By Jim Patten
jpatten@eagletribune.com
September 30, 2008 12:12 am LAWRENCE — The city has begun dismissal proceedings against a Lawrence police officer for alleged conduct unbecoming an officer and neglect of duty. Mayor Michael Sullivan has sent a letter to Officer Kevin Sledge notifying him of the intent to fire him for an alleged incident involving a woman he picked up in his personal car during the early morning hours of Sept. 26. A hearing to discuss the reasons for Sledge's termination will be detailed during a hearing scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. in City Council chambers. It was not immediately known whether the hearing would be open to the public. Sledge, a 15-year veteran of the department, was stripped of his gun and badge last week for the third time in four years, while the Police Department announced it is conducting an internal affairs investigation into the incident. In the letter, Sullivan noted that Sledge had left his duty post in the police booking room about 1:45 a.m. without the knowledge of his supervisor. The letter alleges that Sledge, in his personal vehicle, drove away from the station and encountered a woman, put her in his vehicle, and drove her back to a parking lot near the police station. After he returned to the department, the woman remained in his vehicle until shortly before 4 a.m., at which time she, with a female friend, reported the incident to shift supervisors at the Police Department. "At no time did you alert any member of the Lawrence Police Department that you had accepted a female passenger into your personal vehicle during your shift, that you transported the female passenger back to the vicinity of the Lawrence Police Department in your personal vehicle, or that the female passenger remained in your vehicle during the course of your shift at the department. At no time did you call in your mileage to the Lawrence Police Department which is required while transporting a female while on duty," the letter states. Sledge, 45, also is accused of being absent from duty without leave, conduct unbecoming an officer, and neglect of duty. Sledge is represented by attorney Ronald Ranta, who received the mayor's letter in Sledge's behalf late yesterday. "Attorney Ranta agreed to accept the notice of intent to terminate and it was being delivered to his office,'' police Chief John Romero said. "We take these cases very seriously and clearly we believe, based on our department investigation, that termination is warranted," Romero said. While the internal investigation part of the case has been completed, the Lawrence police detectives division, along with the district attorney's office, is conducting an investigation into the matter, Romero said. In 2005, Sledge was arrested at his Salem, N.H., home and his girlfriend was issued a summons to appear in court after they accused each other of assault and battery. At that time he was stripped of his gun and badge and placed on modified duty in the police station, but was eventually returned to duty. In 1999, Sledge was placed on leave after he was charged with raping an ex-girlfriend. He was found not guilty of those charges and returned to duty. And in January 2004, he was placed on administrative leave before pleading guilty in Concord, N.H., District Court to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a New Hampshire public record. Investigators found he used a fake Lawrence address several years earlier when he got a license to sell cars in New Hampshire. That led to the tampering charge and he was fined $500.
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