gc
21 October 2003, 12:23 AM
Officer jailed in assault
Woman accused by husband has troubled history in department
10:15 PM CDT on Monday, October 20, 2003
By MATT STILES, HOLLY BECKA and HOWARD SWINDLE / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/102103dnmetofficer.b08ea.html
A Dallas patrol officer with a troubled background in the department spent part of the weekend in jail after being accused of sticking a loaded handgun in her husband's face during an argument Friday morning, police said.
Officer Pamela Hampton, 33, was put on administrative leave from the Dallas Police Department pending the outcome of an investigation, officials said. She is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
She was hired in September 1999. Since then, she has been disciplined for threatening a 12-year-old girl and investigated for incidents that included the forcible kidnapping of her daughter, which led to her arrest.
"We have to use our guidelines to pick the best people," interim Police Chief Randy Hampton, no relation to the officer, said Monday. "If they do something [after they are hired] that requires us to take action, we will take action. That's what we are planning to do here – look at it and take action if appropriate."
A magistrate granted the victim in the case, former Dallas police Officer Charles Lee Horton Jr., an emergency protective order Saturday against Officer Hampton.
Officer Hampton could not be reached for comment Monday by phone, fax or e-mail. It was unknown whether she had hired a lawyer. At the workplace police listed for Mr. Horton, a man who responded to a call for him denied that he was the person involved in the incident.
The protective order prohibits Officer Hampton from going within 500 feet of the Cedar Hill residence that she and Mr. Horton listed on police reports as their home. Property records show that Officer Hampton owns the home. She's also prohibited from going near the Dallas business where Mr. Horton, who was terminated from the department in 2000 after his probationary period, now works.
Mr. Horton went to the Cedar Hill Police Department about 10 a.m. Friday, shortly after the incident, according to police reports. Officers noted scratches on his face and that his clothing was torn.
When investigators went to the home in the 1200 block of Paul Drive, Officer Hampton told them that Mr. Horton "took her handgun out of the closet, held it away from her and left the residence with the handgun."
Police arrested Officer Hampton; after spending the night in jail, she posted $10,000 bond Saturday and was released.
Mr. Horton had filed for a divorce in August, and Officer Hampton responded in September by filing for an annulment.
Kidnapping alleged
This is not the first time that Officer Hampton has been arrested since joining the force.
In January 2002, police officers in Memphis, Tenn., arrested her on a warrant for a felony criminal act.
The charge accused her of custody interference stemming from an incident four months earlier. Her former husband told police that Officer Hampton and Mr. Horton, then her boyfriend, forcibly kidnapped her daughter from his home.
The girl had gone to live with her father, Vladimir Bradley, after Officer Hampton was accused in October 2000 of using her police duty belt to spank the girl. Officer Hampton was not charged because the injuries were not excessive, and as a result Dallas internal affairs investigators listed the child abuse allegations as inconclusive, according to police records.
The next summer, according to a statement Mr. Bradley gave internal affairs investigators, Officer Hampton and her boyfriend ransacked his home and ripped his phone from the wall. Mr. Bradley identified the boyfriend as "Charles Horton. He is a former Dallas Police Department (sic)," according to police records.
"This big guy ... had [my daughter] with his forearm tightly around her stomach and had his hand in her mouth, around her mouth where ... no one could hear her screaming," Mr. Bradley said. "They put her in the car head first, threw her in the car, and that's where they backed up and ... sped off."
Mr. Bradley told the investigators that a September 2001 court order granted him custody.
He pressed charges at the time his daughter was taken, but Officer Hampton was not arrested until the following January when she was back in Memphis visiting friends.
Dallas internal affairs detectives declared their investigation inconclusive, saying no one could prove that Officer Hampton received a copy of the custody order. Memphis prosecutors dropped charges for the same reason.
Threat reported
Internal affairs records show that Officer Hampton was disciplined for violating the department's code of conduct after she and Mr. Horton threatened a 12-year-old girl in October 2000 at a Grand Prairie middle school.
The girl's sister apparently had fought with Officer Hampton's daughter, records show. The child told investigators that "Ms. Hampton then got in my face and told me, 'If I ever see you or hear of you putting hands on [my daughter] again, I will kick your ... [expletive deleted] myself.' Ms. Hampton was putting her finger in my face as she said this."
