Monday, March 17, 2008

Alex City Police Department has no written Disciplinary Policy

All day I have been trying to lay hands on an Alexander City Police Dept. personnel policy handbook. The Mayor's office said to call the police chief.

I just spoke with Alexander City Police Chief Rafford and he said a handbook is available from the Human Resources Dept of the ACPD. He also said there is no written policy on discipline...that they kind of do it as they go along...so there is nothing for the public to see as far as disciplinary policy goes.

I asked if they have just a rule of thumb guide and he said no...they make it up as they go along.....depending on what the infraction is. I guess felony assault 1 & 2 aren't considered that serious of an infraction, huh? He did say that some other departments have a set disciplinary code...but that this one does not. I find it very odd that there aren't even any guidelines for disciplinary procedures for the police department in my town.Very odd indeed.

I mean, aside from common sense (which seem to be lacking in this particular profession in many cases) how do cops know what is breaking a rule and what isn't if there are no rules for them to go by? Is there no written code of conduct? Obviously, beating a handcuffed suspect nearly to death would be against the rules...but if there are no rules....

If they don't have any rules then I guess in their minds they can't break any rules.

I think they need some rules. A really long list of rules. And they need to be written down. How would one go about making that happen? Should I petition the City Council? If anyone knows please respond in the comments section of this post.





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8 comments:

Unknown said...

I think petitioning the City Council might be an excellent place to start.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure. You probably have it right with the city council.
But I'd venture a guess if you made a HUGE deal just about any department involved in public safety would listen.
:)
Love your blogs as always,

<3 Andie

KentAllard said...

I'm not certain how they do things in Alex City, but typically, such policies are enacted by the city council

Anonymous said...

Loretta, love the city police webpage with Chief Rafford standing proudly in front of what looks like confiscated drug vehicles and aircraft. I was going to suggest that you run for police chief but noticed that the position is appointed.....ummmmm. I'll send in a request for the code of conduct myself....maybe they won't be so threatened by someone from Florida----keep up the good work!!!!

Anonymous said...

loretta read your blog about officer ray sounds like phenix city you wouldnt believe some opf the stuff that i have seen and heard around here

Loretta Nall said...

Maybe we should all team up and start a blog that lists dirty cops in Alabama. One that was hosted by GoDaddy called ratemycop.com was recently taken offline by the hosting company. I think we need an Alabama specific one.

KentAllard said...

In my home county (Fayette) we had two consecutive sheriffs removed from office by being sent to prison. One served his time, got pardoned, and is now sheriff again. If you made that sort of thing up, no one would believe you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Loretta
Just wondering if you know the status on this case? It was set for trial October 19th, 2009.