Any permanent member or officer of the Police Department shall be subject to the appropriate disciplinary action as set forth in the rules and regulations of the Department according to the nature of the offense. Pursuant to §
42-5, the Chief of Police will have the authority to institute and conduct all disciplinary actions in accordance with the department rules and regulations and manual, except as limited in this chapter.
All disciplinary actions specified in §
42-12 will be conducted according to the following procedure:
A. The charge or charges against the officer or permanent
member will be set forth in a written complaint and placed in his
personnel file, a copy of which will be served on the officer.
B. For suspension without pay of five days or less, the officer or member may request a hearing before the Mayor and Council as prescribed in Subsection
C below. If such request is not made within 48 hours of the suspension, then the officer will have waived any right to a hearing.
C. For dismissals or suspensions of more than five days
without pay, the officer or member will be served personally with
a copy of the complaint with a notice of a designated hearing date
before the Mayor and Council, which shall not be fewer than 10 nor
more than 30 days from the date of service of the complaint.
D. The hearing will be held by the Mayor and Council
on the designated date unless the member or officer agrees to or requests
an extension or adjournment, in which case the hearing will be conducted
as adjourned.
The Chief of Police will have the authority
to suspend a member or officer charged pursuant to this Article for
a period of not more than 30 days pending a hearing. If the hearing
date is adjourned at the request of the member or officer, then the
suspension may continue until the hearing date without dismissal of
the charges.