Cop fired after helping fellow officers in distress

[BoomerD]

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/cop-fired-helping-fellow-officers-distress-150454649.html

It was a Saturday on campus when David Sedmak, a Rice University police officer, heard "Officer down, officer down!" on his scanner: Two members of the Houston Police Department had been shot downtown. Sedmak rushed to the scene to help his fellow officers.

But Rice didn't see Sedmak as a hero. Instead, the university fired him, citing "dereliction of duty."

The university said in a statement that its officers often assist other law enforcement agencies when the need arises. But Sedmak erred, it said, by not informing the university police dispatcher about where he was.

"Sedmak left his post when only two other officers were on duty and failed to notify his supervisor of his whereabouts for nearly an hour, which could have endangered the safety of our students and campus," according to the university.

The May 7 episode that led to Sedmak's controversial dismissal began when Jesse Brown, 20, was seen with a pistol as he tried to buy a ticket at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Houston. When HPD officer Fernando Meza, working an off-duty job at the station, confronted Brown about the weapon, Brown shot him in the hand. Soon after, Brown shot another officer, Timothy Moore, in the leg.

Sedmak said he arrived on the scene and prepared for a confrontation with the armed suspect. Several HPD officers came in after him and took cover behind his patrol car. Brown, who had been accused of shooting a 3-year-old girl, her grandfather and another man on Halloween in San Francisco, then shot and killed himself as Sedmak and the other cops closed in.

Both Meza and Moore were at a news conference Monday to show their support for Sedmak, a former Galveston police officer. The Houston Police Officer's Union presented him with a $2,500 check to help as he looks for new work.

Sedmak was stunned by the dismissal. "My only concern on that day was to render aid to these two officers," he said. "Quite frankly, I couldn't believe that after being in law enforcement for nearly 17 years that I was being relieved of my duty for running an assist to an officer."

Kevin Lawrence of the Texas Municipal Police Association agreed. "You don't fire a guy for this unless he's a chronic disciplinary problem," Lawrence said. "You call him in, you counsel him and you put him back out there. If he's a good cop, he's a good employee. You use this as a training opportunity."

While I understand possibly needing some disciplinary action for his actions, (leaving his assigned area without notifying his supervisor of his location) firing the guy for responding to "Officer Needs Assistance" or "Officer Down" seems excessive.

 

[deadlyapp]

He'll have no problem finding a better position on probably any cop squad in the country.

 

[coldmeat]

lol who wants to be a campus cop anyway

 

[Ns1]

While I understand possibly needing some disciplinary action for his actions, (leaving his assigned area without notifying his supervisor of his location) firing the guy for responding to "Officer Needs Assistance" or "Officer Down" seems excessive.

this

 

[Miramonti]

Agreed, particulary if he has a good record.

Hearing 'officer needs assistance' and 'officer down' is no excuse for poor judgment and leaving his patrol without communicating it. But if he has a good record, I don't think he should be fired.

That said, the university has every right to make that decision.

 

[lxskllr]

lol who wants to be a campus cop anyway

Pretty gravy work.

Lame that they fired him. People eat shit....

 

[ussfletcher]

He failed the people that were paying his wages, namely the students at the campus. He is a public servant and he should have gotten approval for leaving his post, just as a waitress would have to get approval to walk to the crowded restaurant next door to relieve their waitstaff. Thus, good riddance.

 

[SandEagle]

lol who wants to be a campus cop anyway

i wouldnt mind it. looks like a lot of fun. i can help many damsels in distresses

 

[coldmeat]

He failed the people that were paying his wages, namely the students at the campus. He is a public servant and he should have gotten approval for leaving his post, just as a waitress would have to get approval to walk to the crowded restaurant next door to relieve their waitstaff. Thus, good riddance.

If the waitresses on the other side of the street were getting shot, and the waitress had a gun, you still think she should stand by and ask her manager to go help them?

 

[PaperclipGod]

My neighbor was a cop at UMass Amherst. He hated it. Drunk kids every night of the week, made all the more feisty by their newfound independence. He quit after 3 years.

