A Louisville Metro Police officer was indicted yesterday by a Jefferson County grand jury on a charge he helped his son impersonate a police officer.
Lt. Jeff Manning is accused of letting his son go on police runs with him and perform police duties that included patting down suspects, said Steve Tedder, a spokesman for the Jefferson County commonwealth's attorney's office. Manning is charged with facilitation of impersonation of a police officer.
Manning was suspended with pay yesterday pending the outcome of the investigation, Police Chief Robert White said.
White said that in February, the department began investigating allegations by other officers that Manning had engaged in "improper behavior."
"He put his son in a situation where his son was impersonating a police officer," the chief said.
White said that several incidents were under investigation and that the son, whom he described as a juvenile, had engaged in various activities during those incidents. He declined to comment further, citing the investigation.
Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said she did not know the age of Manning's son.
If convicted of the charge, a class A misdemeanor, Manning faces up to a year in jail.
The commonwealth's attorney's office, which generally prosecutes only felony cases, will take charge of this case because the county attorney's office, which handles misdemeanors, represents the police department.
Manning works in the department's 1st Division. He has served in the community relations unit of the police department and has worked with the police athletic league youth teams.
Smiley said she did not immediately know how long Manning had worked for the department. He was a sergeant in 1997, according to The Courier-Journal's archives.
A message left on Manning's cell phone last night was not returned.
While working with the department's community relations unit, Manning often brought his two sons to the unit's youth athletic events.
He also has worked with Love Squad, a program dedicated to helping Louisville's homeless, while serving as chairman of Shield of Faith, a Christian law enforcement officers' association.
John McGuire, president of the police officers' union, declined to comment on the indictment
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