Department Can Take Action On Two Charges Against Accused Officer
The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A state judge ruled Thursday that the Providence Police Department can take disciplinary action against an officer accused in connection with cheating on promotional tests.
The officer, who has not been named, faced 10 charges related to the matter, which occurred in November 1996 and January 1997.
Superior Court Judge Joseph Rodgers Jr. ruled that Police Chief Dean Esserman can’t pursue disciplinary action related to eight of those allegations because the incidents happened in the 1990s, older than the three-year statute of limitations.
However, Rodgers said the department can take action on two charges which involve the officer allegedly lying about receiving unauthorized documents before taking the written promotional exam in 1997.
“The language of the statute is clear,” Rodgers wrote. “Disciplinary action must be brought within three years of the incident.”
Esserman has said the statute of limitations should be triggered when he received fresh information and opened a new investigation into the cheating scandal in February 2003 -- not from when the alleged cheating occurred.
The department claims the officer violated two criminal laws: obtaining money through false pretenses and giving a false document to a public employee.
A decision on a second officer involved in the case has not been made.
The police department had no immediate comment on the decision, referring all questions to its attorney in the case.