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NEWS > 06 January 2007

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Criticism weighed heavily on o
THE prospect of two weeks in the idyllic Whitsunday Islands off the central Queensland coast had not been far from Audrey Fagan's mind over the past month.
Before she left for the holiday, there had been lengthy talks with her boss, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, about the strain of media criticism of the performance of her police force, the arm of the AFP that looks after community policing in the ACT.
Ms Fagan, the ACT's Chief Police Officer, told Mr Keelty she was looking forward to the break away with her second husband, Chris.

Mr Keelty offered ... Read more

 Article sourced from

TCPalm - Jupiter,FL,USA
06 January 2007
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Fort Pierce police accused of

FORT PIERCE — Two veteran police officers were suspended without pay over allegations they went to an adult entertainment store while on duty and with an officer in training.
On Thursday, Acting Police Chief Sean Baldwin suspended officers James Ward and Dwight Toombs for two days in mid- January for spending more than an hour in the Cosmic Kiss on Okeechobee Road.

"This gives them a chance to correct a serious misjudgment," Baldwin said.
First-year Officer William Christmas, who was training with Ward, was fired for failing to meet probationary requirements.

A department internal affairs investigation determined Toombs, 32, and Christmas, 28, solicited and received free pornographic videos at the store. Also, Christmas denied he asked for the videos, but his statement was contradicted by Ward, 47, and the store clerk.

Baldwin held a predetermination hearing Jan. 2 and ruled Ward and Toombs violated department ethics and code of conduct policies. Ward was also removed from being a field training officer and Christmas' charge of making a false statement was forwarded to the state Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission for review.

"They (Ward and Toombs) both were genuinely sorry for what happened, offered no excuses, and acknowledged what they did was wrong," Baldwin said Friday.

He didn't fire them because he said they were valuable employees who accepted full responsibility for the incident.

Fort Pierce police began the internal investigation after getting a complaint from the store manager, who thought she saw one of the officers receive a DVD without paying for it in surveillance footage, Baldwin said.

The alleged incident happened in late November, with the investigation wrapping up Dec. 27, he said.

The 23-hour pay suspension would result in a $546 loss for Ward and $480 for Toombs.

Ward was hired in 1998 and makes $49,392 annually, while Toombs was hired in 2001 and makes $43,437, spokeswoman Audria Moore said. Both were patrol officers in the northern part of the city, Baldwin said.

Toombs was fired by Chief Eugene Savage in 2004 after an internal affairs investigation concluded he violated three department policies: conduct unbecoming an officer, commission of a felony and perjury in an official proceeding.

He allegedly used a belt to hit an 11-year-old boy who ran away from his parents. City Manager Dennis Beach reinstated Toombs a month later, saying the evidence against him was not strong.

Baldwin said the reinstatement was an exoneration, similar to a not-guilty verdict.

"It's simply not fair to hold that against him in this decision," he said.

 

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