DeKalb Police announced Thursday that Sgt. Jeff Weese will serve a 30-day unpaid suspension and undergo related training for his actions during and following the Aug. 24, 2019 arrest of Elonte McDowell.
McDowell was arrested for drug offenses. According to a news release, an internal investigation was conducted into the use of force applied to subdue McDowell. This investigation concluded that several policy violations occurred during the incident.
The news release states:
The DeKalb Police Department is committed to providing excellent service to the community. At times, we make mistakes and fall short of our mission. When we do, we must be transparent, hold ourselves accountable for our actions, and work to ensure incidents like these do not occur in the future. The DeKalb Police Department continues to engage in constructive dialogue with members of the community in an effort to promote and build relationships founded in trust and respect.
This disciplinary measure for Sgt. Weese began immediately.
According to the department, Sgt. Weese is a tenured police officer for the City of DeKalb who had "an exemplary service record with positive community engagement" prior to this incident. The release says, "This discipline holds Sgt. Weese accountable for his actions and provides him with the opportunity to learn from his mistakes so that he can provide our community with the high-level of service and dedication that we expect of him and all our police officers."