 

[Nintendesert]

They sound like shitty people to work for, that's not the proper way to discipline someone for making a mistake like that. The bad PR is going to be huge for that university now.

 

[Wreckem]

lol who wants to be a campus cop anyway

Actually a lot of cops do. They are the cushiest of all police jobs.

 

[jlee]

He failed the people that were paying his wages, namely the students at the campus. He is a public servant and he should have gotten approval for leaving his post, just as a waitress would have to get approval to walk to the crowded restaurant next door to relieve their waitstaff. Thus, good riddance.

Words cannot express my disgust at your ridiculous comparison.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

They fire a cop for this but cops who clearly engage in brutality or incompetence and/or negligence in shootings are supported by their departments. We need law enforcement reform badly.

 

[ussfletcher]

Words cannot express my disgust at your ridiculous comparison.

:whiste:

I know it is terrible. My point is, however, that dereliction of the duty bestowed upon you by the citizens that you serve, for the sake of fraternity, is something that is unacceptable. Should he have been fired? No, but he should have had a pretty firm talking to about his responsibilities.

 

[BoomerD]

He failed the people that were paying his wages, namely the students at the campus. He is a public servant and he should have gotten approval for leaving his post, just as a waitress would have to get approval to walk to the crowded restaurant next door to relieve their waitstaff. Thus, good riddance.

Then we can only hope you get beaten and robbed in plain sight of a city police officer...who is standing just across the street that divides city and county jurisdiction...and he turns away rather than intervene on your behalf...THAT is a more accurate comparison than your waitress analogy.

 

[Spoooon]

Maybe there's some stuff going on with this guy that we don't know about? Past disciplinary problems and what not.

 

[ussfletcher]

Then we can only hope you get beaten and robbed in plain sight of a city police officer...who is standing just across the street that divides city and county jurisdiction...and he turns away rather than intervene on your behalf...THAT is a more accurate comparison than your waitress analogy.

It wasn't in plain sight of this police officer, he had to drive away from where he was supposed to be, leaving the people he is actually responsible for potentially unprotected. This could have been resolved if he had simply notified them that he intended to leave, so that other arrangements could have been made.

To build on your analogy, what if you were getting beaten up but the officer that was supposed to be monitoring that area was on the other side of the city assisting other officers, but the dispatcher had no idea. No (immediate) help for you.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If the waitresses on the other side of the street were getting shot, and the waitress had a gun, you still think she should stand by and ask her manager to go help them?

If it was the waitress's job to stop an armed robber in the restaurant she was hired at, yea she probably should get permission before leaving the place undefended.

 

[Kirby]

i wouldnt mind it. looks like a lot of fun. i can help many damsels in distresses

"Ma'am, I smell marijuana and alcohol on you. I'm afraid you're going to need frisking and cavity search."

 

[Exterous]

Then we can only hope you get beaten and robbed in plain sight of a city police officer...who is standing just across the street that divides city and county jurisdiction...and he waits while attempting to communicate with dispatch and eventually has to say "I'd like to help you but can't raise dispatch so I can't leave my post lest I fail the people that pay my wages"

ftfy

 

[JS80]

Meanwhile in SF cops get to watch someone drown because it's against policy.

 

[x26]

lol who wants to be a campus cop anyway

It's a fairly easy job that pays well...

 

[jlee]

It wasn't in plain sight of this police officer, he had to drive away from where he was supposed to be, leaving the people he is actually responsible for potentially unprotected. This could have been resolved if he had simply notified them that he intended to leave, so that other arrangements could have been made.

To build on your analogy, what if you were getting beaten up but the officer that was supposed to be monitoring that area was on the other side of the city assisting other officers, but the dispatcher had no idea. No (immediate) help for you.

Sedmak said he arrived on the scene and prepared for a confrontation with the armed suspect. Several HPD officers came in after him and took cover behind his patrol car.

He got there before the city guys did. That's pretty damn close.

 

[olds]

Did he have a radio?