Metro police react to rash of police shootings

Officer suspended for giving 7-year-old a ticket

By Jessie Halladay • jhalladay@courier-journal.com • January 19, 2011

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Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A A Louisville Metro Police officer has been suspended for 15 days for giving a 7-year-old a ticket after a ball the child threw hit the officer's truck.

Officer Cody Chapelle was suspended on Friday after an internal investigation determined he had violated police policies on appropriate action, courtesy and duty to report. His attorney, Mary Sharp, said he will appeal the suspension, declining to comment on the specifics of the case.

The suspension stems from an incident on Oct. 16, 2009. According to the suspension letter sent to Chapelle by police Chief Robert White, the officer wrote a citation to a 7-year-old for third-degree criminal mischief after the boy threw a ball that struck his truck.

White wrote that the investigation showed no damage was done to Chapelle's truck, and the citation was written in an effort to get the boy's mother to discipline him, which made the charge inappropriate.

"One of our greatest attributes we have as police officers is common sense," White said in an interview Wednesday. Chapelle "showed absolutely no common sense."

White said officers have the power to use discretion when filing charges against individuals, but the citation sent a "horrendous message. It was absolutely absurd."

Chapelle also was disciplined for violating the policy on courtesy because he yelled at the boy's mother and told her she was a bad parent, the letter said. The officer violated the duty to report policy by failing to complete an offense report related to the action he took against the boy.

White said the charges against the boy eventually were thrown out of court, a decision he said was definitely appropriate.

In the letter requesting an appeal, Sharp wrote that the discipline was excessive and Chapelle's clean disciplinary history with the department should have been considered. Chapelle has been with the department since July 1993 and has no disciplinary actions in his file, though there were several commendations praising his work.

The appeal letter asserts that the boy did, in fact, commit an offense and caused minor damage to the truck.

The mother of the child could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Reporter Jessie Halladay can be reached at (502) 582-4081.

Once again does this have anything to do with the deaths of several officers in the past week ???