL!
Right you are, it is poetic justice. You said it all so much better than I, but our minds were on the same track. : )
Patchaquiddick ping!
When I hear "Capitol Hill Police" I think Vince Foster investigation.
I thought that you were gone for the weekend.
Did everything go ok ?
Hmmmm..Chief Terrance Gainer....ya think his retirement could be secured by what he knows about Vince Foster...?????
That has to be my favorite car ad of my long lifetime!
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