A Denver police officer, arrested for DUI, was also seen with slurred speech, watery eyes and swearing at his arresting officers on an electronic device, as reported by 9 News in Colorado.
The off-duty officer, J.M.S., is facing both criminal sentencing and disciplinary action from the Denver Police Department.
J.M.S. had a blood alcohol three times the legal limit a little after 8 p.m. on February 17, 2010, when he crashed his Jeep off of the 200 block of Wildernest Road.
Besides using profanity on his arresting officers from the Silverthorne Police Department, J.M.S. reportedly demanded that they "help a fellow officer out and take him home."
His recorded response is being used as an example by the city's Independent Monitor -which is now requiring that the department enlist more disciplinary action.
J.M.S. admitted to being on his cellular phone, and having a gun in his vehicle, when officers approached him at the scene. The gun was confiscated.
J.M.S. stated that he was a Denver Police officer.
During the arrest an officer recorded the incident on her iPhone and gave the audio recording to 9 News.
9 News released some of the 40-minute episode, which took place while the paperwork was being completed and he was transferred to the Summit Count Medical Center to have his blood alcohol levels screened, as follows:
"I'll tell you what; we used to take care of police when I used to work in Chicago. We take care of each other. You suck. I have never, ever, ever (expletive) another policeman. And I don't know what you guys do up here. You guys are being over the top because you think I'm a bad policeman. I'm such a bad person. I didn't do anything you (expletive) haven't done in your lifetime.
You are the biggest (expletive) I've ever met. I worked in Chicago. Chicago PD and now I work in Denver. You know what, I've worked in two big cities and you know what, this is not the way we treated (expletive) the police, never. God bless you. I hope you feel good about yourself when you go home tonight."
J.M.S had no criminal history prior to this incident. He was once awarded the Denver Police Department's Medal of Valor.
Now, after pleading guilty to DUI, he has been sentenced to 30 days of electronic monitoring and 48 hours of community service.
He is also on a 12-month probation through the Summit County Court.
J.M.S. did not respond to an e-mail query from 9 News for comment.
The Independent Monitor has stepped in as the Denver Police only had J.M.S. serve 26 days of probation before he returned to his job.
Richard Rosenthal, for the Independent Monitor, said, "While the discipline imposed for the Driving Under the Influence and the Unlawful Weapon Possession was reasonable and within the scope of post-discipline matrix protocol, the discipline for the officer's attempts to obtain preferential treatment was insufficient. This issue will likely be more appropriately resolved in future cases due to the manager's decision to create a new Department Rule specifically prohibiting the solicitation of preferential treatment by a Denver Police officer.
With the creation of the new rule, the department will have a new opportunity to impose appropriate discipline, separate and apart from any underlying criminal violation, upon any officer who attempts to obtain immunity from arrest or prosecution for a criminal act (including a DUI) from another police officer."
Contact a DUI attorney today if you are facing charges stemming from DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI. Charges are further complicated if you work for a public entity, such as a police or fire department, that can also subject you to disciplinary action.