A bit of surprising news was released late today that hugely popular MPD Assistant Chief Diane Groomes has been suspended. Groomes, who previously held a key position in the 1st District, is now embroiled in a scandal. The Washington Post writes that:
"A top official of the D.C. police department has been suspended amid allegations that she was involved in "compromising" a test given to members of the department's command staff, the department said Friday."
Groomes supervises the department's patrol services and school security bureau. She is a 20 year veteran of MPD.
Via the Post, which further reports that her paycheck status is unclear.
Best wishes from here that Groomes is cleared of all charges. She has done great work, and I hope/believe that she did nothing to undermine that work.
15 comments:
Oh, this sucks. From her time as 1D Commander to now, I have nothing but good things to say. She did a good job of listening to us, talking with us, and then verifying that what got said got done when we had the rash of carjackings on our block/nearby blocks starting about this time last year; and she even appeared at our block party last month. Damn.
She's a great cop. I really hope this doesn't mean the end of her career.
Odd, though, how this gets an MPD press release. Isn't MPD's usual procedure to stonewall any information on alleged wrongdoing with cops, claiming it's an 'internal personnel matter subject to privacy concerns"?
Why the press release on this one?
Hate this news.
This is one of the most no nonsense accessible cops in this city. She is always out on street. There are no details on what she did. My bets are on her integrity though. I also hope this is not career ending. This city's police department really needs her.
She will be vindicated.
I would seriously like to know, how any of the people commenting on this topic really know, unless they work on the inside of that department. These people may know this Groomes from outside involvement, but outside of their view, what do they know about her.
To Chris, you said she appeared at your block party. That's community oriented policing. That's just to make an appearance, nothing more, That's for show. They are great illusionists, aren't they.
Thread hijack alert - HR57 relocating to 9th and H St NE!!!?! Holy *#$&! Thats a DC institution. Awesome news! H Street truly is going to be the hottest spot in DC in a few years, not to mention the epicenter of the arts in this city.
Anon 4:02pm -- her appearance at our block party undoubtedly had a "for show" component. But there was more going on than that. Our block was ground zero for the carjacking spree that occurred a year ago, and members of the block organized the meetings with city officials at Options Charter School. Diane Groomes was in near-constant contact with us during that period, and did a fantastic job of identifying actions that would directly address the things we were seeing and were concerned about, and then made them happen. When it comes to her performance preventing/fighting crime, I have nothing to complain about.
You're right that it's unlikely any of us know her except "outside the Department." But that's the world that matters most to us. My neighborhood being safe matters more to me than internal politics of the Metropolitan Police Department. So I hope that she's exonerated; and if she isn't, I hope that her (deserved) punishment doesn't wreck her career. She's done good by me and my neighbors.
Back in the day, then Sgt. Groomes (aka Blondie) was around on foot in the neighborhood all the time. I've always thought of her as a really strong advocate of our community. I wish her well.
Kenny, that was a pretty cool article to read 10 years later. Thanks for posting.
I have worked with A/C Groomes on a couple of cross-agency initiatives, and I think she is one of the best officers I've met. I can't imagine what happened, or how this came about. I do know that it will be a shame if this affects her career. She really is dedicated to improving public safety in the community, and improving the lives of youth in the community.
Wait, lemme get this right, more than 70 comments on the sev trash crisis and less than a dozen on a high ranking police official allegedey involved in a cheating scandal? Me, i'ld dump a big chunk of the mpd command for not calling out our elected officials on the officer ditammo funeral.
Tonyt
thepug
Tony's got a point.
Anybody got an email address we can send MPD our comments on Her Hotness Chief Groomes.
Come on. Admit it. In addition to being a fine officer she's also pretty dang hot as well.
This is a bummer. Groomes had integrity and was always aggressive in communicating with the public. I hope she will be vindicated so that she can get back to work.
WaPo has an update:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/22/AR2010112206644.html
Groomes admitted she gave some answers to an open book test to officers who needed to get the assignment done before missing a deadline. WaPo calls it a "scandal" -- I think it is safe to say that this "scandal" happens at every learning institution there is. Way to make a big story out of nothing. I've got to wonder if the paper is trying to push soon-to-be-mayor Gray into getting rid of Lanier/Groomes, to illustrate its position that Fenty was a better mayoral choice.
It could also be a power push/ personalty difference within the department itself.
Tonyt
thepug
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