The Kentucky police detective who arrested top golfer Scottie Scheffler violated department policies by failing to activate his body-worn camera during the interaction, officials said Thursday.
The Louisville Metro Police Department did not reveal what, if any, punishment was meted out to Detective Bryan Gillis. Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel would say only that such action would be “in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices.”
“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not,” Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters Thursday. “His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD police on uniforms and equipment.”
It wasn’t clear Thursday whether Gillis’ failure to capture his dealings with Scheffler would harm a possible prosecution of Scheffler for allegedly failing to follow officers’ directions.
“Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor,” Gwinn-Villaroel said. “We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation.”
Police released videos that partly show what happened a week ago Friday, shot from a squad car dashboard camera and from a roadside pole.
Both sets of video fail to clearly illustrate what might have led to Scheffler’s arrest, with a bus obscuring much of the interaction.
There is no other known video of Scheffler with police, Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
Scheffler’s attorney Steve Romines said in a statement: “Our position remains the same as it was last Friday. I am not negotiating as we have no interest in settling. I am preparing to litigate as needed and the case will be dismissed or we will go to trial because Scottie did absolutely nothing wrong.”
