If I mess up, can I get Paid leave from my employer, no jail time?

W

Wildcard

Moderator
Why was this man not booked into the county jail, made to post bond? Why?





Utah’s top DUI cop cited for DUI
Commander of Highway Patrol drunken driving unit reportedly blows 0.12
The Associated Press

Updated: 8:55 p.m. CT June 30, 2006

SALT LAKE CITY - The commander of the Utah Highway Patrol's drunken driving unit has been cited for driving under the influence of alcohol after crashing his cruiser into a concrete barrier, authorities said.

Lt. Fred Swain veered off the shoulder of a highway in Draper early June 23, overcorrected and hit the barrier that separates the lanes, Lt. Doug McCleve said Thursday.

Swain said he fell asleep at the wheel, but officers suspected he had been drinking, said Draper police Sgt. Scott Peck. Swain refused to submit to a breathalyzer test until two patrol captains talked to him, Peck said.

The test showed that Swain's blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.12 percent, Peck said. Utah's legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Swain was placed on paid administrative leave while the patrol conducts an internal investigation.

Contacted by KSL-TV on Thursday, Swain said it was not in his best interest to comment.

Draper police investigated the incident. It's common for law enforcement agencies to ask another agency to investigate incidents involving their own personnel. Draper is about 19 miles south of Salt Lake City.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13626384/
 
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds......Hopefully, you can keep us informed as things progress....

If it were in Ohio, even on first offense, the individual would be given 6 months license suspension, with work drive priveleges after 1 month provided that he/she installs "special plates" on their work car. ( a solid yellow with red numbers)......Would be worthy of a snapshot to see those on a patrol car !!!
 
Update on the story

Jun 30, 2006 5:05 pm US/Mountain

Swain Resigns From Highway Patrol After DUI Arrest
DRAPER Lt. Fred Swain, commander of the Utah Highway Patrol's DUI unit, has resigned after being cited for driving under the influence of alcohol after crashing his unmarked police cruiser into a concrete barrier.

Officials said Swain submitted a letter of resignation to the Utah Highway Patrol Friday morning, saying he felt it was in his best interest.
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http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_180142652.html

Looks like he did lose his job - this story says he resigned.

Guy screwed up. He made a mistake, knew he did and stepped up and did the right thing.
What's a real shame is a guy that has that type of sand is the type you want wearing a badge.
 
"What's a real shame is a guy that has that type of sand is the type you want wearing a badge."

Oh, bull. He was not only driving under the influence, he was on duty. He is a hypocrite, and an embarrassment to the honest and professional officers of the UHP. Good riddance.

Tim
 
What's a real shame is a guy that has that type of sand is the type you want wearing a badge.
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I'm with Hal on this, knowing nothing more about Swain than is reported here. He made a huge error; he crossed an uncrossable line. But he stood up to his transgression without wasting the taxpayers' money, making excuses or whining. That IS sand.

BTW, the fact that he was driving a patrol car does not necessarily indicate that he was on duty. In many jusrisdictions, cars are assigned to officers 24/7. Of course this doesn't matter. He screwed up and now he's lost it all; possibly a pension also.

Rich
 
That ain't sand

It's survival. He knew he would be convicted, and if he didn't step down then, things could get a lot worse for him, not just a bit of news but Headlines in Newspapers and on CNN. He did the best thing for his own survival and embarassment bottom line. He committed one of the more heinous motor vehicle crimes, endangered others, and now he's going to have to pay the price. He'll probably get a wet and reckless and go find another job. There's no sympathy here for his situation, he was the Head Officer for the DUI section. That's equivalent to the head of the BATF going out on a shooting spree drunk.

Have a great Kenpo day

Clyde
 
I'm with Hal & Rich too.

For those of us who aren't LEOs, a first time DUI might mean paying a large fine, perhaps the embarrassment of special plates for a while, a license that restricts your driving and probably the worst will be a suspension of the license for some period of time. But generally we get to keep our jobs, even if it becomes difficult to get to work and back.

For many LEOs, however, something like this can result in losing their job. And the pension that goes with it. Imagine putting in 17 years of excellent service, doing your retirement planning around the pension and then losing it all in a flash.

