By Eric Tucker, The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Two high-ranking police officials gave a detailed description of the department’s disciplinary system on Wednesday, responding to an outside report that found deep flaws in the way offending officers are punished.
Speaking at a news conference, Capt. Deborah Mateffy and Lt. Jacqueline Daley outlined steps taken within the police department to mete out appropriate discipline for officers accused of committing wrongdoing.
The officials spoke a day after Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson sharply criticized a report from the city’s Integrity and Accountability Office that suggested an outside agency be assigned to take over discipline. The report said that in 50 cases handled by the disciplinary system from January 2000 to May 2002, the department doled out little or no punishment to officers accused of serious infractions.
But Mateffy, seeking to clarify the step-by-step disciplinary process, said the department had made “great strides” since 2001. That year, under then-Commission John Timoney, a police “Charging Unit” was created to review completed investigations. The unit was established separate from an existing Police Board of Inquiry, which hears the disciplinary cases. In addition, a lawyer, Daley, was assigned to the position of department advocate.
“The reason why our unit was started was to ensure that people in different parts and different assignments were treated alike; they were treated equitably and fairly and consistently,” Mateffy said.
The two officials did not respond to specific cases cited in the report, made public this week. The report prompted an angry response by the police department, with Johnson calling its findings “false, wrong and disgraceful.” But Ellen Green-Ceisler, director of the Integrity and Accountability Office and author of the report, has said that she stands by her seven-month study.
A written response by the police department challenges the accuracy of the report, moving point-by-point through claims it considers questionable. The report, for instance, states that an off-duty officer who pistol-whipped a man during a fight was never disciplined. In reality, the officer’s associate pistol-whipped the man and has been suspended for 30 days, police said.
The report also cited “excessive and unexplained delays in resolving disciplinary cases.” Mateffy acknowledged that adjudication of certain complicated cases can stretch on, but said such instances are not common.
“I think that the report picked some of the more lengthy, more sensationalized (cases) to focus on,” Mateffy said. “If you’re involved in an auto accident, within three months you’re being disciplined for that. If you’re ... coming late to work or insubordination to an supervisors, those things are being dealt (with) in a much more timely fashion that some of the more drawn-out investigations.”
Both the report and the response have been submitted to the office of U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell, who is overseeing police changes promised in a 1996 settlement of a civil-rights case. A secretary said he was unavailable for comment.
Karen Simmons, a police department lawyer, said she expected to discuss the case at length before Dalzell.
Also Wednesday, Philadelphia Mayor John Street told reporters he thought Johnson was doing a good job.
“We believe that the integrity of the Philadelphia Police Department is of the utmost concern. But I also fully support police commissioner Sylvester Johnson and leadership in the department, and believe they are doing a fine job,” Street said.