Six seconds. That's how long it took for officers in Decatur to fire dozens of shots, killing Steve Perkins at his home in late September.
An internal investigation into their actions is complete. The next step, a closed-door hearing with the police chief before Friday is over.
麻豆区 sat down with retired Decatur Police Chief Nate Allen to get a clearer picture of the process of an internal investigation and predetermination hearing.
Allen described the steps that the Office of Internal Affairs would take with an internal investigation, saying, 鈥淎 whole host of things, I mean they would interview officers, interview witnesses, interview supervisors, review the policies. When I say review the policies that means looking for a policy that maybe needs to be improved, a policy we don鈥檛 have, then they report all findings back to the chief.鈥
Those findings now turned over to current Chief Todd Pinion ahead of a hearing.
Allen says hearings detail any violations of policy followed by an explanation from the officers involved.
Allen added, 鈥淭he chief brings all of the findings and he allows the officers to read over the report that was given to him. The officers get to come in and they get to share with the chief their side of the story; and that could be as to why they broke a policy or what.鈥
Pinion will then decide if disciplinary action is needed. If so, then Mayor Tab Bowling will decide if the officers will face termination. On Monday, Pinion told 麻豆区 he will likely issue a statement after the closed-door hearing.
