Andrew Zabavsky became a D.C. cop a decade ago. He was a solid candidate: grew up in Montgomery County, graduated from the University of Maryland, wanted to police the city he knew. He spent the first five years on patrol in Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle. He liked the midnight shift, coming on at 10 p.m. and riding the capital’s dark streets. “We had all the clubs,” he tells me. “Night after night, we saw people weaving through the streets. Not many officers were trained in alcohol enforcement.”
So Zabavsky and his partner, Jose Rodriguez, decided to focus on drunk drivers. They busted hundreds, registered high conviction counts, made the streets safer, probably saved a few lives along the way.
“We developed that as our niche,” says Zabavsky, 34. “We enjoyed doing it.”
Did the Metropolitan Police Department brass enjoy having two cops busy sweeping drunks from the streets? They got no recognition beyond an attaboy or two. But for four years running, 2006-2009, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program recognized them among officers across the region for “outstanding commitment” in the fight against drunken driving.
Their reward from Police Chief Cathy Lanier, the MPD, attorney general and city council? Harassment, investigations, recommendation for termination, demoralization. And zero support. All because they and Officer Benjamin Fetting refused to lie about the fact that D.C.’s breath test devices were faulty.
In February 2010, a trusted technician told them the breathalyzers had been incorrectly calibrated — for years — and hundreds of cases could be affected. Word leaked out. Defense attorneys started to ask the three cops questions in court about the faulty devices.
“Lawyers with the attorney general wanted us to say we didn’t know anything,” Zabavsky tells me. “We were not willing to do that. They were not happy.”
So unhappy that assistant attorneys general berated them, according to the officers. So unhappy that then Deputy Attorney General Robert Hildum concocted an investigation of Zabavsky and Rodriguez, they say, alleging they had botched a urine test. So furious the AG’s office blacklisted them from testifying in court, they say. Rather than protect three good cops, the MPD went along with the AG and moved to terminate Rodriguez.
A trial board cleared them of all charges.
The details pour out of the complaint the three officers filed against Mayor Vince Gray, Lanier, AG Irvin Nathan and others for violating their rights as whistleblowers. My colleague, Liz Farmer, reported on the story this week.
“I still shake my head,” Zabavsky says. “I did my job, and I did it well. In ten years I had one citizen’s complaint. Out of the blue this comes up and the department comes after us.”
He had heard the MPD would not support hard-working cops and even punish them.
“Officers tell us if this can happen to you, it can happen to anyone. And no one in District government cares, not the city council, no one.”
And now Zabavsky and Rodriguez have quit working DUI cases. And the streets are much less safe.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
