Seven Dallas police officers have been fired or placed on
leave as the result of internal investigations.Dallas Police One officer is
accused of rearranging a body at a crime scene and giving false statements to
police.
Dallas police chief David Brown fired six officers on
Tuesday and suspended one more in a sweeping act of department discipline. All
of the terminated officers allegedly engaged in unethical behavior and many
stand accused of committing crimes themselves.
The most serious case involves officers Bryan Burgess and
Michael Puckett. In April, the officers were following a suspicious person on
bicycle in the 1600 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Puckett got out of
the squad car to pursue the man on foot while Burgess continued driving.
How the bicyclist died is a matter of dispute. Burgess
originally said the rider cut in front of his vehicle, but a recording from the
scene of the crime paints a different picture. Burgess is accused of running
over the bicyclist, repositioning his body and moving his squad car before
investigators arrived. Both officers were fired, and Burgess faces charges of
negligent homicide. Officer Bryan Burgess is accused of moving a body at a crime
scene and lying about it.
