Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Accountability topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cochise County sheriff says deputy disciplined after high-speed response with lights off
Summary
Sheriff Mark Dannels said an internal investigation found a deputy responding to a burglary drove at roughly 90 mph with lights and sirens off and was not wearing a seatbelt; the sheriff said the conduct was sustained and the deputy was formally disciplined.
Sheriff Mark Dannels told listeners that an internal probe into a midnight response to a reported burglary concluded the deputy drove at high speed without lights and sirens and without a seatbelt, and that the department had taken formal disciplinary action.
"He was dispatched to a burglary in progress where the first officer on scene saw three suspects ... they were wearing masks, they ran from the officer," Dannels said, describing the call that prompted the pursuit. He said the back-up deputy turned on lights and sirens then later turned them off while traveling at what Dannels called "90 mph, 91 whatever it was," and was not belted.
Dannels said the department conducted an internal investigation and "concluded things were sustained," and that the deputy received formal discipline. "At the end of the day, we're going to hold [people] accountable," he said.
Nut graf: The sheriff framed the disciplinary action as accountability for unsafe driving during an emergency response and emphasized the department's duty to balance rapid response with safety. He also characterized the deputy as a young, former Marine with under two years of service and said the department aims to retain him after discipline.
In addition to the sustained findings about speed and seatbelt use, Dannels said investigators reviewed all other actions from the incident and limited details of personnel discipline were withheld on privacy grounds. He said the lapse does not change the department's expectation that deputies "follow the rules" and that leadership will continue to emphasize safety in training and supervision.
Dannels placed the episode in the context of broader departmental operations, thanking deputies and stressing that mistakes happen but will be addressed through supervision and discipline. He did not provide the deputy's name or exact discipline measures, saying those specifics are "nobody's business" on the air.
The program did not include independent documents or outside investigators' reports; the account is the sheriff's summary of the internal review and subsequent personnel action. The sheriff also discussed unrelated public-safety programs on the same broadcast, including CARE team funding and school safety technology.