The child said that Mr. Horton threatened to "take her to juvenile [hall]."
Officer Hampton denied threatening the girl, saying, "At no time did I put my finger in [the girl's] face during this incident. I was simply trying to get her to have her mother call me about her and her sister's behavior. ... Neither I nor anyone else from my vehicle put their hands on the child."
Two witnesses, however, backed the child's account. The school principal later told the officer that if her actions continued, she could be banned from the campus, Dallas police records show.
Grand Prairie police cited Officer Hampton for disorderly conduct – abusive language. The report notes: "Suspect works for Dallas P.D."
Dallas internal affairs sustained the allegation, saying the officer violated the code of conduct by engaging in behavior that adversely affects the department's morale or public respect.
About a month after the middle school incident, Mr. Horton was terminated Nov. 21, 2000, from the Dallas Police Department for failing his probationary period, which lasts a year.
Tardiness
More recently, the department disciplined Officer Hampton for reporting to duty late on April 22. According to the report: "This was the eighth incident of tardiness in the last 12 months."
When she applied to the department, Officer Hampton's previous work history showed eight jobs from 1988 to 1993 while she also attended school. She listed her current occupation as an independent consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Job history
According to a background detective's summary: "All of the jobs last for one year or less. The applicant admitted to being terminated from three of them, but none involved criminal activity." The applicant had noted that she was fired from a hotel job because of insubordination and not being a team player.
Her application also showed that she was in the U.S. Army from June 1993 to October 1995 and reached the rank of Specialist E-4. She had applied to the Memphis Police Department in March 1997 but failed the physical ability test.
In an essay required for her application, Officer Hampton addressed the proper role of a police officer in society.
"It is very important that she has the ability to clearly think all situations through in order to find the safest, most peaceable solution to the outcome," Officer Hampton wrote. "I feel like I could fill this role because this is exactly the type of person I strive to be."
She wrote that she applied to the department because, "I feel that with this career, I would be setting a good example for my children about respecting the law."
Staff writer Jason Trahan contributed to this report.
E-mail mstiles@dallasnews.com, hbecka@dallasnews.com or hswindle@dallasnews.com
Woman accused by husband has troubled history in department
10:15 PM CDT on Monday, October 20, 2003
By MATT STILES, HOLLY BECKA and HOWARD SWINDLE / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/102103dnmetofficer.b08ea.html
A Dallas patrol officer with a troubled background in the department spent part of the weekend in jail after being accused of sticking a loaded handgun in her husband's face during an argument Friday morning, police said.
Officer Pamela Hampton, 33, was put on administrative leave from the Dallas Police Department pending the outcome of an investigation, officials said. She is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
She was hired in September 1999. Since then, she has been disciplined for threatening a 12-year-old girl and investigated for incidents that included the forcible kidnapping of her daughter, which led to her arrest.
"We have to use our guidelines to pick the best people," interim Police Chief Randy Hampton, no relation to the officer, said Monday. "If they do something [after they are hired] that requires us to take action, we will take action. That's what we are planning to do here – look at it and take action if appropriate."
A magistrate granted the victim in the case, former Dallas police Officer Charles Lee Horton Jr., an emergency protective order Saturday against Officer Hampton.
Officer Hampton could not be reached for comment Monday by phone, fax or e-mail. It was unknown whether she had hired a lawyer. At the workplace police listed for Mr. Horton, a man who responded to a call for him denied that he was the person involved in the incident.
The protective order prohibits Officer Hampton from going within 500 feet of the Cedar Hill residence that she and Mr. Horton listed on police reports as their home. Property records show that Officer Hampton owns the home. She's also prohibited from going near the Dallas business where Mr. Horton, who was terminated from the department in 2000 after his probationary period, now works.
Mr. Horton went to the Cedar Hill Police Department about 10 a.m. Friday, shortly after the incident, according to police reports. Officers noted scratches on his face and that his clothing was torn.
When investigators went to the home in the 1200 block of Paul Drive, Officer Hampton told them that Mr. Horton "took her handgun out of the closet, held it away from her and left the residence with the handgun."
Police arrested Officer Hampton; after spending the night in jail, she posted $10,000 bond Saturday and was released.
