260 Ind. 459 | Ind. | 1973
The appellant is a police officer of the City of Gary, Indiana. At a hearing before the Gary Police Civil Service Commission, he was suspended from service as a police officer. Judicial review in the Lake Superior Court, Room 3, resulted in an affirmance of the administrative determination. Appellant now appeals to this Court claiming error in the proceedings below.
The record reveals the following facts:
On August 4,1970, the appellant went to a known gambling house in Gary where he remained from about 10:00 P.M. until 11:00 o’clock the following morning. During this period of time the appellant engaged in gambling and drinking of intoxicating liquor. The appellant lost money during this time in a dice game. He became angry, claiming his fellow players had cheated him, displayed a cocked gun and demanded that his losses be repaid to him. The money was returned as requested under the threat. The disturbance caused by appellant’s conduct caused Police Officers Peasant and Wade to be called to the scene. When the officers arrived, they found the appellant in an alley behind the house and still in possession of the money he had forcibly taken from the others. The officers took the money from the appellant and returned it to the parties from whom it had been taken. Because of this conduct, the Gary Police Civil Service Commission suspended the appellant for 90 days for engaging in conduct unbecoming a police officer and 90 days for engaging in immoral conduct. They further ordered that the suspensions were to be served consecutively, making a total of 180 days’ suspension.
The Lake Superior Court, Room 3, upon judicial review, found that the appellant take nothing by his action for review, thus sustaining the finding of the Commission.
We hold the Commission did not err in limiting the cross-examination at that point nor did the trial court err in sustaining the Commission’s position in that regard.
The appellant next claims there was no substantial evidence presented to support the findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment of the trial court. The record in this case contains abundant evidence to support the facts as above
We hold that the findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment of the trial court are amply sustained by this record.
Appellant next claims that “invidious discrimination was involved.” He attempts to support this allegation by citing several instances of alleged misconduct of other members of the police force and a failure of the Commission to properly punish police officers for such violations. In support of his contention appellant cites Whitus v. State of Georgia (1967), 385 U.S. 545, 87 S. Ct. 643, 17 L. Ed. 2d 599; Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886), 118 U.S. 356, 6 S. Ct. 1064, 30 L. Ed. 220; Dixon v. State (1946), 224 Ind. 327, 67 N. E. 2d 138.
In each of the above cases the question before the Court was unreasonable classification based upon race. However, the appellant makes no such claims in the case at bar. He states merely that he should not have been disciplined by the Commission because the Commission has failed to discipline others for misconduct. For this Court to adopt the reasoning of appellant in this case would be to make it impossible for a Commission who had operated inefficiently in the past to clean up its operation or increase its efficiency. We do not know, nor are we speculating, that the Gary Police Civil Service Commission neglected its duty in any particular case, but we do hold that if such be the case, this is certainly no bar to prosecuting a disciplinary action against the appellant for his misconduct. We see nothing in the facts in the case at bar which even remotely suggest that appellant was unduly discriminated against because of race or any other identifiable social or economic position.
We find no reversible error in this case.
The trial court is, therefore, affirmed.
Arterburn, C.J., Hunter and Prentice, JJ., concur; De-Bruler, J., concurs in result.
Note.—Reported in 296 N. E. 2d 429.