Deputies Fire Back On Dallas Constable Investigation
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Last Friday, nearly two dozen deputy Dallas County constables were placed on administrative leave for allegedly falsifying documentation on warrants and eviction notices. Now some of the officers' supervisors are firing back, saying the deputies are being forced to sign confessions without proof.
The top secret investigation that went on for months was announced on Friday. County Judge Clay Jenkins revealed a countywide audit of GPS devices in constable patrol cars found dozens of deputies lied about serving eviction notices.
The law requires two visits before the deputies are allowed to leave a notice. The investigation found constables in every precinct falsified records.
On Monday, the accused were notified and more than two dozen deputy constables were told to sign a form that states 'there is evidence to prove the allegations of your misconduct' before being suspended.
Deputy constables from all five precincts were called into meetings Monday to learn if they are among the dozens accused in a scandal over eviction warrants that were never served.
Precinct Five Chief Deputy Constable Mike Ramirez says the form amounts to a confession and will not ask his two accused deputies to sign it. "We're not saying we don't want to deal with a bad apple, we'll deal with them but just the way they did it."
The accused deputies working in District Five will be placed on desk duty rather than paid administrative leave against the wishes of county officials while both plan their own investigations.
"It's sad for the officers that's why we called them in as you see and talked to them and explain to them what was going on we felt like that was the right thing to do for the officers," said Ramirez.
No one with the Dallas County Judge's office returned phone calls for comment on the investigation.
The forms the accused deputies were told to sign also gives them 48 hours to provide a written response to the allegations.
But according to the deputies, many of those accused have yet to be given any specifics regarding what they are accused of.
