Because you'd never want to punish someone for the sake of punishing them

This wikilog article is a draft, it was not published yet.

by: Ryan • June 7, 2014 • no comments

After the Portland Police Review Board recommended firing Todd Wyatt of the Portland Police Bureau, Chief Mike Reese merely demoted him from captain to lieutenant. But an arbitrator decided even that was too harsh. From the Oregonian story:

Arbitrator Anthony D. Vivenzio, of Friday Harbor, Wa., wrote in a 62-page ruling that the evidence and testimony before him during three days of hearings in mid-January established that Wyatt escalated the road rage encounter, and did engage in inappropriate touching. He agreed with the city that Wyatt violated the bureau's directives on professional conduct, use of force, and engaged in unsatisfactory performance and harassment.

He also agreed with bureau findings that Wyatt displayed poor judgment, outbursts of defensiveness and unprofessional conduct in his interviews with internal affairs investigators.

Yet Vivenzio found Wyatt's behavior warranted serious discipline but not demotion. He said the demotion amounted to an "indeterminate sentence, with no term set and lacked "just cause. He likened a demotion to "mere punishment, not discipline intended to seek the improvement and development of an employee.

Emphasis mine.