(MENAFN) Recently, there was news that Pete Arredondo, the Texas school district police chief who was fired for his actions on the day of a schoolhouse massacre last year, won an appeal to remove a blemish from his discharge file, according to a report from a state think tank. Arredondo was terminated for his handling of the law enforcement response during a shooting incident where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School last May.
According to Luis Soberon, a policy adviser for think tank Texas 2036, the decision does not entitle Arredondo to get his job back in Uvalde, but it clears his record in case he decides to seek employment at another agency. Soberon noted that the purpose of the discharge system is to serve as a red flag for hiring agencies, but he questions its effectiveness in that regard.
In Texas, when a law enforcement officer is fired, the firing agency submits a termination report to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, categorizing the firing as dishonorable, general or honorable. The officer can then appeal to upgrade the classification through the State Office of Administrative Hearings. In Arredondo's case, his appeal was successful in removing the blemish from his discharge file.
Experts and other law enforcement officials have criticized the handling of the law enforcement response that Arredondo presided over on the day of the shooting. Nevertheless, the decision to clear his record is going to have implications for his future employment opportunities, as he can now apply for jobs in law enforcement agencies without the stigma of having a dishonorable discharge on his record.
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