A D.C. police commander who was involved in a two-car crash in her government vehicle prepared her own report and had a subordinate sign off on it.
First District Cmdr. Diane Groomes wrote that the driver of the other vehicle struck her police vehicle last month, causing very minor damage to each car. The driver of the other car could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Union officials said Groomes, head of the First District, should have had an officer other than herself write the report.
“She’s involved. She has an ethical responsibility to guard against the appearance of impropriety,” labor union representative Sgt. Delroy Burton said. “If an officer got into an accident and prepared her own report than that officer would be in huge trouble.”
Groomes told The Examiner on Wednesday that she filled out the report herself and had one of her captains OK it. She notified her superiors of the accident later that day, she said. Groomes said she didn’t call a superior officer to review the report because the next person in line was Police Chief Charles Ramsey.
“I could not call the chief. That would be inappropriate,” Groomes said.
