Mayor wants unbiased review of police accident

 The City of Red Oak will be conducting a follow-up investigation of an Oct. 14 car accident involving the Assistant Chief of the Red Oak Police Department in an effort to create “more transparency,” according to Mayor Bill Billings. 

The review, which will be following a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department investigation at the scene of the accident and a follow-up police department investigation, will be conducted by a panel of city employees and/or officials including the city administrator and department heads. 

“We decided as a city we will review every accident involving a city employee with a city-owned vehicle or equipment from now on,” Billings said. “More transparency is what I want to see. I want a non-biased review of the incident, so it’s not being handled just behind closed doors.”

He said, in the future, panels will vary based on the department involved in the accident.

When asked what was it about this particular accident that prompted an additional review process, Billings said the review will be conducted to re-assess the City’s current policy on city-vehicle use and reinforce safety as a priority. 

“We want to show city employees that safety is a priority and safety is the number one job for anyone with the city,” he said. “This is also in response to the concentration of accidents with city vehicles.”

According to Police Chief Drue Powers, the police department has had about three accidents in the last year involving officers and patrol cars, which he said is typical of any police department. 

One was during a vehicle pursuit in which an officer used the patrol car to stop a vehicle being chased. During the second, an officer accidently backed his vehicle into a pole and the third was two weeks ago in which Assistant Police Chief Derrick Walter rear-ended a vehicle at a stop signal.

According to the accident report, Walter did not see the brake lights on the car in front of him in time and, because of the road’s wet conditions, was unable to stop. 

The Sheriff’s Department responded to the accident, which led to $4,400 in damage to the patrol car, and Walter was cited for failure to stop within the assured clear distance. 

“We didn’t handle this any differently than any other fender-bender,” Sheriff Joe Sampson said. “They (the City) can do their own review if they want, but it’s our duty to be unbiased; that’s why we take an oath. It should be unbiased enough, but he (Billings) is the headman over that department so it’s his right. It’s a done deal as far as we (the sheriff’s department) are concerned, though.” 

Powers said the police department is in the process of conducting their own investigation of the accident as well, which is standard procedure. 

The investigation includes reviewing cell phone records from the time of the accident and contacting witnesses. 

Like Sampson, Powers said the police department’s investigation is being done impartially. 

“I don’t consider it biased,” he said. “Everything depends on the person conducting the review, though; there’s always that human factor involved. With this, I don’t see an issue.” 

When asked if in favor of an additional review, Powers declined to comment. 

“This is entirely up to the city administration; it’s kind of uncharted territory so I don’t really have a comment one way or another… If the mayor feels it’s necessary, then that’s his decision, and he’s my boss so I’ll do what he says.”