FORMER BRENHAM POLICE OFFICER ALLOWED TO RESIGN
Former Brenham Police Officer Richard Bobbitt has been given the opportunity to resign instead of being officially terminated from his position.
A hearing appealing Bobbitt’s termination was postponed last week when Mr. Bobbitt’s attorney approached the City with a request to allow the officer to resign rather than proceed with the hearing. Following discussions by attorneys for both the City and Bobbitt, an agreement was reached to withdraw the termination and allow the officer to resign, effective August 1st.
Bobbitt was separated from his position with the Brenham Police Department on August 1st. He was the subject of an internal investigation which showed that he used excessive force during an arrest in July and was subsequently fired.
The City of Brenham has released a statement saying, “In the interest of both parties, the termination was withdrawn and the officer submitted his resignation, which has been accepted”.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office still has the case under investigation.
Constable Holle –
No one owes you support. Your post demonstrates the typical us v them narrative that perpetuates cop culture and leads to poor community interaction.
There are good police officers who want to kick the bad apples out before they spoil the whole barrel. Then, there are the officers that support the bad actors and demand support from the community while bad actors run amok. I hope you are truly in the first category and chose your words poorly.
Constable Holle is one of the good guys and didn’t choose his words poorly. After over 20 years in law enforcement the sad reality today is that a police officer is assumed guilty even when the actions taken are completely justified. For example look at Ferguson, Baltimore, Charlotte, and numerous other situations that were reported by the media as being an unjustified police killing that in the end was completely justified.
Before passing judgment on the good officers who are in the majority (99.9%) come and spend a shift or even an hour in our shoes. The facts are real that law enforcement is being targeted by a small minority of persons (Example Baton Rouge and the deaths of three law enforcement officers and the wounding of two more by a black extremist).
If the media and certain politicians get their way the law enforcement officer will have to wait to be shot or shot at before responding with deadly force. The current use of force training that is approved by the federal government states that a law enforcement officer can use one level of force higher than the force being used against them which means if a person is holding a gun the officer is justified in using deadly force since reaction is slow than action.
I know the officer that was allowed to resign over this incident of excessive force and it appears that he made a mistake in an extremely stressful situation that only a small minority of the population has ever been exposed to, that minority is law enforcement. Law enforcement has a split second to make a decision that can result in another person loosing their life so that the officer can go home to their family at the end of the shift, would you do anything differently?
First rule of law enforcement is to go home to your family the same way you can to work without injuries, unfortunately more and more officers never go home to their families because their lives are taken by criminals. Think before you post and if you don’t wish to think then take up the badge and become a law enforcement professional!
It does not take a over a month to resign, what else was part of this agreement?
Usually cops that abuse there power. Might have been bullied them selfs in school growing up. Police officer’s are humans just like the rest of us. They are trained to deal with self control within the law. No one is above the law
Thank you Constable Holle and all the other law enforcement officers that do your job day in and day out. I pray that you all are safe in the jobs that you do. Thank you again.
The officer used excessive force and should have been terminated! Officers are trained how to react to these situations and not use excessive force! I know there are a lot of bad ppl out there that do things on purpose to make officers act the way they do but they should know better! Lead by example….
Maybe you should put yourself in that position and you would not be so quick to judge people. God judges not you.
It’s common for those who have broken laws and been arrested to think like you do.
I am ‘Concerned” about a person like you.
I have never been in jail nor will I ever be in jail! His excessive force cost him his job. If you can’t handle being a police officer and can’t control your actions then you should chose another career!
Thanks Ken Holle, well stated.
Anyone leaving comments that says anything bad about an officer that is involved in a chase or any other high stress or potentially dangerous situation are invited to come out and work with me. As an officer for many years it has not gotten any better and any officer or administrator of a law enforcement office would tell you it is getting worse. As law enforcement, we have to think ok we need to get shot first before we shoot back…… REALLY I ask anyone who protests this would YOU??? There again if you are that brave and want to plead with these people I’d love to have you as a deputy but I’m gonna need the commissioners to budget body bags. This is real people, there are bad people out there and there are great people out there. Black White Blue Purple it doesn’t matter. As law enforcement shoot or not shoot??? Do we have the time to decide???? What would you do?? As law enforcement we are almost scared to pull a gun because we are gonna get slammed by public disapproval. Somebody breaks into your house and we show up and they run should we say please stop don’t do that again or would you want us to do what we are trained to do?? WE ARE THE POLICE. CITIZENS DEPEND ON US. SUPPORT US. Again if u think this is easy come work with me. CONSTABLE KEN HOLLE WASHINGTON COUNTY PCT. 1 My contact information to come work with me is 979-251-2577 I applaud Richard because on the road rage incident where he was attacked with a heavy wrench and he took the subject down. great job. Subject would not have been around if I had been first on scene. That’s an attack with a deadly weapon and as law enforcement I would respond with 1 level above the threat level. Richard did good, have not seen the altercation on the chase but I believe Richard would have done the right thing and what any one of you would have done under the same circumstances. Think about who we are judging?? the officer or the person who was running from the police?? Think about it before you make comments… just sayin… Support the thin blue line or be out there yourself.
Mr. Holle I must say you speak well. People who don’t know the job shouldn’t judge the procedure. Officers don’t plan their day, they can’t. With all these crazy and unpredictable people in this world it could never be possible. No one alive can plan their day. God does that. Thank You to all of you that protect and serve. God bless you all!
