By Alyson Oüten, KTVB News (Boise, Idaho)
BOISE, Idaho -- The scandalous actions of one Boise Police officer are apparently impacting the rest of the force.
A representative for other officers is speaking out about the incident.
Earlier this week, a Community Ombudsman report detailed information about an officer who allegedly violated several police department policies; from having sexual encounters while on duty, to downloading porn on his work computer.
Officers in the field say they’re being publicly punished for the actions of another.
“They’re pretty upset that the tarnish is on all police officers,” said Guy Bourgeau. “The officers on the street feel the action of one officer is reflected on them and they’re not pleased and it’s not the case.”
Bourgeau is vice-president of the Boise Police Union, an organization that is currently trying to negotiate an expired contract with the city of Boise.
He says the recent report about an officer’s misconduct, and the media coverage surrounding those revelations, is hurting the department’s reputation.
“We’re concerned obviously in negotiation, image is a big thing and people don’t realize, this is a great department and it’s hard when this is what they hear,” said Bourgeau.
The distinction Bourgeau and other officers want to make is that the staffer criticized in the Ombudsman report is not just any officer, but legally they can’t reveal his rank.
“I can tell you what this person is not,” said Bourgeau. “Not a patrol officer, a detective or a sergeant.”
Confidential sources close to the department tell NewsChannel 7 the officer in question was a captain.
We asked Police Chief Jim Tibbs to confirm that information for us, but he too is legally bound to stay mum.
“I wish I could be more specific, but I can’t be more specific because state law won’t let me. State law requires us to not identify who the officer is, we can’t identify the rank,” said Tibbs.
The fact that the officer criticized in this investigation was reportedly a captain means he wouldn’t be responding to ordinary dispatch calls and wouldn’t be patrolling the streets.
Chief Tibbs did confirm that because of the officer’s responsibilities, public safety was not put in jeopardy, even though the officer was reportedly having sex while on duty.
“It’s a matter of pride,” Tibbs said.
Even though this appears to be an isolated incident, Bourgeau and other patrol officers in the field say they feel the heat.
“We want to put everything behind us, we want to settle our contract, we want to just get done and go back to work, guys just want to do police work,” Bourgeau said.
The officer in question is no longer with the police department, but Tibbs in not able to reveal if he was fired or allowed to retire.
Despite several policy violations, no criminal charges will be filed.