Two D.C. police officers are scheduled to appear this month in front of a panel of department brass to make their cases for lighter discipline. The adverse action hearings are open to the public, but are subject to a strict set of rules.
Officer John Bewley’s hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12—nearly a year after he pleaded guilty to drunk driving.
His guilty plea includes a deferred sentencing agreement that requires 40 hours of community service, attendance at drug and alcohol classes and a victims’ impact panel, as well as a $100 fine. If Bewley successfully completes the terms, he will be allowed to withdraw his plea, and prosecutors will dismiss the charge.
Bewley was arrested in November 2023 for DUI, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice. But prosecutors only charged him with DUI and operating a vehicle while impaired. In the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 2023, Bewley was off duty and driving his take-home police vehicle when he showed up to the scene of his girlfriend’s DUI arrest.
“[Bewley] made multiple attempts to interfere and obstruct Ofc. Griffin and her DUI suspect … by approaching and yelling at the suspect and telling her to leave the scene with him,” according to the affidavit filed in court. In court on the day of his guilty plea, a prosecutor said he was “belligerent on scene, yelling and repeating himself.”
Sgt. Caleb Willis is scheduled to appear before the police panel on Dec. 18 to respond to allegations that he “failed fitness for duty evaluations.” The adverse action hearing schedule does not provide any more specific details, but a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department previously told City Paper that, in general, the allegations could have to do with failed physical or mental fitness evaluations that the department uses to determine whether officers are able to perform their work.
Willis has been scheduled for a hearing multiple times this year, including in November, but they were postponed. Adverse action hearing schedules are set a month in advance, and the proceedings are often canceled or rescheduled after MPD releases the calendar.
The hearings are open to the public, but MPD requires anyone who wants to attend to request permission by emailing drd-hearing.admin@dc.gov at least two business days in advance.
MPD recently imposed a dress code barring “inappropriate attire” that includes, but is not limited to, sneakers, hats, hoodies, denim, or sweatpants. Such garments “may result in denied entry into the hearing room,” according to the Disciplinary Review Division’s rules.
The chairperson also has discretion to close all or portions of the hearings for cause. Electronic devices must be “powered off entirely,” and photography is “strictly prohibited.”
MPD has posted the of the results of these hearings from 2016 through 2023. The spreadsheets give officers’ rank, race, and sex, but do not identify them by name.
At the end of each hearing, the panel will make a disciplinary recommendation, which can range from suspension to termination. The final decision rests with the chief of police.
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