Transfers in DC cop unit that OK'd Sheen escort

[June 09, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two District of Columbia police officers assigned to the unit that provided an escort to actor Charlie Sheen have been transferred.

An internal police document obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press shows that Lt. Stuart Emerman and Capt. Robert Atcheson have been removed from the department's Special Operations Division. Officers from that division gave Sheen an escort April 19 from Dulles International Airport to a performance at DAR Constitution Hall.

Sheen tweeted about the escort and included a photograph showing a speedometer of a car registering about 80 mph.

Emerman was a lieutenant in the division's planning unit, which oversees escorts and major details, and Atcheson was his captain. The two were transferred to patrol services and school safety bureaus in different police districts. A third member of the division who was involved in canine patrol was also transferred.

The department did not provide a reason for those transfers, or about a dozen others, in the document. Commander Hilton Burton, who runs the Special Operations Division, said Wednesday that he had not yet been given a reason for the transfers, and DC police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump also said she did not know why.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in April that Sheen's escort appeared to violate police protocol, though she stressed last month that police escorts can be given to celebrities when there are concerns about security or crowd control. The internal affairs division has been investigating the escort.

The Associated Press reported last month that other celebrities, including Jay-Z and Bill Gates, have received escorts in the last two years. The D.C. Council committee that oversees the police department has scheduled a hearing for later this month on the escorts.

[Associated Press]

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