Can Sgt. make you file something?

[LawFowl]

This has happned to me on several occasions.

The other night I hook a guy for DWI. As I'm getting my affidavit approved I'm told that he has several suspensions on his DL (which I knew), and I needed to file DWLI. I didn't want to. The guy had 7 priors for DWLI on his CCH, what's another one going to do?

The other night a guy had a weed pipe on him and I had another good charge already (class A mids.). I submitted the pipe just because it was evidence and I didn't care to file other charges (and the jail hates when we instanter for class C and county charges at the same time). I was told that since it was submitted into evidence it needed to be filed as well (which isn't true). The guy was nice, 19 years old and I already had a good charge on him. I'm not the officer to just stack as many as I can on people. I'm all about giving people breaks, especially when they're cooperating, with no history like this kid.

Would you say something to your Sgt. or just go with the flow? I'm not one to buck the system, and I do what I'm told.

[Iowa #1603]

No one can really make you do anything.

Directions from your supervisor are pretty important in a para-military organization like a police/sheriff's department, so failing to follow orders/direction is at your peril.



As a supervisor, if I instruct an officer to write a charge and the officer does not----------------we will be having a discussion, but the bottom line is he/she is the witness, not me.


I can remember, as an officer, writing charges in a manner that would almost guarantee dismissal........after being told to file them.


I see no problem with talking to your Sgt about the situation in general---he/she might have a solid reason for insisting on the charges being filed that you are not aware of......................example orders from above to clamp down on certain things etc.

[DAL]

You should do what your sergeant tells you to do, so long as it is legal.

[just joe]

Are you new? Is the sgt new? It certainly wouldn't hurt to talk it out. Think of the lesser charges as throw-aways that give the prosecutor something to bargain with.

[oneoldcop]

Are you new? Is the sgt new? It certainly wouldn't hurt to talk it out. Think of the lesser charges as throw-aways that give the prosecutor something to bargain with.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^yep.

[deputymel]

a sgt can tell you to do anything as long as its legal. but remember.. karma a b**ch in life.. so if they ( sgt's ) r a**holes, someday when they least expect it.. it will eventually come back to them! and yes, they will be dumb enough not to remember why is this happening to me!!! i personally know a sgt who is a complete utter disgrace to his department. i don't know how he has kept his job this long ( sometimes i think the high ups like the issues in the department ) anyways.. this guy outside of work has the worse luck! divorse, car break down all the time for different reasons, remarried his 2nd wife wife cheated on him with his buddy, kids barely are involved with him, hum.. oh yeah... no personality and to me, ugly as hell! if i ever had to work for him, i dont know if i would be able to keep my job..

[pal2511]

Who cares if the Sgt. tells you to write another charge on the guy. You know the DA will just drop it or amend it to something else entirely. You think this guy who just got arrested will understand or really appreciate what you did for him. Most likely not. Don't start unneeded flak for yourself and pick your battles.

[Broke Hoss]

I would hope your SGT has a good enough relationship with all his troops that he could talk talk to them, and they to him. I think both need to know why they are making the decisions; this keeps you from thinking he's doing it "just because" and he doesn't misunderstand & see you as either "unwilling" or "not recognizing a charge".

In the end, I say you do what your SGT says.

I would suggest filing the DWLI as well, since it looks like it would be a Class B. This could avoid the "If he was DRIVING While Intoxicated, why wasn't he DRIVING While License Invalid?" by a defense attny. If was just his 1st one, Class C, I probably wouldn't bother.

With the pipe, I'm guessing you had POM on him since you called it evidence. I could go with or with out the Paraphernalia cite.

[SRT936]

Think of the lesser charges as throw-aways that give the prosecutor something to bargain with.

+1. I've been told by defense attorneys in the past that the only reason we went to trial was because there were no following charges to plea deal with.

At the end of the day, he who has the stripes makes the rules.

