Chief: Wheaton cop who drove into house will be 'held accountable'

A Wheaton police officer who crashed her squad car into a house this week will be held accountable, Chief Mark Field said on Friday.

But what type of punishment the officer could receive - and whether the details are made public - will depend on the outcome of an internal probe by the department.

"The bottom line is: Is this officer going to held accountable?" Field said. "Yes. But I am not going to go into hypotheticals."

Field said he won't decide what action to take until the investigation is completed into what caused the veteran officer to leave the roadway about 4 a.m. Thursday and smash through the front door of a house on the 100 block of Brighton Drive. No one was injured in the crash.

Authorities have said they believe the officer might have fallen asleep while working a patrol shift that begins at 10:40 p.m. and ends at 7 a.m. There are no indications drugs or alcohol were involved.

The investigation will first determine whether the officer should be issued a traffic citation.

"Tickets are discretionary," Field said. "If we believe that there are elements of the offense here, can we write her a ticket? Yes. Or can we handle it administratively through discipline?"

If Wheaton decides to issue a traffic citation, it wouldn't be unusual.

Naperville Police Chief David Dial said officers can be ticketed just like any other motorist.

"We issue citations at the scene of a traffic accident to the driver of the vehicle who is responsible for the crash," Dial said. "And if a driver happens to be a police officer, then the police officer gets a ticket."

Should Wheaton decide to handle the issue administratively, Field said the officer's immediate supervisor will review what happened and make a recommendation on what punishment, if any, should be given.

"You have to look at the totality of circumstances," Field said. "Each case has to be taken on its individual merits and look at all the totality of those circumstances surrounding it to determine whether or not it was preventable or non-preventable."

Field said he has never handled a situation in which an officer got into an accident after falling asleep. He said he won't know how he's going to react in this case until he reviews it.

"I want to see the facts," he said." I want to see the evidence. And then I want to make a conclusion based on that."

Under state law, Field has the power to suspend an officer without pay for five days or less. Before a greater punishment, including termination, could be handed out, the matter must be reviewed by the Wheaton Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

Unless the officer is ticketed or disciplined by the police and fire board, Field said the punishment the officer receives won't be made public.

The officer's name also won't be released unless there is a hearing. That's because Wheaton isn't allowed to release the name of the officer because of a clause in the contract between the union and the department.

"I think from a resident's standpoint and from a taxpayer's standpoint," Field said. "one would not really care what the name of the officer is as much as if they were culpable that they be held accountable."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=323847">Police car strikes Wheaton home <span class="date">[09/24/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>