Not to detract from your service, Ken, but soldiers in the most recent combat (occupation) zones are expected to abide by the rules of engagement, which generally/typically require that you do not fire first. I can appreciate that some law enforcement officers in the U.S. may feel as though they’re serving in a combat zone these days, but I assure you — they’re not.
As well, it is not reassuring to the general citizenry to frequently and repeatedly be reminded that many LE are acting as though they are in combat and are quick to shoot first. I was raised in this county to respect and trust LE, but after many recent experiences with BPD and WCSO as an innocent bystander, I’m sad to tell you that I’m far more afraid these days that I’ll be shot by a LE officer than I ever was afraid overseas that I would be killed by a combatant.
You are absolutely right!
I take great issue with your reaction to this article. First and foremost, I support and care about law enforcement officers, I do not think they deserve to be disrespected or treated badly.
With that being said, you are in a career that you selected, the risks of that career are well known. Many LE such as constables actually decided to seek election their office. Now you act as if we must feel sorry for you. The fact is that you must always be the professional and represent the public to the highest degree of respect in all situations. Yes it is getting bad out there, but your shoot first ask questions later mentality that is evidenced in the response above is frightening.
I to have had innocent encounters with law enforcement where I have been left wandering “who do these people think they are”? I have watched LE yell at the public in situations such as directing traffic, minor traffic violations, etc. There are two sides to every situation and I have seen enough of both to understand that LE is not always perfect in their behavior either.
Being the daughter of another Texas Constable, I have a very different view as a member of the “general public”. I want to be very clear in my statement here–this is not selective to this exact news story, rather a statement of hope that it will elicit a deeper thought for anyone quick to judge our law enforcement officers.
Now, it has become part of the human condition for people to feel comfortable passing judgement on others’ before they understand the entire situation at hand, and have all the proven facts. This isn’t something that is selective to law enforcement alone. People have developed this nasty habit of speaking behind their computer screens of armor, yet would never have the courage, drive, determination, passion, or concern for the community that any one of the officers–be it Constable, Sheriff, Police Officers of any rank, State Trooper, or Texas Ranger.
I grew up seeing my own father leave for all sorts of situations, where we sometimes did not know if he would return home to us. If I was in that situation during such a chaotic time as we are now, I cannot say I would have a very happy childhood. HE LEFT HIS OWN FAMILY TO GO PROTECT YOURS, AND STILL CONTINUES TO DO SO TODAY. Would you be able to do this right now? Based on some of the quick-to-judge comments left on this page, I’m going to assume that answer is NO.
Anyone who believes that any member of law enforcement is wanting your pity in our current cultural environment because he chooses to stand strong in his conviction and honesty of what he endures in his daily profession should seriously re-evaluate where their logic has now been allowed to be control by emotion–in simpler words: THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK.
As a smaller community, which I left years ago, you should all seriously consider coming together to support the men and women who CHOOSE their job to PROTECT you and YOUR FAMILY each and every day, because they WANT to serve their COMMUNITY, HONORABLY. They don’t ask for hand-outs; they don’t WANT to be put in situations with mentally unstable individuals who shoot at them out of pure cowardliness and fear; All they ask is that you RESPECT them, treat them HONESTLY and HONORABLY so that they can do the best job to keep you safe and sound.
Please, take a moment and let this all soak in. Don’t just reply out of anger if I have fired you up, because that is what I hoped this did. I also hope it allows the small Washington County community to come together to strengthen the bond between citizens and Law Enforcement, because they too are citizens just like you–they just choose a much harder job than you did.
Well said Proud Daughter. You spoke eloquently, with conviction, and truthfully. I agree that our society today has left common courtesy and empathy behind. Looking out for one another and standing behind each other should be a part of everyday life. I support all law enforcement. I agree that there are some that should not wear the uniform and do the wrong thing. However, that is true in every profession. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, and the list goes on and on. It does not mean the whole profession is tainted or bad. We should let the justice system work and remember that we don’t know all of the facts because we are not part of the investigarion. I am praying for all involved and remembering that at the end of my life here on earth, I will be judged by God and I don’t want to be found lacking. God bless you all.
He shouldn’t have been terminated to start with… He should still be employed. Everyone on here that says something is fishy or stinks, the fishy thing is that he is punished for “excessive force”. When an officer does their job there should be no reason for them to explain their actions. Job completed is the bottom line.
The current lawyer for the City of Brenham is The Law Office of Cary L. Bovey out of Round Rock Texas is handling this incident.
Who did the attorney get his orders from within the city? Our tax dollars paid for this attorney, and we deserve to know what party or parties in the City of Brenham had the authority to come to this decision.
This is going to put the Brenham Police Department in a bad light with the public. In the future in Brenham an abusive police officer will know they will get an opportunity to resign and not be fired for being a bad cop. Firing an abusive officer and then saying well you didn’t hit her that hard, how about we let you resign instead?
The police department did it’s job and out a bad cop from the department.
Brenham residents deserve some answers on why the ruling was reverse and who made that decision? Something smells fishy in Brenham.
Wait… If he used excessive force, why was he allowed to resign? Why didn’t his termination stick? He could have resigned amid the investigation but it didn’t happen. Did he really do something wrong or are people trying to cover themselves and save face? When is the video or footage getting released?
Officer is terminated at the beginning of August and is now being “allowed” to resign? Why not stick with the termination if there was no question he used “Unnecessary & Excessive” force, why not stick with the termination? Something stinks.
That’s good. I’m glad it worked out for him, just be a little more careful should it happen again. Good luck