Two Houston Police Officers SHOT

[WildBill]

According to Mapquest, Rice University is about 2.7 miles from the Greyhound Station.

[speedsix]

SAD.

I hope he is hired by another Agency quickly. I know I would want him to respond if I was in that situation.

No one would criticize an officer for an emergency assist to an injured officer if the action taken was reasonable - e.g., the incident location was very nearby and the officer notified his dispatcher of his actions. If not countermanded by a supervisor, he's good to go in that case.

Listening to a scanner, leaving an assigned post or district and self dispatching to a call in another part of the city without notifying dispatch sounds a lot like somebody who's looking for excitement that he doesn't often see and knows that his supervisor wouldn't allow him to go if he knew about it.

Houston is a big city with lots of well trained officers - I'm sure the response was more than adequate without the additional presence of a university officer, who couldn't even communicate with the Houston officers whose radios were on another frequency (remember he heard the call on a scanner, not on his own radio).

From the information provided in the brief news article, I see the action taken was appropriate.

...from the maps,he only went 5 or 6 blocks away from the college...the fact that he didn't notify dispatch is prolly due to the fact that he wasn't going to take no for an answer...an entirely appropriate attitude for a seasoned LEO who heard of other LEOs being shot that close by..."looking for excitement" is a cheap shot...17 years of being a professional campus cop, I'm sure he's seen more excitement than a lot of street cops...the fact is...he beat the Houston backup officers to the scene, and they were glad to have him there...he communicated with them well as they were right behind his squad car...he did no wrong and should NOT have been fired...but commended...as he was by those that count...fellow officers...

[WildBill]

Actually the story said he previously worked as a Galveston police officer.

[speedsix]

...yeah, the distance was more like Wild Bill said...doublechecked it...still did a good thing...and should be commended...from personal experience, when a cop calls for help...everyone with a gun/badge is welcome...have personal experience where twice a citizen saved one of my bud's lives...the guy did just fine in my book...

[speedsix]

Actually the story said he previously worked as a Galveston police officer.

...even more reason to go...17 years combined LEO experience...this guy was no thrill seeker...

[philip964]

This was a bad dude, an active shooter, with multiple weapons, on the run. Looks like the Houston Police did a great job. No civilian injuries. Great news that the officers are going to be ok.

[Excaliber]

There is a difference of perspective between those who have spent their careers responsible only for their own actions, and those who have done that and then been given responsibility for managing the actions of others. What sounds like a great idea in the first case often doesn't always look anywhere near as good in the second.

During my career, my agency managed and responded to any number of extrajurisdictional incidents when emergencies (bombings, active shooter incidents, etc) required lots of manpower in a hurry, but NEVER without authorization, continuous communication, and active involvement by the supervisors on duty. We would most certainly have taken strong and decisive action against any officer who went off the reservation without authorization. No one had any doubts about that, and consequently we didn't have any problems with it either.

However good the university officer's intentions may have been, his chain of command and responsibility to follow his department's policies and procedures didn't evaporate just because a major incident occurred outside his assigned duty area. If he had thought he was doing the right thing, he would have reported what he was doing to dispatch. Plain and simple, leaving his post without communicating because he didn't want to take a possible "no" for an answer wasn't his call, but he made it anyway. It is also a strong indication that he knew he was violating policy but still decided to do what he wanted on his own. When one does that, he owns the results and has little basis for complaint.

If the officer had communicated that he was responding and was told to break off, the responsibility and consequences for that decision would have rested on the supervisor who made it. If the incident scene really was just a few blocks away instead of a few miles (there seems to be disagreement on this point and I don't know the area) a good supervisor might very well have authorized him to continue and would likely have responded as well. In this case, the supervisor wasn't given the opportunity to make a good decision because the officer didn't carry out his part. In fact, the officer insulted his chain of command by apparently presuming they weren't capable of making as good a decision as he was. I hope most folks can see there's an issue here.

Supervisors, policies, and procedures are in place to protect the public, the agency, and the officer. They don't always work perfectly in any individual circumstance, but in a well run agency they usually do a pretty good job of guiding police actions and minimizing undesirable consequences.

Faced with a blatant violation of policy, an agency either has to ignore it and set a precedent that can be used to undermine any policy enforcement decision that follows as discriminatory, or take disciplinary action in accordance with its policies and practices. Any well led agency will take option 2, even when it is unpopular. In the long run, it's the only viable choice.

Whether the sanctions take the form of reprimand, suspension, or termination is determined by policy, past precedent, and the officer's disciplinary history. I don't have any information on the specifics in any of those categories, so I can't comment on whether or not termination was the best choice, but the agency was certainly obligated to take strong action to maintain internal command discipline.

In principle, I still think the agency did the right thing.

[WildBill]

I can see both sides to the story. The HPD rank and file seem to support Officer Sedmak. The firing of the officer may seem harsh, but I am sure that there is some background information that we will never know.

[Skiprr]

Here's a link to the official Rice University statement regarding the termination of Officer Sedmak: http://www.rice.edu/statement.html. Given the rather generic URL, it may be a temporary Webpage and could come down at any time.

In part, the university explains that they regularly work with adjacent PDs, including Houston, West University Place, Bellaire, and others. They say that the Rice University Police Department cross-trains with these external departments, and in the first five months of 2011 dispatched officers to 37 calls for help from external agencies.

