Now I've heard it all. Four Washington, D.C. municipal cops may have to turn in their badges after they wrecked two police-cruisers while (apparently) drag-racing on Anacostia Ave. The article doesn't say what brand or model of vehicles they were, but the department uses several different type of both sedans and SUVs. I'd bet, though, that it was either a Police-Interceptor-Ford Taurus or a Police-Package Hemi-Dodge-Charger.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...3ea_story.html


HomePublic Safety

D.C. officers crash patrol cars during apparent racing, department spokesman says

A D.C. police vehicle that was not involved in the crash. (Peter Hermann/The Washington Post)
By
Peter Hermann
April 26, 2021 at 5:25 p.m. EDT


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Four D.C. police officers faced suspensions of their law enforcement powers after the drivers of two marked patrol cars crashed while apparently racing each other along a street in Northeast Washington, according to a department spokesman.

The four officers — two in each vehicle — were treated for injuries at hospitals. Police said the vehicles had substantial damage in Thursday’s incident, first reported by Fox 5 TV.
Dustin Sternbeck, a D.C. police spokesman, said Internal Affairs is investigating the crash, which occurred during the evening hours along Anacostia Avenue NE, near Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens.

The officers, all recent hires from the 6th Police District, were put on “noncontact status,” meaning they are not allowed to interact with the public during the investigation.

Sternbeck said it appears that the officers “may have been racing, which resulted in an accident.”

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at a news conference Monday that “if we had officers who were engaging in this dangerous behavior, I would view it as a dereliction of duty, and they would have to be held accountable.”

The mayor said the investigation needs to proceed to determine any disciplinary action, but she said it appears that the officers put people at risk “and that is unacceptable.”

Bowser’s office on Monday made public the crash report, which provides details.

The report says both cruisers were southbound and at high speed on Anacostia Avenue. The report says the driver of one vehicle tried to turn left in front of the other and caused the collision. The impact pushed one vehicle onto a sidewalk and into a fence.

The report also says all four officers declined to make statements to investigators at the scene. The names of the officers were not made public.

Cmdr. Durriyyah Habeebullah, who heads the 6th Police District, sent an internal email to department officials saying the officers, “instead of fighting crime, patrolling their beats, or engaging the community — they decided to drag race each other on Anacostia Avenue at 5 p.m.”

The email, obtained by Fox 5 and confirmed as accurate by Sternbeck, added, “What does this say to all the members of [the department] who are passionate about their job and work hard every day to make a difference. This is not fair to any of us.”

 

I know several DC cops, I will ask what their thoughts are about that.

 

The vast majority of cops are honest (always have been), but, recently, it seems like we've been seeing more and more bad apples.

 

I see cops racing around my area in brand new V8 Chargers all the time. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them crash or cause an accident. I’m not sure if this is common in other city or states but our local police are the craziest drivers on the road, next to the soccer moms driving RX350’s and Escalades.

 

I used to live at a major intersection that flooded every time it rained. There were LAPD cruisers flooring it through the puddles at 3 am, seeing how big a splash could be made. Caught my attention, but harmless. The daily tasks and abuse the officers experience far outweighs the negatives. I know them personally and they are honest, hard-workers with families at home. The media only shows what gets ratings and people eat it up.

 

Agreed. 99% of them are honest, good men/women who really do want to make a difference in their communities. Its just the process/culture to weed out that 1% who are the rotten SOB apples that needs to be fixed IMO. The way the police police themselves IMO is very broken, that code of omerta is actually for real in the police, while it fell by the wayside in the mafia decades ago.

 

The Blue Code of Silence is not as widespread as one would think. The internet is full of videos and stories of police officers (in some cases, quite high-ranking) who were arrested by their own colleagues, or police in neighboring jurisdictions, for various infractions....a very common one is DUI/DWI. A Police Lieutenant in New Jersey was pulled over and arrested for exactly that. A similar case happened in Michigan. They did everything in their power to try and sweet-talk their way out of it, to no avail. And, here in my area, some years ago, the Chief of the Alexandria, VA police department was pulled over and arrested by police in neighboring Arlington for a similar offense and accident.




https://www.alexandriava.gov/news_display.aspx?id=24332

 

Mm, you are taking a lot of these recent racing or wreck threads into debate territory and getting them closed. Please watch the content, you know the rules.

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