3 Officers Disciplined In Rosenbaum Case

Three more public safety workers have been disciplined for mistakes surrounding the city's response to the fatal robbery of retired New York Times reporter David E. Rosenbaum.

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday that he has punished three police officers for shoddy work in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 beating of Rosenbaum, 63, who was attacked on Gramercy Street NW near his home. Rosenbaum, who initially was treated as a drunk instead of a crime victim, died two days after the attack. The officers are among 13 city workers who have been disciplined or face action in Rosenbaum's case.

One of the officers was reprimanded for combining photographs of the Rosenbaum crime with those of a burglary on the same roll of film. Another was punished for failing to take an injured person report when responding to the scene. And the third received a short suspension for mistakes in collecting evidence at the Gramercy Street scene, Ramsey said on Washington Post Radio yesterday.

"These were adverse actions but nothing close to termination," Ramsey said.

The steps are the only disciplinary measures that Ramsey plans to mete out in response to the botched investigation, he said. The developments were first reported by the D.C. Examiner.

Many more heads are rolling in the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, where 10 firefighters and emergency medical workers face disciplinary action, suspected of treating Rosenbaum as a low priority.

Some D.C. Council members have called for the resignation of Fire Chief Adrian H. Thompson after a scathing report from the D.C. inspector general detailed "an unacceptable chain of failure" in Rosenbaum's case.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) has rejected calls to fire Thompson, who took charge of the department in 2002. Thompson has taken aggressive disciplinary actions in the wake of the inspector general's findings, and he has the mayor's backing in seeking more power to weed out problematic employees.

Williams has asked the D.C. Council to approve emergency legislation to give Thompson greater freedom to fire employees who demonstrate "gross misconduct," said the mayor's spokesman, Vince Morris.

The legislation would allow Thompson to remove firefighters from the job without pay while disciplinary procedures go forward. They would receive back pay if cleared of the charges, the legislation says. Currently, such employees are placed on administrative duty, which allows them to receive full pay and benefits while an investigation is underway.

That is why four firefighters whom Thompson is targeting for dismissal in the Rosenbaum case remain on duty. That is also why two other firefighters continue to work even though Thompson is trying to dismiss them for sleeping on the job last week instead of answering a call, officials said.

The chief has more leeway in disciplining emergency medical workers, who are not covered by the firefighters' union contract, officials said.

Lt. Ray Sneed, president of the D.C. Firefighters Association, called the proposal unnecessary and said it would find firefighters "guilty without due process."