WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, April 25th, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., announced that 21 of its senior police officers would not be returning to their posts next month.
According to WUSA9, a DC police spokesperson said that the formerly retired officers, classified as senior officers or senior sergeants won't return to the department after their contracts end on Tuesday, April 30th. Per departmental policy, their senior police officers are reappointed each year to a term that ends in April. The department determines if a contract should be renewed.
The department spokesperson said in a statement, "This year, the department also had to apply a provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 that prohibits MPD from appointing police officers who have any serious misconduct in their background."
According to WTOP News, the controversial law was passed as a permanent version of emergency legislation in 2020 after the death of George Floyd and was put into place to increase transparency and accountability for police officers.
It was passed by the D.C. Council in December 2022. Both the House and Senate voted to disapprove the legislation, but Joe Biden vetoed the lawmakers' efforts.
According to the MPD, several of the 21 officers are not having their contracts renewed due to having "serious misconduct in their background."
As of this writing, specific information on what the serious misconduct may have been has not been released. The police department has informed 12 members that their contracts would not be renewed due to the serious misconduct issue and the other nine officers were not renewed for a "variety of reasons," as stated by the spokesperson.
In a news release, the D.C. Police Union called the law "inarguably the worst piece of public safety legislation the D.C. Council has ever passed."
The statement said, "The bill prohibits the hiring of sworn personnel if they have ever received sustained discipline from any law enforcement agency. This includes the Metropolitan Police Department, meaning that these officers, who have spent their careers serving and protecting this city, are ineligible to be retained by the MPD due to prior administrative personnel matters, some of which are over 20 years old."
The union has called on the council to repeal the legislation, saying that the department has lost more than 1,400 members since it was first enacted as emergency legislation in 2020. The union said, "Crime continues to plague our city. We cannot afford to lose any more members than we have already suffered."
According to the union, the 12 officers being dismissed due to the "serious misconduct" provision in the law have hundreds of years of collective experience in law enforcement with many of them receiving commendations for their bravery and service.
DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said, "These officers represent a collective experience of over 300 years in law enforcement, and their contributions have been critical to the safety and security of our city. Many of these officers have received commendations for their bravery and service, making this decision even more frustrating."
The union's statement also said, "It is our hope that the council will reevaluate the anti-police positions they took in 2020 and prioritize a balanced approach that allows police officers to do their job and seeks to restore the staffing levels on the MPD."
According to WUSA9, a DC police spokesperson said that the formerly retired officers, classified as senior officers or senior sergeants won't return to the department after their contracts end on Tuesday, April 30th. Per departmental policy, their senior police officers are reappointed each year to a term that ends in April. The department determines if a contract should be renewed.
The department spokesperson said in a statement, "This year, the department also had to apply a provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 that prohibits MPD from appointing police officers who have any serious misconduct in their background."
According to WTOP News, the controversial law was passed as a permanent version of emergency legislation in 2020 after the death of George Floyd and was put into place to increase transparency and accountability for police officers.
It was passed by the D.C. Council in December 2022. Both the House and Senate voted to disapprove the legislation, but Joe Biden vetoed the lawmakers' efforts.
According to the MPD, several of the 21 officers are not having their contracts renewed due to having "serious misconduct in their background."
As of this writing, specific information on what the serious misconduct may have been has not been released. The police department has informed 12 members that their contracts would not be renewed due to the serious misconduct issue and the other nine officers were not renewed for a "variety of reasons," as stated by the spokesperson.
In a news release, the D.C. Police Union called the law "inarguably the worst piece of public safety legislation the D.C. Council has ever passed."
The statement said, "The bill prohibits the hiring of sworn personnel if they have ever received sustained discipline from any law enforcement agency. This includes the Metropolitan Police Department, meaning that these officers, who have spent their careers serving and protecting this city, are ineligible to be retained by the MPD due to prior administrative personnel matters, some of which are over 20 years old."
The union has called on the council to repeal the legislation, saying that the department has lost more than 1,400 members since it was first enacted as emergency legislation in 2020. The union said, "Crime continues to plague our city. We cannot afford to lose any more members than we have already suffered."
According to the union, the 12 officers being dismissed due to the "serious misconduct" provision in the law have hundreds of years of collective experience in law enforcement with many of them receiving commendations for their bravery and service.
DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said, "These officers represent a collective experience of over 300 years in law enforcement, and their contributions have been critical to the safety and security of our city. Many of these officers have received commendations for their bravery and service, making this decision even more frustrating."
The union's statement also said, "It is our hope that the council will reevaluate the anti-police positions they took in 2020 and prioritize a balanced approach that allows police officers to do their job and seeks to restore the staffing levels on the MPD."
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Comments
2024-04-30T21:24-0500 | Comment by: Sam
And they can thank DEI hiring processes, and all the corrupt DA’s not protecting LEO’s in lieu of thug POS’s running wild.