The union representing Baltimore officers is suing the police commissioner to prevent him from punishing officers exonerated administrative boards, particularly in cases involving patrol-car accidents.
"I think the commissioner is ignoring the law," said Michael Marshall, a lawyer representing the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3. "The decision of guilt or innocence rests with the trial board."
Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier has overturned two cases -- both involving patrol-car accidents -- but Mr. Marshall said department officials have indicated that the commissioner might start to reverse rulings in other cases, such as those involving misconduct or brutality.
Police spokesman Sam Ringgold has declined to comment on the suit. In an interview last month, he said that Mr. Frazier "feels as though the final decision with regard to disciplinary decisions rests with him."
The commissioner said last month that his legal staff "assures me I have the right to do what I did."
The department is accident-prone. In 1993, the year for which the most recent statistics are available, 250 out of 476 accidents involving patrol cars were designated preventable, an all-time high.
More than 70 percent of the accidents involved officers with less than five years on the force. On most Mondays, 40 percent of the department's fleet is in the repair shop, most because of accidents, Mr. Frazier said.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by Eastern District Officer William J. Heilman, 44, a 22-year veteran who was in a minor accident April 9, 1994.
Police said he drove a department car all day, even though a warning light indicated that the anti-lock brakes were failing. The brakes failed, and the car hit a vehicle.
An accident review board, made up of three members of the Police Department, found the accident not preventable, the equivalent of not guilty, court documents say. The board recommended no disciplinary action.
On Jan. 3, Mr. Frazier reversed the decision and ordered a letter of reprimand to be placed in Officer Heilman's file and the officer pay for a percentage of the damage in his next preventable accident.
"The board said that was equipment failure," Mr. Frazier said in an interview last month. "I disagreed and said it was human failure."
The union questions Mr. Frazier's claim that he can reverse a board's not guilty finding.
Officer Gary McLhinney, the union's president, said the Law Enforcement Officer's Bill of Rights, which is part of state law, "clearly states a not guilty finding terminates the action."
The lawsuit asks the court to order that the letter of reprimand be removed from Officer Heilman's personnel file, that the original trial board ruling be restored and that the commissioner be prevented from reversing further decisions.