By John Dobberstein, Editor
The Broken Arrow Police Department said Monday that three officers have been terminated after the conclusion of an internal investigation into reported misconduct.
The department said the investigation involved potential violations of BAPD policies and procedures. In addition to the three officers who were fired, a fourth opted to retire and no disciplinary action was imposed, a police spokesperson said.
Police said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has taken over the probe, but would not elaborate on the allegations and did not identify the officers involved.
The department said that during a May 27 call for service, BAPD patrol officers discovered “alleged misconduct by fellow officers” that occurred on May 23. The alleged misconduct was related to the call for service, as well as the patrol officers’ investigation.
The patrol officers alerted BAPD supervisors, which resulted in an expedited review of the incident from Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill’s office.
After the review, four officers were put on administrative leave pending internal investigation. BAPD contacted OSBI and requested an independent investigation of the four officers’ actions. OSBI was to submit its findings to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office for review.
The department has not commented on what policy violations occurred that led to the firing. Two independent sources told the Sentinel the case involved the theft of ammunition from a residence where an eviction had taken place.
It has been a tough year for the department. It has not been an easy stretch for the BAPD over the last several months. Earlier this year, officer William Golden, who was criminally charged by the district attorney after video surfaced of him tasing and pepper spraying a dog on his property, resigned from the department.
In July, Sgt. Michael Ferguson was terminated from his employment Tuesday after “a thorough and complete investigation” by the department’s internal affairs officers and a review of the findings by City Manager Michael Spurgeon’s office.
Broken Arrow police responded to the 1200 block of West Quincy Street on May 29 for a parking violation that had turned into a disturbance. A man who lived in a home claimed a landscape trailer was blocking his driveway, although the video showed it was not.
An officer at the scene told the man he was “detained” because a traffic violation was being investigated and police entered the man’s home to arrest him. The video can be viewed in its entirety here.
Victor Chris Schkade says
Thank you for providing more details on Officer Ferguson answering the traffic troublemakers call & then getting fired for detaining him after review by the Chief & City Manager. Already local TV had reported on neighbors many complaints about this same troublemaker blocking their street. And my calls & callback requests to BA Police & City Manager office yielded zero callbacks! Thereafter came the multiple TV news stories on the boy Clayton being held against his will away from all his relatives enforced repeatedly by our BA police chief forcing Clayton back into DHS foster abuse. I called BA Police chief’s secretary, then the Police Public Information Officer and then my city council woman Dist. 1 who is mayor. Callbacks ZERO! Today my wife asked me why 3 BA officers were fired? Naively I recalled BA Police & City Hall for answers and expect nothing. However alternative media, the Sentinel is where I found some answers above. These 3 efforts to be an active citizen met with Zero BA official callbacks! I wonder: Does BA City government need regime change?
Rita S S says
Has anyone asked why the police chief is retiring?
Rita S S says
Mr. Dobberstein, did you read what you wrote? “The Department said that the investigation involved POTENTIAL violations”. The key word here is POTENTIAL! If you had all of the facts, you would know that this is all a huge misunderstanding and that NO theft occurred. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet but when she does, a lot of people are going to have egg on their face.