D.C. Police Chief Faces Questions About Officer Integrity At Public Safety Committee’s Hearing

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier asked the City Council on Friday for help ridding her department of officers convicted of crimes, saying that too often, she’s been ordered to rehire officers fired for serious misconduct because of procedural errors in the termination process.

The chief blamed independent arbitrators, who hear appeals that fired officers file with the D.C. Public Employee Relations Board. Lanier asked members of the council’s public safety committee to revise the law and strip those arbitrators of the authority to overrule her decisions when problems are solely technical, such as a missed filing deadline.

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