[LawFowl]

I would hope your SGT has a good enough relationship with all his troops that he could talk talk to them, and they to him. I think both need to know why they are making the decisions; this keeps you from thinking he's doing it "just because" and he doesn't misunderstand & see you as either "unwilling" or "not recognizing a charge".

In the end, I say you do what your SGT says.

I would suggest filing the DWLI as well, since it looks like it would be a Class B. This could avoid the "If he was DRIVING While Intoxicated, why wasn't he DRIVING While License Invalid?" by a defense attny. If was just his 1st one, Class C, I probably wouldn't bother.

With the pipe, I'm guessing you had POM on him since you called it evidence. I could go with or with out the Paraphernalia cite.

It was "Falsifying of Drug Test Results" Maybe it's a class B... Had a bag of **** he said he was gonna use to pass a drug test. I see your point though. The only thing I could think of is that it gives the DA something to bargain with. My Sgt. is cool and I respect him very much. He just tells me, "He has several suspensions on his DL"...He isn't rude, he just tells me that (and I assume he wants me to file it). I don't even respond to him, but I had already made my mind up that I was happy with a DWI (and I did a search warrant for blood). It just kind of bothers me because I stop people who are class B suspended all the time and don't arrest them. I get to use my discretion there, but once they come to jail the discretion is out of my hands?

Plus, I think DWLI is a stupid charge anyways for several reasons.

Are you new? Is the sgt new? It certainly wouldn't hurt to talk it out. Think of the lesser charges as throw-aways that give the prosecutor something to bargain with.

Neither of us are new. Well, I'm newer to the dept. but not new by any means.

[PtlCop]

Pardon my frankness, but if you're not new, shouldn't you know whether or not your Sgt. can require you to file charges?

Here at my agency its very simple, charges are up to the arresting officer, nobody else. The Sgt. or Lt. will, of course, step in and require you to do your job when there is a mandated arrest (OWI with a per se result, or DV) but other than that, they have no authority to make me arrest or charge somebody. Additionally, they cannot interfere with my paperwork after the fact, or require that I don't charge somebody.

I've only run into it one time where it was an issue, and the Sgt. is no longer with the agency. (this was my first agency, not my current one) I was investigating a crash, during which I found the driver of the at fault vehicle to be intoxicated. After the two in the other vehicle were being transported to the hospital, the Sgt. arrived, recognized the driver as the son of a Captain at a neighboring agency. He told me to take the handcuffs off him and drive him home. I refused, he "ordered" me to do it. I told him that if he insisted on interfering with my investigation, that I'd march down to the court house in the morning and file for a warrant, on him, for obstructing. He backed off only after that, and when he realized that my in-car camera and audio were still on...

When our Captain saw the video, he initiated an IA investigation, which resulted in the Sgt's demotion back to patrol, and then his resignation in disgrace.

It was beautiful. Never did like that guy.

[RaucousSilence]

Can Sgt. make you file something?

No, but he can make you wish you did.

[katseiye]

An observation might be made that the Sgt is responding to administrative pressure not always known, recognized or even cared about by some rank and file officers. It's up to the Sgt to make sure everyone is on the same page and informed of expectations from CID, Admin and the Prosecutor. That it his function. As someone else pointed out a non argumentative discussion of the reasons behind his decision might clear up the matter and avoid further internal conflict.

[SgtCHP]

Wow, four years on the job and you are questioning if a sergeant can direct you to perform your duty? One answer, if the sergeant's directions are within departmental policy, lawful and not malicious, I would suggest you comply. File the paperwork as directed. That gives the prosecution something to work with, it will call the court's attention to the repeated violations by the defendant and perhaps, cause the defendant to realize that things are not always going to go his way. Bottom line, choose your battles wisely and save yourself some grief in the future.

[retired]

Perhaps, just perhaps, the Sgt. has more experience than you and knows what he is talking about and is actually helping you. I personally wouldn't challenge the Sgt. or Lt. too much myself. You work for them. Good luck.