Mr. Horton had filed for a divorce in August, and Officer Hampton responded in September by filing for an annulment.
Kidnapping alleged
This is not the first time that Officer Hampton has been arrested since joining the force.
In January 2002, police officers in Memphis, Tenn., arrested her on a warrant for a felony criminal act.
The charge accused her of custody interference stemming from an incident four months earlier. Her former husband told police that Officer Hampton and Mr. Horton, then her boyfriend, forcibly kidnapped her daughter from his home.
The girl had gone to live with her father, Vladimir Bradley, after Officer Hampton was accused in October 2000 of using her police duty belt to spank the girl. Officer Hampton was not charged because the injuries were not excessive, and as a result Dallas internal affairs investigators listed the child abuse allegations as inconclusive, according to police records.
The next summer, according to a statement Mr. Bradley gave internal affairs investigators, Officer Hampton and her boyfriend ransacked his home and ripped his phone from the wall. Mr. Bradley identified the boyfriend as "Charles Horton. He is a former Dallas Police Department (sic)," according to police records.
"This big guy ... had [my daughter] with his forearm tightly around her stomach and had his hand in her mouth, around her mouth where ... no one could hear her screaming," Mr. Bradley said. "They put her in the car head first, threw her in the car, and that's where they backed up and ... sped off."
Mr. Bradley told the investigators that a September 2001 court order granted him custody.
He pressed charges at the time his daughter was taken, but Officer Hampton was not arrested until the following January when she was back in Memphis visiting friends.
Dallas internal affairs detectives declared their investigation inconclusive, saying no one could prove that Officer Hampton received a copy of the custody order. Memphis prosecutors dropped charges for the same reason.
Threat reported
Internal affairs records show that Officer Hampton was disciplined for violating the department's code of conduct after she and Mr. Horton threatened a 12-year-old girl in October 2000 at a Grand Prairie middle school.
The girl's sister apparently had fought with Officer Hampton's daughter, records show. The child told investigators that "Ms. Hampton then got in my face and told me, 'If I ever see you or hear of you putting hands on [my daughter] again, I will kick your ... [expletive deleted] myself.' Ms. Hampton was putting her finger in my face as she said this."
The child said that Mr. Horton threatened to "take her to juvenile [hall]."
Officer Hampton denied threatening the girl, saying, "At no time did I put my finger in [the girl's] face during this incident. I was simply trying to get her to have her mother call me about her and her sister's behavior. ... Neither I nor anyone else from my vehicle put their hands on the child."
Two witnesses, however, backed the child's account. The school principal later told the officer that if her actions continued, she could be banned from the campus, Dallas police records show.
Grand Prairie police cited Officer Hampton for disorderly conduct – abusive language. The report notes: "Suspect works for Dallas P.D."
Dallas internal affairs sustained the allegation, saying the officer violated the code of conduct by engaging in behavior that adversely affects the department's morale or public respect.
About a month after the middle school incident, Mr. Horton was terminated Nov. 21, 2000, from the Dallas Police Department for failing his probationary period, which lasts a year.
Tardiness
More recently, the department disciplined Officer Hampton for reporting to duty late on April 22. According to the report: "This was the eighth incident of tardiness in the last 12 months."
When she applied to the department, Officer Hampton's previous work history showed eight jobs from 1988 to 1993 while she also attended school. She listed her current occupation as an independent consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Job history
According to a background detective's summary: "All of the jobs last for one year or less. The applicant admitted to being terminated from three of them, but none involved criminal activity." The applicant had noted that she was fired from a hotel job because of insubordination and not being a team player.
Her application also showed that she was in the U.S. Army from June 1993 to October 1995 and reached the rank of Specialist E-4. She had applied to the Memphis Police Department in March 1997 but failed the physical ability test.
In an essay required for her application, Officer Hampton addressed the proper role of a police officer in society.
"It is very important that she has the ability to clearly think all situations through in order to find the safest, most peaceable solution to the outcome," Officer Hampton wrote. "I feel like I could fill this role because this is exactly the type of person I strive to be."
She wrote that she applied to the department because, "I feel that with this career, I would be setting a good example for my children about respecting the law."
Staff writer Jason Trahan contributed to this report.
E-mail mstiles@dallasnews.com, hbecka@dallasnews.com or hswindle@dallasnews.com