Lou Cannon of of the Fraternal Order of Police for the District of Columbia said there are questions about whether Rep. Patrick Kennedy received special treatment. (ABC News)
Posted on 05/06/2006 1:43:39 PM PDT by SkyPilot
Investigation Continues as Congressman Enters Mayo Clinic
May 5, 2006 — Capitol Police have taken disciplinary action against a watch commander for the handling of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's car accident, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin said.
Lou Cannon of of the Fraternal Order of Police for the District of Columbia said there are questions about whether Rep. Patrick Kennedy received special treatment. (ABC News)
McGaffin said the incident was improperly delayed due to "poor judgment" on the part of police managers and that a field sobriety test should have been administered to Kennedy after his car hit a barrier near the Capitol at 2:45 a.m. on Thursday.
The police report said Kennedy was speeding and his eyes were "red and watery." It also stated that his speech was slightly slurred and that upon exiting his vehicle his balance was "unsure."
Kennedy announced earlier today that he would enter the Mayo Clinic for treatment for addiction to prescription pain medication.
There are questions about why Kennedy was not given a sobriety test immediately after the accident.
"I would say within law enforcement that there is probably … concern that consideration was given a member of Congress that would not be afforded a normal citizen on the street," said Lou Cannon, president of the Fraternal Order of Police for the District of Columbia.
McGaffin would not elaborate on the disciplinary actions, but he did say "significant administrative and personnel corrective action has been taken." Other officers may be disciplined. No one has been fired at this point.
The report indicates alcohol may have played a role in the crash, but officers from the Capitol Police on the scene were apparently told by their supervisors to simply drive Kennedy home. Kennedy has said that he did not ask for special treatment.
A police officer in Los Angeles said it appears that standard procedures, which would include a field sobriety test if the driver was found to have bloodshot eyes or slurred speech, were not followed.
LAPD Detective Felix Padilla said if an officer suspects driving under the influence he has an "obligation to do that."
"We have a duty to the public to protect the public, and to ignore that would be neglect on our part," he said.
Kennedy has said he was not drinking but had taken the sleeping pill Ambien and another drug that can cause drowsiness. Experts say Ambien has been linked to so-called sleep driving — where users are not even aware they are behind the wheel.
Kennedy has long struggled with depression and drug addiction and now the congressman admitted that he once again needs help.
I hope they fire those cops. Ridiculous.
What is it? A week of paid leave and a "stern talkin' to"?
For a cover-up at this level, prison is called for.
A week spent on the Kennedy yacht...
What about the Congressional Investigation of this pos?
I just hope he is smart enough to insist on driving himself.
SCOTT FREE!
Welcome to the democRat social club.
Too late - Kennedy will never be charged now. They let him off, he cooked up a story about addiction to prescription drugs, and another Kennedy escapes justice - again.
Agreed,....no way now to prove he had been drinking..other than his bar tab...but, then he could say he was buying drinks for othe patrons...
Fox is reporting that a woman was with him that night who tried to get him to not leave the house -- and that she can back up his story that he was not drinking.
Um, where was she Thursday?
You must have beat me by seconds in posting this. As I said on the thread that I posted...It is sad that these guys get off on internal discipline. Only The police and government types get away with that. The rest of us would be charged with a crime and have to go to court. This guy should too.
Paid vacation no doubt. WOW....that will show him!
Are these "experts" Democrats by any chance?
Fox is calling her "The Mystery Woman."
This smells to high heaven. AGAIN.
And Fox is saying he has admitted to binge drinking.
I've lost count of how many things he has admitted to in the last three days.
His story keeps evoloving.
Fox is reporting that Kennedy had a mystery woman in his car....
All the experts I've seen say the only way that happens is when you mix alcohol with it.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Detectives probing U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s early-morning car wreck interviewed workers at the Hawk ’n’ Dove bar yesterday while rank-and-file Capitol police are pushing prosecutors to throw the book at the well-connected pol. “Mr. Kennedy, by his own admission, was operating under the influence of narcotics, which is a violation,” said Lou Cannon, president of the Capitol police union.
Cannon said detectives probing the Rhode Island Democrat’s 2:45 a.m. wreck visited several watering holes along Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday, asking bartenders and waitstaff if they saw Kennedy in the hours before the congressman crashed his Mustang convertible into a security barricade.
Kennedy checked himself into a Minnesota rehab center last night. Among the bars detectives were focused on was the Hawk ’n’ Dove, a popular tavern that Kennedy is known to frequent, Cannon said.
The Herald reported yesterday that a hostess at the Hawk ’n’ Dove said she saw Kennedy drinking in the bar Wednesday night. Employees at the pub declined comment yesterday. Cannon said despite Kennedy’s decision to seek treatment for his booze and drug problem, detectives are continuing to build a case for prosecutors
Bingo! We have a winner!
So....he went home..took his meds...went to bed....got up asleep and dressed....picked up the mystery woman/or woke her up too....and then headed to Cap Hill to vote where he wrecked his mustang....
