Family ties that don't bind cops

WHEN POLICE OFFICER Alberto Lopez walked into a convenience store to confront four people who'd been in an auto accident with his son, he didn't have to think about department policy for on-duty officers taking police action in matters involving a family member.

Because no such policy exists.

Although the Police Department does instruct officers to avoid such situations while they're off duty, there's no policy on whether an on-duty officer should take action in a case in which a family member may be involved.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said the department expects officers to use common sense.

"It's hard to have a policy for every situation," Vanore said. "This really doesn't happen very often. We don't assign officers to the districts where they live, so that eliminates a lot of problems. We do investigate if there's an incident and handle it on a case-by-case basis."

Lopez's actions last August certainly generated an investigation.

After his son rear-ended a car, he came to the 8th District, in the Northeast, where Lopez worked, and reported the fender-bender. Lopez then took his son in his patrol car and found the other car involved parked at a Lukoil store at Comly Road and Roosevelt Boulevard.

A surveillance video showed Lopez entering the store with his son in tow and quickly pulling his gun. He jammed the weapon into the face of Agnes Lawless, 20, hard enough to leave a bruise. After a chaotic struggle, he called for backup and arrested her on charges of assaulting an officer.

The case against Lawless fell apart after the store's surveillance video was released. Lopez is now on desk duty awaiting a hearing on his conduct. Vanore said Philadelphia has a clear policy on how off-duty officers should behave when they encounter a personal situation that could merit police intervention.

Unless immediate action is necessary, Vanore said, an off-duty officer "should call 9-1-1 and act as a witness."

Police authorities have long recognized the risk of officers' becoming involved in situations in which they have a personal stake, both on and off duty.

"Where a family member is involved, or a good friend, even a friend of a friend, you really should turn the case over to another officer," said Tod Burke, a former police officer and professor of criminal justice at Radford University, in Virginia.

Within the last year, two incidents in Philadelphia involved officers' intervening in personal situations, with both leading to violence.