GPD reviewing July 7 gun incident involving Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio

Jerick Sablan | Pacific Daily News

Show Caption Hide Caption GPD's new Dodge Chargers The Guam Police Department, along with the Office of Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, presented GPD's 18 new Dodge Charger patrol cruisers at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor's Complex in Adelup on May 9, 2018.

Guam Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Tapao said police are aware of a July 7 Pleasure Island incident involving an on-duty officer and Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio.

Tenorio said he noticed that an officer's gun appeared unsecured at the event with thousands of people present.

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"As a former officer, instructor at the police academy, and the overseer of public safety, I saw a teaching moment and wanted to demonstrate the danger of this, so he might ensure his safety. I apologize if I embarrassed the officer, as this was not my intent. He is a good officer and my primary concern was public safety," Tenorio said.

Sen. Telena Nelson, D-Dededo, who has oversight over GPD, sent a letter to the chief of police stating the incident cannot be handled in a 'business as usual' manner.

Tenorio's admitting to grabbing a sidearm from an officer's holster was both reckless and unwarranted and incidents involving top-level government officials have to be dealt with differently, she wrote.

"Specifically, as the administration's "Public Safety Czar', the lieutenant governor's influence over your department is significant and his place in the administration may make full and accurate account of the incident in question difficult to achieve," Nelson wrote.

Nelson is asking GPD to allow an independent third party to investigate the incident in question and publicly ensure no personnel related actions will be taken against the parties or potential witnesses involved.

She also wants the department to disclose its standard operating procedures relative to grabbing an officer's service weapon by a civilian.

Nelson is concerned that if the steps she requested aren't taken the impartiality of the department as an instrument of law will be justly questioned.

"Let's avoid this by being open to an independent review, guaranteeing that no professional harm will befall those who speak to the media or witnessed these events and proving that the department's (standard operating procedures) applies fairly to both the powerful and the powerless," Nelson wrote.

Nelson in a statement said she wants every member of the law enforcement community to know the law is blind to the powerful and the the powerless.

"Regardless of who might be involved in these events, no one has a right to grab your sidearm. No one has a right to put you in a potentially compromising situation, most especially those who’ve worn the uniform before you," she said.

Nelson said titles come with responsibility and those who don’t know that disrespect the title given to them by the people of Guam.

"I don’t want to speculate as to what the Lieutenant Governor’s intentions were, but I do know that, regardless of his intentions, his actions were reckless and unwarranted. We need to ensure a transparent process takes place as we resolve this issue. Thousands of people attended this event and they had every right to feel safe," she said.

Reviewing all official incident reports

The Office of the Chief of Police is currently reviewing all official incident reports that have been submitted by officers and awaiting other incident reports for review, Tapao said.

Upon completion of reviewing all official incident reports, GPD will move forward regarding the matter as no criminal complaint has been filed, Tapao said.

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