Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo today fired a police officer for insubordination after he said the officer posted a blog entry that his superiors concluded was meant to undermine the chief’s authority, according to a disciplinary memo.
According to the memo, officer Tony Smith posted an article from the blog on a bulletin board regarding a sexual harassment claim against Acevedo when he worked with the California Highway patrol. The memo alleges that Smith circulated the printout in protest of the firing of Sgt. Dustin Lee.
Lee was fired in June after he was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a police employee and lying about it to internal affairs investigators.
According to the memo, Smith said during a dismissal hearing that he, “posted the blog because it was interesting and denied any intent to criticize, ridicule, or undermine,” Acevedo.
His chain of command disagreed, according to the memo, and concluded that Smith intended to undermine the chief’s authority.
Acevedo said in the memo that he recused himself from the review hearing because the incident involved himself. He left it up to Smith’s chain of command to recommend an appropriate discipline.
Smith has worked for the department since 2003, and has been disciplined several times, the memo said.
In 2005, he was suspended for 60 days after he was accused of refusing to end a relationship with a methamphetamine user and misusing city equipment to check the woman for warrants at her request, according to the memo. He was also accused of failing to take police action when he believed the woman was purchasing drugs, the memo said.
Several years ago, Acevedo, then a chief with the California highway patrol, was sued along with the highway patrol by a female employee whom Acevedo had dated a decade earlier. She said in the lawsuit that he had taken nude photos of her and shown them to other agency officials.
The lawsuit was dismissed, except for one allegation that Acevedo said was unrelated to his work and was settled. Acevedo said terms of the settlement prevent him from discussing the matter, and the case has been sealed by a judge.
http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/txcn/austin/stories/091008kvue_APD_officer_fired-cb.63390686.html
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