According to the Bradenton Herald;
The responding officer apparently drove at normal traffic speeds to the scene (no lights, siren or urgency) because, "it was to me an issue of getting more information to determine the severity of the incident." That seems to be her standard operating procedures when responding to emergency calls.The case of a man who was accidentally shot to death by his girlfriend in her Bradenton home has come to light more than five months later..
Despite the finding that the shooting was accidental and no charges were ever filed, a Bradenton police officer has been punished for among other reasons, not turning on her patrol car's lights and sirens or displaying any other urgency in responding to the scene.
On the afternoon of Feb. 21, the Bradenton Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the 1000 block of Sixth Street East in Bradenton. Malik Gore-Bell, 20, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the bedroom of his girlfriend's home.
The Bradenton Herald learned of Gore-Bell's death when reviewing an internal affairs investigation of allegations against Officer Schwartz.
Schwartz, had been assigned as the primary officer to the call by dispatch but never activated her lights or sirens nor did she speed to the scene, according to the internal affairs report.
Instead, Schwartz drove below the speed limit at times, stopped multiple times for traffic lights and stop signs and even pulled over as her own sergeant passed her by with his lights and sirens, according to the internal affairs report.
When questioned during the internal affairs investigation, Schwartz said she could not recall making that statement but said, "it sounds like something I would say," according to the transcript of her interview.
Again... let me reiterate....
Reports of mere civilians in danger apparently don't rise to the level of an emergency in Officer Schwartz's book. It seems that, in Bradenton, more than most locations, you really are your own first responder if she's on duty.Officer Amy Schwartz told internal affairs investigators she usually doesn't activate her lights and sirens unless "there's an officer down."
Instead, Schwartz drove below the speed limit at times, stopped multiple times for traffic lights and stop signs and even pulled over as her own sergeant passed her by with his lights and sirens, according to the internal affairs report.
When confronted by her sergeant at the crime scene, Schwartz said she never responds in emergency mode unless another officer is down or asks for help, according to the report.
This is the shit that utterly pisses me the fuck off! Here you have someone that is clearly a fuck up to the badge and still not doing the damn job. This shit gives good cops a bad name!Bradenton Herald;
Schwartz has not been terminated despite four violations of the department's general orders being sustained against her for which she could have been fired. Instead, Bradenton police suspended Schwartz for 100 hours without pay, referred her to counseling and ordered her to undergo on-going training at the direction of Chief of Police Melanie Bevan over the course of 18 months, according to a June 14 dated memo addressed to the 15-year veteran officer.
Schwartz has since returned to work.
Because of her prior discipline, which included three suspensions in the previous year, Schwartz has been labeled a "chronic offender," according to the report.