Officers Claim Brass Interfered in Investigation of Rep. Kennedy Incident

It's good to be a Kennedy:

Police labor union officials asked acting Chief Christopher McGaffin this afternoon to allow a Capitol Police officer to complete his investigation into an early-morning car crash involving Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.).

According to a letter sent by Officer Greg Baird, acting chairman of the USCP FOP, the wreck took place at approximately 2:45 a.m. Thursday when Kennedy’s car, operating with its running lights turned off, narrowly missed colliding with a Capitol Police cruiser and smashed into a security barricade at First and C streets Southeast.

“The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering,” Baird’s letter states. Officers approached the driver, who “declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote. The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident. It was Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy from Rhode Island.”

Baird wrote that Capitol Police Patrol Division units, who are trained in driving under the influence cases, were not allowed to perform basic field sobriety tests on the Congressman. Instead, two sergeants, who also responded to the accident, proceeded to confer with the Capitol Police watch commander on duty and then “ordered all of the Patrol Division Units to leave the scene and that they were taking over.”

Baird said he had been advised that after the officers departed, Capitol Police “House Division officials” gave Kennedy a ride home.

Kennedy’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“If the events unfolded as they have been reported to me, and I believe they did, a complete and immediate investigation into them is required,” Baird wrote to McGaffin. Baird asked the acting chief why officers on the scene were prevented from completing the appropriate investigation “into violations of law they witnessed. This appears to be interference with their duties as U.S. Capitol Police Officers and may have prevented the collection of evidence of such violations."

[More]

Kennedy Blames Accident on Medication

While Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) blamed his early-morning car accident on the interaction between two drugs he had been prescribed, Capitol Police have agreed to a labor union request that officers complete an investigation of the incident.

My Comments:
Cuidado! La familia Kennedy es muy peligrosa.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
For Kennedys, Poor Driving Runs in the Family