N.A. police officer reinstated after appeal

The North Augusta Public Safety officer demoted last year after hitting a suspect in the mouth with his duty weapon and failing to file paperwork documenting the incident has been reinstated as a patrol lieutenant.

In December 2008, Lt. Robbie Bell was suspended for five days and demoted two levels in rank following an internal investigation of the June 2007 incident. The complaint surfaced in September 2008, more than a year after Joseph Williams Jr. was accused of shoplifting from Wal-Mart and of leading police on a brief pursuit.

Then-North Augusta Public Safety Director T. Lee Wetherington received a request for compensation from an area attorney regarding the "use of force" during the 2007 shoplifting arrest.

Wetherington turned the investigation over to state agents after he received a letter from an Augusta attorney, representing Williams, claiming Bell hit his client in the mouth with a gun and the client had to undergo extensive dental work.

The attorney initially offered a $40,000 settlement, but Williams later failed to cooperate with state agents and, thus far, City Administrator Sam Bennett said, has not filed suit against the City.

At the conclusion of the State's investigation, no criminal charges were filed against Bell, but Wetherington, with approval from the city administrator, suspended Bell for five days without pay and demoted him, saying he violated several policies, including failure to document "use of force" as required by Public Safety's police and procedures manual, which, according to Bell's own admission, is a serious violation.

In response to the disciplinary action, in December 2008, Bell filed an appeal to the City's Municipal Employees Grievance Committee, asking to be reinstated to lieutenant with commensurate pay, payment for the five-day suspension and that his disciplinary record regarding the matter be purged.

According to state law, grievances may be made to an established committee following a demotion or a suspension. Committee members are selected from various municipal agencies but must recuse themselves if an appeal is made by an employee from the same agency.

In Bell's appeal, committee members were from Public Utilities, Public Works and Recreation departments.

On Jan. 21, 2009, the committee responded, recommending that he should be reinstated as a lieutenant and placed on probation for six months, and that the five-day suspension should stand and he should not be reimbursed for the pay lost during his suspension.

The committee reported that the suspension by two levels appeared "excessive."

Mayor Lark Jones, reviewing Bell's appeal aside from the grievance committee, stated that the police lieutenant's failure to document use of force is a serious omission, saying "in many departments this alone would be an offense worthy of termination."

But Jones went on to say there is no evidence that Bell was acting with duplicity when he failed to file the paperwork, saying that Bell's supervisor, who was also reprimanded, should have insisted the paperwork be filed.

Jones said better checks and balances should have been in place.

"I will expect our new chief of Public Safety to review all of our current policies and procedures, make any needed changes and make doubly sure that if the existing policies are sufficient that they are being followed without exception," he stated in a February 2009 response to Bell's appeal.

Both Jones and the City's administrator upheld the findings by the grievance committee.

"It's part of the process, and that is why the committee is here," Bennett said. "It is there to review disciplinary action when an employee requests it. Typically if the findings are not egregious, I will try to go along with the findings."

Without commenting on the specifics of the Bell case, John Thomas, who took over as the department's director on Monday, said he is reviewing all polices, adding that it is a priority.

When asked for comment, Bell said he could not address the issue.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.