Thursday, March 22, 2007

UPDATED: Dallas Police officers charged, investigated by their own for misconduct

By Pegasus News wire

Updated 10:48 p.m., March 27, 2008

Senior Corporals Al Schoelen, Jeffrey "Jack" Nelson, and Timothy Stecker are the three officers being accused of various forms of misconduct while on the job. What is atypical of these accusations is that they come from fellow Dallas police officers.

Some are viewing this as an important step in improving the department's "image and accountability." On Tuesday, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle appointed a panel of five lieutenants to investigate the conduct of the three accused, and temporarily transferred, officers.

Some of the allegations against the three include using pepper spray on a handcuffed woman for "talking back" to an officer, false arrests, and even arresting a man for obstructing traffic even though the man was using a public crosswalk.

The panel will also investigate whether the accusations against Schoelen, Nelson, and Stecker are the result of their reputations as "rogue" officers. Police Chief Kunkle admits that it is rare for fellow officers to accuse one another of such misconduct, but that most of the other officers in the department do not want to work with these three out of disapproval of their policing tactics.

UPDATE: Schoelen and Nelson got fired; Stecker and their boss, Sgt. Walter Clifton, got temporary suspensions, for 10 days and five days, respectively. Nelson and Shoelen had been in the police department since 1978.

Posted by Erin

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