Jessica Cole Photo
Supporters gathered around Evarts, center, before the beginning of the commission hearing.
Forty of police officer James Evarts’ fellow cops greeted him with applause as he entered headquarters. Two and a half hours of closed-door proceedings later, the Police Commission gave him a different message: a six-month suspension.
Evarts has served as a cop for more than 11 years. Police Chief Frank Limon asked the commission to fire Evarts because after the officer called in sick one day in July and then, hours later, was pulled over and charged with driving drunk and carrying his service weapon at the time. (He has since agreed to attend an alcohol awareness program in order to dispose of his charges.)
After the commission’s decision Thursday night, Chief Limon expressed disappointment.
“I hope that [the officers] understand that the public holds [them] to a higher standard,” he said.
The crowd of officers who hung out all night also expressed disappointment. They said he didn’t deserve the punishment and had been held to a higher standard than other cops who have gotten in trouble over the years.
Though the commission meeting was closed, officers in the hall murmured their support to Evarts whenever the chance arose. One touched his shoulder as he walked by and said, “Hang in there, buddy.” Another nodded in his direction, “Good luck, Jimmy.” All expressed their admiration for the man whom Paul Kenney, last week’s Cop of the Week, called “a true professional [who] doesn’t take his job lightly.”
“It’s a pleasure to work with a guy like that,” Kenney continued. Kenney has known Evarts throughout his career; the two have worked together on major investigations.
Most of the cops in attendance agreed that Evarts deserved discipline. But for an officer with such a long history in the force, they argued, a one-time offense like this one could have been handled internally.
Officer Kenney.
Sgt. Miller.
“Going to the chief is one thing,” Kenney said. “Going to the commission is another.”
Sgt. Richard Miller concurred: “I think it’s extreme to come after him like this. It doesn’t really make sense…it could have been handled at the chief’s level.”
The police union lawyer, Richard Gudis, (pictured whispering into his client’s ear) agreed. When the six month suspension was announced, he told the crowd that he would immediately file a grievance and an appeal arguing that Evarts had received discipline without cause.
Sgt. Chris Rubino, an 18-year veteran who can rattle off a long list of police chiefs with whom he has worked, says that he understands Chief Limon’s decision to discipline Evarts. He added, however, that for a force that hasn’t yet formed a full opinion of the new chief, a harsh sentence could threaten internal relations. The police union recently considered, then shelved, a plan to take a no-confidence vote.
“Stuff like this [forms our opinions]: how he supports us, how he supports the officers,” Rubino said. “At the core is whether or not we have the chief’s support.”
Had the chief been successful in his quest to fire Evarts rather than simply suspend him (which is what the commission ultimately decided to do), it would have gone “a long way to put some animosity toward the new chief. This is the wrong time, wrong place, wrong person,” Rubino said.
For Chief Limon, Thursday’s commission meeting represented another step in his mission to lead the police department — and the city — to higher standards. He stated that he reviews every infraction of the rules on a case-by-case basis and considered Evarts’ violations “very serious.”
“I expect officers to be reminded that they’re held to a higher standard … and if they don’t violate any criminal laws, they have nothing to worry about,” Limon said. Limon emphasized that this case was an individual one and that the sentence was harsher than hoped for by Evarts’ supporters but more lenient than he had recommended. In the future, he said, he will continue to “be fair and review based on the basic facts,” of a complaint.
Reiterating that he just wants his officers to “do the right thing,” Chief Limon looked out at the mass of uniformed men and women walking slowly towards the elevators.
“All I ask,” he said, “is that the officers respect the rules.”