Fort Smith police release bodycam footage related to officer misconduct investigation
By: -----
Fort Smith, AK - The Fort Smith Police Department (FSPD) has released bodycam footage related to the hazing and misconduct investigation into six recently fired officers.
FSPD reported that on Dec. 10, 2024, authorities from the Office of Professional Standards were "made aware of alleged hazing, belittling, and dangerous 'horseplay' by certain officers assigned to the night shift Patrol."
The alleged misconduct included officers reportedly pointing loaded firearms at other officers and threatening them with Tasers. "Additionally, the same group of officers engaged in hazing, including name-calling and threats to withhold backup in dangerous situations if others refused to comply with their behavior," the release said.
After investigating, officials found "serious misconduct involving potentially criminal acts, hazardous behavior, and harassment of newer officers," according to FSPD.
This led to the termination of Rodrigo Roque, Micahel D'Agostino, Danny Nacalaban, Seth Dominic, Johnne Le, and Dalton Tucker. Of these officers, three were reportedly untruthful during the investigation.
On March 13, FSPD released bodycam footage showing an officer pointing a Taser at another officer.
Audio is unavailable for the first part of the video due to the camera's system functions. According to the Axon website, when the camera is turned on, it goes into buffering mode, recording without sound for 30 seconds.
After 30 seconds of the video, you can hear and see the officer laughing after pointing the Taser at the officer. A hand then appears to cover the camera, obstructing the view.
FSPD PIO Aric Mitchell said decertification hearings will be held later this month.
The officers who were victims of these acts have decided not to press charges, according to FSPD.
FSPD said that the firing of these six officers who worked the night shift will not jeopardize public safety.