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PEORIA PEORIA POLICE DEPARTMENT

Officer Richard Linthicum

600 SW Adams St.Peoria, II 61602

~C> (fi)Novembe0, 2012

Re: Letter of Suspension

On July 8,2012, at approximately 1:42 A.M., Officer John Couve was driving his assigned Vice

Unit take home vehicle arid crashed the vehicle into a electrical utility box in the 8100 block of

N. Hale then fled the scene. Officer Couve is one of your co-workers as you are also assigned to

the Vice Unit. An investigation of the crash was done by on-duty personnel, including Sergeant

Richard Glover. Sergeant Glover directed the investigation and the vehicle was falsely reportedas stolen and recovered.

The Illinois State Police conducted an investigation into the incident that led to felony Criminal

charges against both Officer Couve and Sergeant Glover. Subsequently, an internal investigation

of the incident was completed by Lt. Ken Snow ofthe Professional Standards Unit. I havereviewed these investigations. '

600 s. W.Adams Street. Peoria,IL61602-1592

Phone 3Q9.494.8300

, I find

that you failed to relay all the pertinent information you possessed to the officer investigating

the incident. This places you in violation of Genral Order 100.06, Rules and regulations, VI.

Rules of Conduct, K. Off-duty authority and responsibility, 2. (Second paragraph) which reads

"In all cases where crimes are committed in the presence ofthe off-duty officer, regardless of

whether or not the officer has taken any other action, it shall be the duty of the off-duty officer

to immediately contact on-duty personnel to handle these situations and relay all pertinentinformation to the responding officer."

\ 'as a major

factor in the catastrophic outcome of a series of events that which brought discredit to the

Department. By not doing 50, you violated General Order 100.06, Rules and regulations, VI.

Rules of conduct, b. Conduct unbecoming an officer which reads (f No officer shall engage in any

conduct or activity on or off-duty that reflects discredit upon the department or its officers, ortends to bring this department in disrepute, or impairs its efficient and effective operation.

As a result of your failure to notify appropriate on duty personnel of your knowledge that

on July 8, 2012, the

investigation was thwarted. I find you in violation of General Order 100.06, Rules and

regulations, VI. Rules of Conduct, C. Accountability, responsibility, and discipline,S. Which reads

"Officers shall accept responsibility fortheir actions without attempting to conceal, divert, or

mitigate their true culpability. No officer shall engage in efforts to thwart, influence, orinterfere with an internal or criminal investigation."

Peoria vehicle when it crashed was a neglect of your responsibility and duty as a sworn law

enforcement officer. I find that you violated General order 100,06, Rules and regulations, VII.

Unsatisfactory performance, which states "Officers shall perform their duties in a mannerwhich will maintain the highest standard of efficiency in carrying out the functions and

objectives ofthe department, Unsatisfactory performance may be demonstrated by: E. Neglect

of Duty."

You also drove your city of Peoria assigned vehicle on the evening of July 7, 2012into the

morning of July 8,2012, while not in your official capacity as a police officer. You drove the, .

vehicle to two taverns where you drank alcoholic beverages. Part of your travel that night was

with the tacit approval of your unit commander who was a passenger in your veh icle. While

this behavior is not proper nor justifiedand contrary to the intended purpose of the take home

vehicle concept, there is no clear policy violation.

As a result of your cumulative behavior, actions, and failure to bring forth pertinent information

that you possessed regarding a criminal investigation, I find that you violated general Order

100.04, Code of Ethics, as cited here: iwill keep my private life unsullied as an example to all

and will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to me or to my agency; I will be

exemplary in obeying the law of the land and the regulations of my department.; I willcooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.

On November 13, 2012 at 1 P.M .. I conducted a pre-disciplinary review meeting with you. Also

present were Captain Scally and Officer Troy Skaggs as a representative ofthe Peoria Police

Benevolent Association. I informed you, during this meeting, that due to the seriousness of

these violations, the options I was considering for discipline were a 30 day suspension and

term ination.

After discussion all parties agreed that you will accept a 30 day suspension in lieu of

termination and voluntarily forfeit your appeal/grievance rights.

Any similar violations in the future may result in further disciplinarv action, including

;Z;usgnsion and/or termination. This letter shall remain in your personnel file.

~- ~ - .~~

Steven M. Settingsgaard

Police Chief

Employee Date

Date

CC: Human resources DirectorUniformed Services Captain Lis~Snow

PPBASecretary

Personnel FileProfessional Standards File

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