Some say proper protocols ignored

WASHINGTON -- The upper management of the US Capitol Police came under harsh criticism yesterday for its handling of Representative Patrick J. Kennedy's Thursday morning car crash, when the veteran congressman was sent home without a sobriety test.

Police also did not file an official report about the incident until nearly a day later -- after news of Kennedy's crash had been leaked to the media, according to a union official.

The report said Kennedy's green Ford Mustang was speeding and swerving on the streets near the Capitol, then narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a patrol cruiser before striking a checkpoint barrier.

The report also showed that the patrol officer believed Kennedy, who appeared to be disoriented, should be charged for three offenses: speeding, leaving his lane, and not taking care in the operation of his vehicle. But instead of being issued those citations at the scene, Kennedy was driven home by an officer.

One lower-ranking officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said yesterday that it was unusual for officers not to cite Kennedy at the scene of the crash.

He said Kennedy would have to come in to the police station at a later date to be issued the tickets.

Kennedy was not given a breath test despite the fact that officers at the scene checked off alcohol influence and not drug use as a suspected contributing factor in the crash.

Lou Cannon, the president of the union that represents the Capitol Police, accused the department's management of giving Kennedy special treatment because of his status as a congressman.

''I don't think that you or I would have gotten the same treatment," Cannon said in a phone interview.

Christopher McGaffin, acting chief of the Capitol Police, told the congressional newspaper Roll Call that supervisors had made mistakes in judgment and ''significant" administrative action had been taken. Cannon said he believed a supervisor had been reassigned.

Yesterday, the department posted a statement on its website acknowledging that it had opened an internal investigation into whether any officials had violated procedures in the case.

''In addition to determining the existence of any evidence that would support traffic charges, the department is also reviewing steps taken during the initial accident investigation to ensure compliance with existing policies and procedures," the statement said.

In an interview, the department spokeswoman, Sergeant Kimberly Schneider, declined to say whether administering a sobriety test to an apparently impaired driver and issuing tickets at the scene were standard policies.

According to an official Senate history, the Capitol Police used to be rife with patronage hires. Its officers were beholden to lawmakers for their jobs and received little training in professional conduct.

In recent decades, however, the patronage system has faded and tougher hiring and training standards have been imposed, in part because of the threat of terrorism.

The attempt to cite Kennedy is the second high-profile altercation between a member of Congress and a Capitol police officer this year. In March, the Capitol police charged Representative Cynthia McKinney, Democrat of Georgia, with assault after she struck an officer who had grabbed her arm at a security checkpoint.

McKinney had tried to bypass a metal detector, a favor sometimes afforded to lawmakers. But the officer said he did not recognize McKinney because she was not wearing a special pin identifying her as a House member and had recently changed her hairstyle.