McKINNEY, Texas — The Mayor and Police Chief of the City of McKinney responded in a press conference to the resignation of Corporal Eric Casebolt Tuesday afternoon. Casebolt resigned following the release of a video showing him wrestling a bikini-clad teenage girl to the ground after she failed to comply with commands and resisted being detained.
“As the Chief of Police I want to say to our community that the actions of Casebolt, as seen on the video of the disturbance at the community pool, are indefensible,” Chief Greg Conley said at a press conference attended by Breitbart Texas. “Our policies, our training and our practice do not support his actions. He came into the call out of control and as the video shows was out of control during the incident. I had 12 officers on scene and 11 of them performed according to their training. They did an excellent job.”
“Our citizens called us to a fight in progress and general disturbance at the community pool,” the Chief explained. “We responded. I do not condone the actions of those individuals who violated the rules of the community, showed disrespect to the security person on scene and to the officers who responded. However, we as a department are held to a high standard of action as we do our jobs.”
The Chief expressed his support for his officers and gratitude to the residents of McKinney who have shown strong support for his department throughout this incident. ““McKinney is a wonderful city; it is a great place in which to live, work, and visit; we are committed to keeping it that way,” Conley concluded.
McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said, “Over the past several days I have been meeting with residents and representatives from our community to reassure them that we are following an investigative process that is open, fair and legally required. I have received many emails and phone calls and it is important to point out that while Friday’s incident demanded and received our fullest attention, it is not indicative of McKinney as a whole. We have good, law abiding citizens throughout our community including in our Craig Ranch community, and we have good public servants in our police and fire departments. The actions of any one individual do not define us as a community.”
He praised his newly-appointed police chief and said he has confidence in the investigative process. “We will continue to evaluate these events and continue to reach out to community members throughout our city to help move our community forward in a positive manner,” the Mayor concluded.
During a question and answer session, Chief Conley confirmed that Casebolt resigned on his own and under no pressure from the city. He said he has not spoken personally with Casebolt about the issue.
Conley said that Casebolt will be eligible for whatever pension and retirement benefits he has earned during his tenure with the department.
The Chief assured residents that the investigation into any complaints would continue and, if there are grounds, a criminal action could move forward after the investigation is complete. However, because Casebolt resigned, the City cannot issue any kind of administrative punishment.
Asked if officers would receive any kind of different training, Conley responded that he is always evaluating training and making improvements.
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Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.