Officer Bobby Cole Faces Losing Job After he Failed to Protect and Serve

Officer Bobby Cole is facing losing his job next week on the Dallas police force after investigators found that he failed to protect and serve.

In one case, internal investigators found that he didn't arrest a robbery suspect. In another, he failed to charge a man with family violence, records show.

Cole, a nearly seven-year veteran, had a hearing Thursday in front of Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who recommended that he be fired. Police Chief David Kunkle is expected to make a final decision this coming Thursday.

In the first situation, Cole and another officer were working off duty security at a club on the North Central Expressway on Feb. 4, 2008, when they intervened to stop three robbers who were holding a man at gunpoint.

Two of the suspects fled. Cole and the other officer captured the third.

The victim, Josh Goad, told investigators that the suspected robber had told the officers that he could take them to his accomplices. He said the officers asked for his contact information and told him that they would be in contact.

After Goad left, the suspected robber was released. The officers did not file a police report, nor they notify did anyone that armed robbery suspects were on the loose.

In the meantime, two more robberies happened. Police captured the suspected robbers, including the one who the officers had released.

In his statement to investigators, Cole said the victim wasn't able to identify the third attacker, so he didn't think he had enough evidence to arrest him. He also told investigators that he didn't broadcast a suspect description over the radio was because his battery was dead.

"I was going to call in the Aggravated Robbery report when I got home and I forgot," Cole wrote in his statement to investigators.

The other officer, Irene Alanis, told internal investigators that Cole took charge at the scene and interviewed Goad. She said Cole was the lead officer at the scene and made the decision to release the suspect.

She has received a written reprimand over the incident.

"Thinking back, I should have done things differently," Cole told investigators. "I am truly sorry if (in) anyway the department's name was tarnished due to my actions."

The second incident occurred Feb. 11 when Cole and another officer responded to a report of a disturbance.

When Cole arrived, he said he spoke to the alleged victim who told him that a man had hit her and pulled her hair.

The man was taken into custody for outstanding warrants, but was not arrested on suspicion of family violence.

Cole didn't tell the other officer that the woman had claimed the man attacked her, investigators concluded.

In 2004, he also received a 15-day suspension for violating the department's sick leave policy, lying to a supervisor and making a false statement.