They confirm the incident was "about three miles away" from the university, and go on to say that HPD did not request assistance from RUPD, that two HPD substations are closer to the Greyhound Station than is the university, that Officer Sedmak had both a portable radio and a squad-car mobile radio, and that he went against policy by self-dispatching and failing to notify the sergeant on duty until almost one hour after the fact. They also note that all RUPD radio communications are recorded.

Were I one of the HPD officers in the fight, I would greatly appreciate Officer Sedmak's assistance and would support him in every way possible in this situation. I admire his bravery and willingness to put himself into immediate harm's way to help a fellow officer. That said, given what we can know about the event, I think it's difficult to fault Excaliber's argument or the university's action.

[tacticool]

Whether the sanctions take the form of reprimand, suspension, or termination is determined by policy, past precedent, and the officer's disciplinary history. I don't have any information on the specifics in any of those categories, so I can't comment on whether or not termination was the best choice, but the agency was certainly obligated to take strong action to maintain internal command discipline.

In principle, I still think the agency did the right thing.

I agree. The same story says RUPD provided inter-agency assistance more than once a week, on average, this year. Based on that record, the officer clearly was not fired for going to assist the HPD officers. Instead, he was fired for running off without notifying the duty sergeant. We also don't know whether this is the first time he's abandoned his duty post without notice or permission.

[WildBill]

Interesting turn of events.

Chief Bill Taylor and Major Dianna Marshall have turned in their resignations. Taylor and Marshall are the one's who fired university police officer David Sedmak for leaving the university campus to assist two Houston police officers involved in a shootout at the Greyhound bus station.

Since his firing there has been a massive outcry from students and alumni denouncing the action against the officer.

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-housto ... r-s-firing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I heard on the radio this afternoon that some Rice University alumni were protesting the firing by threatening to withhold contributions to the school.

I also heard the 911 tape. IMO, it would be hard not to respond to such a call.

[speedsix]

...Praise God, there're still people who'll stand up and holler when something as wrong as that happens...betcha he ends up re-instated!!!

[dsedmak]

Whether the sanctions take the form of reprimand, suspension, or termination is determined by policy, past precedent, and the officer's disciplinary history. I don't have any information on the specifics in any of those categories, so I can't comment on whether or not termination was the best choice, but the agency was certainly obligated to take strong action to maintain internal command discipline.

In principle, I still think the agency did the right thing.

I agree. The same story says Based on that record, the officer clearly was not fired for going to assist the HPD officers. Instead, he was fired for running off without notifying the duty sergeant. We also don't know whether this is the first time he's abandoned his duty post without notice or permission.

All you have to do is ask me. There is nothing to hide. In response to a few of these questions noted above, 1) (Q) RUPD provided inter-agency assistance more than once a week, on average, this year: (A) A good majority of those HPD calls, at least 20-25 of those calls, were calls I responded to. On two of those occasions; I was solely responsible for the apprehension of burglary suspects sought by HPD. One capture was providing aid to South Hampton Patrol, the other HPD Central District Patrol. What was not addressed by Rice or the media was the outdated and antiquated radio equipment used by the Rice University Police Department. I called the Rice Police dispatcher and notified him of the "active shooter" situation, which dispatch acknowledged. I have those audio recordings as evidence. When I got about a quarter of mile outside the perimeter of the campus, the police radio would not transmit. This is a well known fact which was well documented by the officers on many occasions. Once the scene had stabilized, I called my Sergeant on her cell phone and notified her of my location. I have phone records to prove that as well. As a senior officer, I discussed the poor radio reception to the Patrol Lieutenant and was told by him that Rice PD could not afford to update the radio system from the out dated analog repeater, to the digital counter part. In November of 2010, two Rice Police Officers were terminated for allegedly not responding to a "man with a gun" call in a timely manner. Two other officers were also suspended as well for the same incident because they could not transmit over their radios. I had no prior disciplinary measures taken against me for abandonment of post (you can file a public records request). Since the incident, Chief Bill Taylor and Major Diana Marshall "retired". Shortly after their announced retirements, Lieutenant Jim Baylor "retired" and Lieutenant Jared Goldman was "terminated." One Rice Alumni who wishes to remain anonymous donated a significant amount of money to my family, and withdrew a six figure contribution to Rice. Any questions, or concerns please feel free....

[dsedmak]

Actually the story said he previously worked as a Galveston police officer.

...even more reason to go...17 years combined LEO experience...this guy was no thrill seeker...

Thank You! My only thoughts were to save innocent civilian lives, and provide aid to those downed officers.

Master Peace Officer Certification
Galveston Police Department: Special Operations Division~Fugitive Apprehensions, Sting Operations, Community Services (Hurricane Rita Commendation).
Missouri City Police Department~SWAT, Patrol Division, Field Training Officer (Meritorious Service Award).
Rice Police Department, Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Instructor (Certified), Patrol Division, Dignitary Protections Team.

[dsedmak]

...Praise God, there're still people who'll stand up and holler when something as wrong as that happens...betcha he ends up re-instated!!!

Rice will not re-instate me. It should also be noted that the Texas Workforce Commission reviewed the evidence in this case and found "NO MISCONDUCT" committed.