The Dallas Police Chief David Brown was very busy Friday making arrests and charges, but not how you might think. In an apparent house-cleaning spree several officers were charged with crimes and disciplined March 1, 2013. On Friday at least 5 officers were suspended or fired and two more are facing criminal charges. It looks like the Dallas Police Department’s Internal Affairs division have been busy, and this time it’s law enforcers who need to hire criminal defense attorneys.
Randolph Dillon and Jon Llewellyn
Dillon and Llewellyn are facing two felony charges each: aggravated perjury and tampering with evidence.
The charges they face stem from a drug bust in 2011 leading to the discovery of a marijuana growing house. They seized over 600 plants in the drug bust, but the prosecutors have not released any details of the case pending further investigation and trial.
Several allegations have been publicly revealed as well by other Dallas Police officials. They alleged that the two lied about a traffic violation that resulted in a heroin bust, and also that they lied about several eyewitness accounts on the affidavit that led to the seizure of the 600 plants in the marijuana growing house.
Lieutenant Regina Smith
Regina smith was served a five day suspension Friday after an investigation into a violent rap video she posted on the Internet. The video allegedly showed Smith in uniform several times, and video of her threatening people who tried to take advantage of her with a gun. She has her own record label, Big Rush in Global Media.
Lieutenant Smith is a veteran member of the Dallas Police Department, serving continuously for 25 years. She currently oversees the theft and burglary detectives on the west side.
Lieutenant Smith’s attorney told the press that she is asking for privacy in this matter, recounting the 2009 death of Smith’s husband. Senior Corporal Norm Smith, Lieutenant Smith’s late husband, was murdered while serving warrants with his gang unit in Dallas.
Joshua Vaughan
Officer Vaughan was also fired Friday after the internal affairs division alleged that he performed background checks on City of Dallas equipment for personal reasons and lied about it. This firing is perhaps the most undeserved. They also mentioned that he associated himself with people who had bad reputations. Vaughan is appealing his termination. Yes he should not have lied about using the equipment, but should his career be over because he used the equipment to perform background checks?
Lawrence Jamme
Lawrence Jamme was also fired on Friday after several drunken incidents in 2012. While all of the incidents occurred while Jamme was off duty, no one knows how much was swept under the rug. In May of 2012 Jamme lost control of his vehicle while apparently under the influence of alcohol, slamming into a telephone box. One month later he was accused of being intoxicated at the Dallas Police Department’s gun range, and was arrested a month later for public intoxication. Miraculously no DWI charges have been mentioned following the telephone box collision. We hope his family friends are supporting him and that he gets help if needed.
Officer Killebrew was served a 30 day suspension without pay Friday because of allegations that she hit her son with a cord to discipline him almost a year-and-a-half ago. She admitted to striking him with a laptop cord as punishment for misbehaving at school and the grand jury chose not to indict her on criminal charges. Her son was eleven years old at the time of the incident.
Richard Adams
Adams was involved in a fight at a nightclub in 2011, where video surveillance showed him trying to punch one of two off duty police officers who tried to break up the fight. He is also accused of visiting the same nightclub in 2012, and refusing to leave when the manager asked him to. Adams is also appealing his termination. He definitely made a couple of bad judgment calls at the nightclub while off duty, but do you think that he should be fired for it?
Police Chief David Brown’s Tweets
Chief Brown is also facing ridicule by Dallas Police officers for tweeting about firing the officers before their hearings. He tweeted that he had to make difficult decisions that would affect the careers of several officers, and later asked people to post blues music in another tweet. Some feel that his premature posting of the “difficult decisions” indicate that he had already made his mind up before the hearings were even conducted.