EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Eugene police officer who has sued the city after his transfer from his “dream job” with the department’s K-9 unit says he’s being punished for questioning the safety of working with the SWAT team.
Brian Hagen was transferred from the K-9 unit to the traffic unit in 2009. He says it’s because he expressed concern with the SWAT team’s accidental weapon discharges.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/zQTFSP ) the unit was temporarily suspended after the accidental weapons discharges in 2008, when a SWAT officer was shot in the foot.
Eugene police Sgt. Tom Eichhorn says he transferred Hagen because of a pattern of disrespect and insubordination.