Three police officers accused of writing problematic tickets have sued the city of Dallas, saying an investigation into their activities is illegal.
The three officers – Senior Cpls. Jeffrey Nelson, Al Schoelen and Timothy Stecker – sought a restraining order to prevent the Dallas Police Department from holding a disciplinary hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday.
They also are asking that the judge order the Police Department to end its investigation and order that no new investigations be started based upon evidence gathered for the current investigation.
The officers, who are on restricted duty, also are asking that they be returned to regular duty in their original jobs.
The two sides agreed to delay further action until a court hearing scheduled for Jan. 8, when a judge is expected rule on whether to grant a temporary restraining order in the case.
Dallas police investigators have concluded that Cpls. Nelson and Schoelen put "inaccurate, false or improper information" on tickets and engaged in an unacceptable pattern of enforcement activity when citing people.
Investigators also concluded that Cpls. Nelson and Stecker made homeless people, prostitutes and others sign blank citations so that the officers could fill out the tickets later with whatever offenses they chose.
The officers contend that the investigation started with an anonymous complaint. State law says peace officers can't be investigated based on anonymous complaints.
"There's no question that this started with an anonymous complaint," said their attorney, David Schiller. "This investigation, in its entirety, has been conducted unlawfully."
City officials disagree.
"We believe that the facts as stated in the petition are incorrect," said Janice Moss, an assistant city attorney. "And therefore we will be filing an answer with a different version of the facts. We think that they are not entitled to a temporary restraining order."
The lawsuit centers on a November 2006 anonymous complaint sent to Police Chief David Kunkle, which alleged that Cpl. Schoelen was abusing his power as a police officer by mistreating women while on patrol.
A watch commander at the Central patrol station conducted an inquiry into the complaint. That inquiry concluded in early February that "no concrete evidence could be found to sustain any of the allegations in the letter," and the commander said the investigation was closed because there was no signed complaint.
Later that month, a Dallas police officer who had been interviewed as part of that inquiry filed a separate written complaint alleging that Cpls. Nelson, Schoelen and Stecker had engaged in a pattern of police abuse.
The lawsuit filed by the three officers contends that investigations that followed that signed complaint were essentially a continuation of the original anonymous complaint.
The lawsuit also contends that even though the original anonymous complaint named only Cpl. Schoelen, Cpls. Nelson and Stecker were drawn into the original investigation and therefore should not be the subject of any ongoing inquiry.
The contention in the lawsuit is similar to one made by Deputy Chief Zackary Belton, whose activities were investigated in 2004 after someone anonymously complained on a fraud hotline that he had been using his work computer for personal business.
Chief Belton sued the city, saying the law protected him from anonymous complaints. A judge sided with Chief Belton, and the city was required to drop the matter.
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