The arrests garnered national attention. Charges against the referees were later dropped and Mayor Mike Cooper issued an apology during a news conference a few days after the incident.
During the hearings, Lentz said he will go over polices he believes the officers violated in arresting referee Jim Radcliffe and linesman Chris Gambino on Oct. 11 at the St. Paul's football game against Mandeville High School. He would not disclose the violations Thursday. "That would be premature," he said.
Both officers will be represented by attorneys during the hearings, Lentz said. After evaluating evidence from the hearings, the chief said he would determine what disciplinary action should be taken against the officers.
Attorneys for Short and West, both of whom remained on duty after the incident, could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
The two game officials were booked with public intimidation after Gambino asked Short to move Mandeville fans who were near the sideline to the other side of a border fence and into the stands. An argument ensued and soon after Radcliffe joined the confrontation.
Other Covington Police officers came to the scene, including West, who at the time was the department's acting chief. A short time later, Radcliffe and Gambino were taken into custody. Both were booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail and released the next morning on $250 bond.
Less than a week later, after a firestorm of controversy, Cooper held a press conference to announce charges were to be dropped against the two officials and that an investigation would be launched into the arrests.
Lentz, former deputy chief for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, was sworn in as Covington's new police chief four days after the incident at St. Paul's School. The arrests of the officers generated much discussion on social media sites and local radio talk shows and drew coverage from the national media.