Yup. He "shoulda known better" and all of that. But he didn't whine or make excuses. He didn't ask his POA to intervene in his behalf (though I suspect that he and his lawyer had some conversations with the POA).

The sad part, I think, will be the self-condemnation he will feel for the next 10 years over his own mistake. It's doubtful he'll be able to get another LEO job with a serious traffic conviction.

If he really does have sand, he'll find a way to change careers and make the most of it and turn it into something positive.
 
No sympathy at all.
Anyone else would have had to post bond.
I am willing to bet the resignation is part of a plea deal.
Personally I think that if a LEO breaks the law ,they should be penalized 10 times what the maximum sentence for that crime is.{same with elected "officials"}
 
Dui

I'm with Rich and Hal also it takes balls to stand up and say I screwed up and take you medicine like a man. Sorry to say there are a lot out there that talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Be Safe Out There Kurt
 
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Following the questioning, Swain was issued a citation and released, and was driven home by a UHP captain.
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http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_180142652.html


So, If that happened to me, I would be cited, and then get a ride to the house. Thats good to know.

The drunken-driving incident wasn't discovered by the media until nearly a week after it happened. Duncan said administrators struggled with whether to release the information immediately or wait until the internal investigation was completed. But he stressed there was never an attempt to hide what happened.
"There's no way we'd ever think of trying to cover something like this up," Duncan said.
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http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640191473,00.html

Sounds like they were hoping that this would go unnoticed. Looks like he only resigned because the News Media got on the ball.
 
hoji said:
Personally I think that if a LEO breaks the law ,they should be penalized 10 times what the maximum sentence for that crime is.{same with elected "officials"}
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You are out of your mind. Everyone should be treated the same, no one less, or more, than others.
 
"Asked why the UHP did not inform the news media of the incident,"

Does the UHP do a press release on every DUI arrest they make? Do they do a press release on every 1 vehicle, non injury or no injury crash? I'd bet not. I never did. Just for my district I'd be doing 10-20 press releases every day, more on the weekend. DUI arrests and non-PI crashes just aren't newsworthy.
 
DUI arrests and non-PI crashes just aren't newsworthy.
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Hmm, when its the commander of the DUI task force that gets arrested for DUI, its newsworthy. I bet if a high ranking member of the Mormon Church was arrested for DUI, it would be all over the media in about 6 hours.
 
"Hmm, when its the commander of the DUI task force that gets arrested for DUI, its newsworthy. I bet if a high ranking member of the Mormon Church was arrested for DUI, it would be all over the media in about 6 hours."

If the media finds out then it would worthy a comment from the police. However, to make a release based on the arrest and non-PI crash when not doing it for others is a good way to ge the entire case tossed and set the agency up for a suit.
These are the kinds of things you learn when you've had a bit of media training and many years of dealing 1st hand with media from local paper to international news agencies. Dealing with the media is not as simple as so many on here seem to think. There are guidelines that can really trick up an agency and ruin a case.
 
saying he felt it was in his best interest.
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I might feel better about his sand if he had done it in the best interest of the department in order to spare them more embarrassment.
For those of us who aren't LEOs, a first time DUI might mean paying a large fine, perhaps the embarrassment of special plates for a while, a license that restricts your driving and probably the worst will be a suspension of the license for some period of time. But generally we get to keep our jobs, even if it becomes difficult to get to work and back.
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A DUI to me would mean instant termination and the end of my 20 plus year carreer. I'm just a bugman but share something in common with the typical LEO that makes a DUI a career ender, we drive.
 
Swain was placed on paid administrative leave while the patrol conducts an internal investigation.
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And that is SOP. The man is not "guilty" of DUI until a court of law finds him so, and the department cannot terminate him until he is found guilty. Given how the courts work, that could take weeks, months, or even longer.

There's also the fact that a high percentage of DUI charges are plea-bargained down to reckless operation (or Utah's equivalent).

I might feel better about his sand if he had done it in the best interest of the department in order to spare them more embarrassment.
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Now if I had a better than 50/50 chance of having it plea-bargained down, and even if not, I could drag it through the courts at a snail's pace with continuance after continuance, all the while being on paid leave, why the heck else would I resign?
 
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