Lawyer criticizes Fort Worth PD for post-chase sanctions

A Fort Worth police SWAT officer is at home without a gun and badge and another demoted for their actions during a bizarre slow-speed chase.

The chase lasted more than two hours and started in Fort Worth and ended in Arlington.

The attorney for the officers and the Fort Worth Police Officers Association lashed out Thursday against the disciplinary actions taken by the department.

Officer Dennis Alise, a veteran officer with in-depth tactical training, has been reassigned to street patrol. Alise was the driver of the tactical bear cat vehicle that rammed the suspect car toward the end of the pursuit.

Police officials call the move an unauthorized maneuver. His attorney disagrees.

"Officer Alise's decision was dead on. He stopped the pursuit, there was no one injured," said attorney Terry Daffron Porter.

SWAT officer Brian Gentry was placed on leave and stripped of his gun and badge.

Gentry was the first officer out of the bearcat for the take-down and was carrying a non-lethal 40 millimeter pellet launcher. Gentry's actions included what appeared to be him hitting the suspect with the butt of the weapon.

"The officers are trained to jerk very hard and wiggle and pull back and that's what he did. He pulled back, he pulled up and he pulled back down. That is consistent with training for weapon retention techniques," Porter said.

Both officers, according to Porter, have yet to be served with a formal personnel complaint which would lay out specifically what they're accused of doing wrong.

Fort Worth police officials would not talk on camera about the actions taken against the officers, but said in a statement, "We shall continually strive to be the most professional, fair and transparent organization when reviewing the actions of our personnel."

The Fort Worth POA said the two different disciplinary actions are inconsistent with past cases. They say it also exposes a bigger issue within the department regarding the chase -- commands were being called in remotely.

"The highest ranking person actually involved in the pursuit should be the one making these calls. I totally agree this thing should've been ended earlier. Our policies are obviously highlighted as inefficient and need to be addressed," said Richard Van Houten of FWPOA.