UPDATE: 1:33 p.m. on Sept. 18, 2023
The disciplinary hearing for Officer Sam Bowen will now take place on Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Greenwood City Center, 300 S. Madison Avenue. The meeting was rescheduled due to a conflict with a 6 p.m. meeting of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, which uses the same space, a city official said.
Original story:
The disciplinary hearings for two suspended Greenwood officers will now take place on different days in October.
The Greenwood Police Merit Commission voted 4-0 with one member absent Thursday afternoon to grant continuances for the disciplinary hearings for suspended Officers Sam Bowen and Elijah Allen. The hearings had initially been set for Sept. 20.
Attorneys for both Bowen and Allen had requested the continuances, citing scheduling conflicts.
Bowen’s hearing is now set for Oct. 24, and Allen’s is set for Oct. 30. Both hearings will take place at 5 p.m. at the Greenwood City Center, 300 S. Madison Avenue.
Both Bowen and Allen are facing termination for allegedly violating three of the department’s policies: Information and Technology Use; Mobile Data Center Use; and Standards of Conduct. This is in connection to obscene messages sent on department computers that contained slurs referring to African Americans, Jewish people, the LGBT community, and people with intellectual disabilities.
Bowen has also sued the city and Police Chief Jim Ison in federal court alleging retaliation after he criticized the chief on social media. That lawsuit is ongoing.
