An
Evansville police officer has received a three day suspension without pay for
neglecting his duties of guarding a prisoner with a history of violence.
Officer
Josh Doane, a veteran of the Evansville Police Department, was suspended in
mid-May at the recommendation of Chief Billy Bolin. On Monday, the Merit
Commission agreed with that punishment.
In
mid-April, Doane was assigned to prisoner detail at St. Mary's Hospital,
according to police records. The detail involves watching over a prisoner to
make sure he or she doesn't escape or have unauthorized visitors bring in drugs
or weapons. The prisoner being guarded has a long history of violent crime and
drug abuse, police said. The
According
to the personnel order notifying Doane of his suspension, investigators
determined that Doane left the prisoner unguarded for an extended period of
time. In that time frame, Doane went to the cafeteria and went outside to his
patrol car. EPD's Information Technology Unit confirmed that Doane had sent
electronic messages from his vehicle's on-board computer at the time he should
have been guarding the prisoner, according to the personnel order. Surveillance
video also showed that Doane was absent from his duty, police said.
Doane
has received numerous honors and commendations in his career. Doane's
suspension is an example of a good cop making a bad decision, said Sgt. Jason
Cullum.
"We
took this very seriously, evident by an unpaid suspension," Sgt. Cullum
said. "But this isn't a case where he went out and violated someone's
rights. We're not talking about criminal acts. This is a department
violation."
Doane
served his suspension in late May, Sgt. Cullum said. Furthermore, officials
don't expect Doane to appeal his suspension because he has taken ownership of
the mistake.
"This
is a good officer. He's been in our department for a number of years now and he
does good work," Sgt. Cullum said. "Unfortunately, he made a bad
decision in this particular case and he'll have to pay for it."
