Police Chief Fires Leader of Union

"The system is so broken, you can't [challenge] it," Nuttall said. "Who are you going to [challenge] it to, the people who are abusing it?"

Mayor Robin S. Gardner would not comment. City Attorney Roy B. Thorpe Jr. and City Manager Daniel E. McKeever did not return phone calls.

Rhodes had been a Falls Church officer for nearly 10 years and is a former Marine sniper who served in Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. He said he has received no complaints from citizens in recent years but has received unsolicited "thank you" letters.

Bristol has been on the Falls Church force for 10 years and is a former Army military police officer who also served in Desert Storm. He is one of Falls Church's trained canine officers and recently won a prize for his work. Speaking about Rhodes, he said, "My concern is, if he's gone, am I next? I've got a wife and kids."

Nuttall said Rhodes was cited for five violations. He was accused of violating a confidentiality order on the investigation into the missing file, though he was never told he was being investigated and his public comments to The Post came before the order. Similarly, he was accused of negligence for losing his weapon, though he reported the loss and was not told that he faced a violation, Nuttall said.

Rhodes was formally investigated for poor work performance, though he said he had good evaluations and was appealing an initial finding against him. He also was appealing a finding of failure to control his anger, for cursing at a city employee when complaining about errors in his paycheck. A fifth violation for insubordination, which Nuttall said was investigated by the sergeant who filed the complaint, was not substantiated, Nuttall said.

"If Scott's done anything wrong, let's give him a fair charge and a fair hearing," Nuttall said. He said most of the violations Rhodes was accused of would draw a reprimand or other minor discipline. But Rhodes has had no hearings on three of the violations, Nuttall said.

The internal complaints against Rhodes have caused the Falls Church police union's membership to plummet, Rhodes said. Last year, 17 of the 22 officers eligible for membership were in the union. That number has dropped to nine, Rhodes said.