Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Officer Garry Squires Arrested for Drunk Driving

Idaho Falls police officer Garry William Squires, who also goes by Bill, has been on the force for 15 years.

He was arrested and sentenced to three days in jail with probation.

Police officers pull over drunk drivers more often this time of year, But they don't expect to pull over another off duty officer.

"This is a very significant gap in judgement, even though he was honest about it, we can't ignore something like this, police have a special assignment that the public trusts them to take care of business with integrity," says Idaho Falls chief of police Steve Roos.

Idaho Falls police department sergeant Bill Squires is suspended from the department for three weeks- unpaid. He was arrested for *driving under the influence of alcohol about two weeks ago. Idaho State Police made the arrest.

This is how it went down, the ISP trooper was making a regular traffic stop on Saturn and Broadway when he pulled over officer Bill Squires, he gave him the breathalyzer test and with those results took him straight to jail.

Squires did not take a mug shot after he was arrested because he was immediately sited and released. Earlier that night, he had some drinks with his wife and some friends. ISP stated he was a model arrestee and the judge game him a "typical sentence."- which means, the majority of DUI cases are handled like this. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 87 suspended and 18 months of supervised probation with a $500 fine.

"It's important that the public has confidence in us to take care of business. So we just want to have more transparency just so we are not questioned and people can see we are doing the right thing," says Roos.

Squires' associates describe him as an effective leader and someone they look up too. They add, it's a loss for the department.

Officer Bill Squires will be allowed to re-test for sergeant in one year. When he returns to work, his new rank will be *senior patrol officer. His pre-trial conference is set for December 29th.

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