Fired for Threeway?

[Archangel M]

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=80616

Two Washington County Sheriff’s deputies caught drinking and having sex at a U.S. Forest campground are now off the county’s payroll.

Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Tuesday he dismissed Deputies Chris Adkins and Scarlett Dennison from their positions as patrol officers for the sheriff’s office because their conduct was unbecoming of officers, which violated the department’s general orders.

Adkins, 30, and Dennison, 42, paid around $250 each for the citations they received earlier this month from a U.S. Forest Service officer.

The event that led to the firings happened on a Friday night when the deputies were off duty. The U.S. Forest Service office and a Carter County deputy, working off-duty with the forest service at the time, came upon Adkins, Dennison and a third person, Jamie Walsh, 32, of Butler, around 11 p.m. July 30 at Cardens Bluff Campground.

I'm sort of in a conundrum on this one. Sure, what they did is sort of a PR problem for the department. But is what they were doing in the middle of the night, off-duty (and caught by off-duty's), in a forest really a "fireable" offense?

And the forest rangers were standing around watching for a while and only did anything when another camper approached and they stopped? That seems interesting.

I wonder what this "campground" was like. Was it in the middle of the woods or was it one of those park your car and camp with all sorts of other people around affairs?

And what makes this a "post their faces" major news story? Their jobs? Would three accountants have gotten the same treatment? Were these officers "problem children"?

Interesting and sordid incident.

 

[seasoned]

The nature of their job calls for very high moral standers. They should have stuck with the donut shop.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Police officers are not supposed to be breaking the law. They were charged with crimes, it appears. In addition, most PD's have a CUBO provision or a 'moral turpitude' provision. They would have known that.

On the other hand...

 

[crushing]

Three-way?

The three were charged with possessing alcohol in a prohibited area, public nudity and public intoxication. Adkins had an additional charge of child endangerment because his 2-year-old son was asleep in a tent at the campsite.

Doesn't look like three-way was the reason. Accountants and others probably would have got this plus have to register as sex offenders.

 

[Archangel M]

All true. But why termination vs suspension or other sort of administrative punishment?

Im not really arguing the depts authority to do so. Just interested in opinions on this one.

 

[seasoned]

Police officers are not supposed to be breaking the law. They were charged with crimes, it appears. In addition, most PD's have a CUBO provision or a 'moral turpitude' provision. They would have known that.

On the other hand...

Toooo much. :rofl:

 

[Archangel M]

My kids sleep in the house when my wife and I...well...have some more "conventional" recreation than this.

Endangerment?

 

[CoryKS]

The event that led to the firings happened on a Friday night when the deputies were off duty. The U.S. Forest Service office and a Carter County deputy, working off-duty with the forest service at the time, came upon Adkins, Dennison and a third person, Jamie Walsh, 32, of Butler, around 11 p.m. July 30 at Cardens Bluff Campground.

Sounds like a foursome to me.

 

[Archangel M]

LOL. Caught em "single handedly".

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Toooo much. :rofl:

If you've never seen the movie 'Super Troopers', it's a classic.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Sounds like a foursome to me.

In the Marine Corps, they were known as a cluster #*@&.

 

[Archangel M]

Let's get back on topic meow!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

LOL. Caught em "single handedly".

Anybody else notice was reported in "Johnson City?" It almost had to happen.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

No one has been able to say how long U.S. Forest Service Officer Scott Cairnes and Deputy Derek Hamm stood watching the trio, but in Cairnes’ report he wrote that he saw Dennison and Adkins engage in three sex acts and then Adkins and Walsh began to fondle Dennison.

So, either these guys are quick on the draw and reload, or else the Forest Service was there a loooong time.

 

[Archangel M]

was that divided by 3...or would there be a specific equation?

 

[Empty Hands]

I've never liked these morality clauses as a condition for employment. Not for teachers, and not for cops either. It shouldn't be your employer's business what you do in your spare time, even if that employer is the public.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I've never liked these morality clauses as a condition for employment. Not for teachers, and not for cops either. It shouldn't be your employer's business what you do in your spare time, even if that employer is the public.

It's the way of things. I don't mind that they exist, and signing is of course voluntary (don't want to sign, don't work there). I wish we had them for elected officials.

 

[Empty Hands]

It's the way of things. I don't mind that they exist, and signing is of course voluntary (don't want to sign, don't work there). I wish we had them for elected officials.

I understand that, and of course they are voluntary. Assuming that every employer won't eventually demand one. I just don't agree with it. In my experience, public adherence to an arbitrary set of social norms we call "morality" is a very poor predictor of job performance. Now, if you want to go to the realm of true harm and true crime where people actually get hurt, then I agree. I just don't think that sleeping with other consenting adults (or drinking or going to strip clubs or whatever) in a non-socially acceptable manner means anything for how you perform your job.

 

[jks9199]

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=80616



I'm sort of in a conundrum on this one. Sure, what they did is sort of a PR problem for the department. But is what they were doing in the middle of the night, off-duty (and caught by off-duty's), in a forest really a "fireable" offense?

And the forest rangers were standing around watching for a while and only did anything when another camper approached and they stopped? That seems interesting.

I wonder what this "campground" was like. Was it in the middle of the woods or was it one of those park your car and camp with all sorts of other people around affairs?

And what makes this a "post their faces" major news story? Their jobs? Would three accountants have gotten the same treatment? Were these officers "problem children"?

Interesting and sordid incident.

The "off duty" who caught them was working a paid/contracted off duty detail, it sounds like. That said... I've got a serious question here, based on this:

According to the federal citations charging the three, the forest ranger saw the three at a camp site drinking alcohol in the open and then engaging in sex.
No one has been able to say how long U.S. Forest Service Officer Scott Cairnes and Deputy Derek Hamm stood watching the trio, but in Cairnes’ report he wrote that he saw Dennison and Adkins engage in three sex acts and then Adkins and Walsh began to fondle Dennison.
Cairnes and Hamm made their presence known after the campers were startled by a camper at another site closing a truck door and the three stopped what they were doing.

How long were they watching? They saw the trio engage in "three sex acts" -- depending on what that means, we're talking watching for more than just a few minutes. They only took action when someone disturbed them...

OK, I'm going to figure it's an open secret that cops working midnights, especially with secluded areas to patrol, come across people doing things that one might ordinarily feel should be confined to the privacy of one's bedroom. I'll even grant that not every cop that comes across this sort of thing necessarily interrupts right away. Why, some may even wait for a telling moment to approach... But you make yourself look kind of bad when you then tag the couple/trio/whatever for it after waiting.

According to the article, they were charged with "possessing alcohol in a prohibited area, public nudity, and public intoxication." One was also charged with child endangerment because his 2 year old was in a nearby tent, alone. I suspect the real problem here was the intoxication... I'm wouldn't be at all surprised if the conduct of the fired deputies created a situation forcing the working LEOs hands. (Of course, their reaction when suddenly confronted, while in a state of undress, might be somewhat justified...)

This is a classic conduct unbecoming charge -- though it wouldn't regularly lead to termination without there being more to the story. And, no it probably wouldn't be news if it was accountants or janitors. I don't know what their job history is like, nor do I know what anything else covered in any internal investigation might have included (were they cheating on spouses, for example?). LEOs are held to a higher standard -- but, from what I've seen, this would be more likely to lead to things like days off, or demotions... unless there were other factors that made it more problematic. I don't know if sheriff is an elected office there, though, and that definitely could effect the actions taken.

 

[Archangel M]

Im with your step for step there JKS. I really wonder just how "public" this area was? That really changes the equation. If this was a "KOA" sort of camp that would be different than if it was somewhere in the deep woods IMO.