The Dallas Police Women’s Association is calling a sergeant’s 15-day suspension a “slap in the face” after he was accused of sending a female officer’s intimate photos to himself using her cell phone.
Dallas police spokeswoman Allison Hudson confirmed in a Tuesday morning statement that Sgt. Daylon L. Grandberry was disciplined Monday after the department completed the administrative disciplinary process related to the incident. Grandberry declined to comment Tuesday in a text message to The Dallas Morning News.
According to the association’s statement on Facebook, Grandberry approached a “subordinate” female officer and offered to download a game onto her phone. The association alleges Grandberry then claimed the cell phone coverage was weak, and walked further away from her before discovering the intimate photos in a password-protected folder.
He texted them to himself, deleted the text thread and then returned the phone to her, the association said.
The officer allegedly discovered what happened after she saw Grandberry was the last contact in her text history, even though she had not texted him recently, according to the association. She filed a complaint, but he claimed it was accidental, according to the association. The association did not name the female officer.
“The Dallas Police Department’s handling of this, and other incidents, exhibits an appalling disregard for workplace ethics and fosters a toxic environment that devalues female officers,” the police women’s association’s statement said. “He was not fired, nor was he demoted — he remains a supervisor.”
The disciplinary action can be appealed through a regular civil process if Grandberry chooses, Hudson said.
Robert Rogers, a Dallas Police Association attorney representing Grandberry, told The News that he does not plan to appeal at this time and considers the disciplinary matter closed.
Because the incident deals with personnel, Hudson said, the department cannot comment beyond the disciplinary findings.
Grandberry’s suspension was announced alongside the firing of four Dallas police employees for offenses ranging from alleged driving under the influence of alcohol to “violating personnel rules of conduct,” according to a department statement.