West Palm Beach Police Department Policy I-9: Disciplinary Procedures

West Palm Beach Police Department Disciplinary Procedures

• The West Palm Beach Police Department has a uniform system for rewarding, counseling, administering discipline, and providing remedial training to agency members.

Definitions

• Administrative Reassignment: a temporary duty reassignment with pay while an administrative and/or criminal investigation is being conducted into an incident involving the member.
• Discipline: action taken to correct undesirable behavior that is contrary to Departmental rules, regulations, directives, and policies.
• Disciplinary Variance: considers the severity of misconduct, time between violations, length and quality of service, willingness to improve, ability to improve, attitude of the member, intent of the misconduct, and gain the member receives as a result of the misconduct.

Level of Authority for Discipline

• Remedial Training: recommended for violations caused primarily by the member being inadequately prepared for their responsibilities.
• Written Reprimand: a non-punitive measure recommended by a member of superior rank and authority for infractions of rules, regulations, directives, or standard operating procedures.
• Suspension: a punitive action that may be imposed by the Chief of Police or designee, in accordance with the current applicable collective bargaining agreement, City policy, and Department policy.
• Reduction in Pay: a punitive action that may be approved by the Chief of Police or designee, in accordance with the current applicable collective bargaining agreement, City policy, and Department policy.

Reporting Violations

• If the offending member is in the complaining member's chain of command, the complainant submits the specific details of the violation in memorandum form to the offending member's supervisor through the chain of command, bypassing the level of the offending member.
• If the offending member is a member of a different section, the member who observes the violation notifies their immediate supervisor in writing, and the memorandum is forwarded through the chain of command to the offending member's supervisor.

Disciplinary Actions

• In cases of serious or emergency nature, the member's immediate supervisor may take disciplinary action authorized for their level of authority or relieve a member from duty on an emergency basis.
• The affected member's immediate supervisor should be present as a witness when the forms are served, and the member may elect to have a union representative at the meeting.

Notice of Disciplinary Action and Appeals Process

• Grievance and arbitration of any disciplinary action will be in compliance with the current applicable collective bargaining agreement.
• All classified non-probationary members are entitled to a pre-disciplinary hearing, which is not a question-and-answer session, as the investigation into the matter has been completed.

Administrative Reassignment

• While on administrative reassignment, the member is assigned to a duty shift of normal business hours, Monday through Friday, and reports to the Professional Standards Commander.
• The member must make telephone contact with the Professional Standards Commander or designee each weekday at 0800 hours, excluding holidays.
• The member must remain available at their residence from 0800 hours to 1700 hours, excluding an assigned 1200 hours to 1300 hours lunch period.
• The member may attend to personal appointments during these hours with the use of appropriate accrued leave, with approval by the designated contact person.
• The member must be available to respond to the Police Administration Building immediately on request during the assigned duty hours.