Force Had Shed Bad Image : Officer Charged in Mace Attack Fired

A Simi Valley police officer, accused of assaulting a prisoner on the very day that a grand jury report praised his police department for overcoming a reputation for brutality, was fired Monday.

Officer Loyd Waters, 24, was terminated effective Friday by Police Chief Lindsey P. Miller. Waters still faces a misdemeanor charge of assault under the color of authority for allegedly spraying the chemical Mace at a handcuffed prisoner in a holding cell on April 1.

The incident occurred as the Ventura County Grand Jury lauded Simi Valley police for making “a dramatic turnaround” from the early 1980s, when the department was rocked by charges of brutality and other misconduct.

Police Lauded

The report complimented police for cutting citizens’ complaints by 63% since 1981 and for having a spotless record so far this year. Jurors also praised the department because no lawsuits alleging excessive use of force had been filed against it since mid-1982.

Waters was charged with assault after allegedly spraying the disabling chemical on Christopher J. Durkee, 28, of Simi Valley.

Police said Durkee was detained after officers observed him acting in a threatening manner and suspected he might be mentally ill. Durkee, who was uninjured by the chemical, was later taken to Camarillo State Hospital for mental observation and then released.

Miller said he ordered the firing after a departmental investigation into Waters’ actions. He said he plans to meet with the department’s 82 officers at 8 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the incident and “talk about perspectives.”

Miller said Monday that he did not consider the use of the chemical spray as an offense as serious as an attack that would have left Durkee with broken bones. “However, you steal a nickel, you steal a million,” he said.

‘We Have Rules’

Last week, after suspending Waters from duty with pay and ordering the internal investigation, Miller said he did not intend to be overly hard on policemen. “But they have to understand that we have rules and regulations that will be followed,” he said.

That type of firmness was praised by the grand jury, which cited Miller’s “decisive and intelligent leadership” in pulling the Simi Valley Police Department out of its purportedly bad habits.

Miller, a 47-year-old retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, joined the department as deputy chief in 1981, when the agency was facing allegations that a woman arrested for drunk driving had been raped in a station holding cell.

Although no one was prosecuted in the alleged attack on the woman, that report and others eventually led to the disciplining of several officers and the resignation of Police Chief Donald E. Rush.

After succeeding Rush, Miller fired two officers for misconduct. Another 13 retired or resigned under pressure.

Appeal is Planned

Waters, who is scheduled to be arraigned May 2 in Ventura Municipal Court in the Mace-spraying incident, plans to appeal his firing, according to his attorney, William Hadden.

If convicted on the assault charge, the officer could be sentenced to up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Waters could not be reached for comment Monday, but Hadden said Waters is handling the firing and the assault charge “like a mature individual.”

Edward Brodie, a Ventura County deputy district attorney who is prosecuting Waters, said he was surprised that Waters was fired before the holding-cell assault charge had been resolved in court.

Brodie, who was a highway patrolman for 13 years before becoming a lawyer, said, “I don’t think anybody in law enforcement” likes to see an officer charged with brutality.