Something he always does prior to heading up to Capitol hill for a vote.
It sounds like they are saying she was in the house.
Of course, my immediate reaction was that he's saying a woman was there to prove his a "man's man"............LOL!
Also, look at this I posted on another thread:
---
Let's see here:
Example 1:
-Saturday @ 6:30 p.m.: Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter Harry Whittington while aiming for a bird. Secret Service agents and medical personnel with Cheney tend to wounds on Whittington's face, neck and chest.
-Sunday @ 1:15 p.m.: Local paper gets news of Cheney hunting accident.
-Sunday @ 3:15 p.m. - The Associated Press, following up on the local story, moves a news alert about the shooting.
-Followed by outrage by the MSM because they weren't immediately notified.
Example 2:
-Tuesday morning @ 2:45 a.m. - Patrick Kennedy crashes into Capitol security gate, is visibly staggering and cited for three traffic offenses.
-Tuesday @ 4:16 p.m. - Roll Call posts story about Kennedy car crash:
(Officers Claim Brass Interfered in Investigation of Rep. Kennedy Incident, Thursday, May 4; 4:16 pm, By John McArdle, Roll Call Staff)
- ????
What's missing here?
I submit it's the outrage from the MSM that David Gregory wasn't called at 3:00 a.m.
It appears the cops are embarassed now, and their superiors are in no mood for games.
I heard a rumor that because of this incidence, and the foot dragging to get superviors to agree to arrest Congresswoman McKinney, there was a threat of a full force revolt by the rank and file.
I hope it is true.
A"Severe Knuckle-Rapping"!
I submit it's the outrage from the MSM that David Gregory wasn't called at 3:00 a.m.
Maybe David is the mystery woman?
I hate thinking like that, I really do.
But....I've seen this show before; too many woman involved with the Kennedys take the money and shut up.
Oh, wouldn't THAT be fun!
That is a cooked up alibi, and everyone knows it. She is telling reporters she was with him, and will sign an affidavit saying "he wasn't drinking that night."
The Kennedy liars (lawyers) and spin artists have finally decided upon a strategy.
1. Get him into rehab ASAP to deflect attention from the DUI and to elicit sympathy from any judge this may come before.
2. Destroy any evidence out there they can (credit card statements at the bars, etc).
3. Cook up an alibi to support their lies.
Kennedy has said that he did not ask for special treatment.
B/S what was the statement I am on the way to vote for? There are only three things he could be arrested for if indeed he were on the way to vote and DUI is not one of them.
She would have come out sooner - but she was waiting for the check to clear.
As for the cops who say he was drunk, well, if they don't shut up, some Kennedy family operative will "find" pictures of them having sex with underage boys.
Ya think? If they don't have to pay the taxes they impose upon the rest of us I don't see why they'd have to be subject to DWI laws, too.
4. Pay off and/or threaten any witnesses who may come foward with the truth.
Democrats don't like people who talk.
I am sure by now that the two employees at the bar were mistaken......they were unavailable for comment, both are on vacation to Bermuda...
I am afraid you may be right Howlin.
Also, I have seen the rumors that Patrick is gay on the other threads, but we have no evidence of it and I don't want to fuel those.
The only inclination I have that it may be true is that he is almost 39 years old and single.
Long overdue.
Every now and then, we catch a glimpse of the other one, the one where responsibility is a joke, and consequences don't exist for certain behaviors that would be disastrous for persons in the "other America".
America has a ruling class. We don't like to admit it, but we have aristocracy in this country just like all the other ones do, because we fail to hold politicians accountable through the use of term limits and other measures that would keep them in line.
We will soon forget this incident, just like all the others, including PK's murdering father, because they keep us busy dealing with our own issues like filling our gas tanks.
You saw it all in full focus this week; Patrick Kennedy tells a bold-faced lie, CNN was ready and willing to back him up with a supporting story, as was the print media, now we have a girl hired to say she was with Kennedy, and the bar tab from the place Kennedy was drinking as disappeared, as well as the memories of the people who saw him there.
All it took was a few dollars to the right people, and the story goes away. This is America. Still the greatest, but sometimes, not so great.
Photo below courtesy of Martin Fierro.
"Lie after lie, after lie, after lie, after lie, after lie......."
I knew they would trash the Capitol Police.
Don't get me wrong; these guys SHOULD be reprimanded.
But before this is over, those fools on the Hill are going to 'realign' the CPO so they won't "bother" them anymore.
You're exactly right; I did exactly what makes me sick about the liberals.
I should not have alluded to his sexual orientation; my only excuse is that I was making a lame joke.
>>Too late - Kennedy will never be charged now. They let him off, he cooked up a story about addiction to prescription drugs, and another Kennedy escapes justice - again.<<
There are successful prosecutions without chemical evidence - particularly when you go on TV and admit you were on drugs and then witnesses turn up that you were drinking.
"There are two Americas! One for rich Democrats, and one for the rest of y'all."
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