Cop Fired For Responding to Officer Down Call

I hope he doesn't get his job back at the university. I hope that he gets picked up by another policy agency that uses some common sense. There always needs to be a balance between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. It seems that common sense was lost in the rules here.

This sounds like behavior typical of some Universities whose apparent lack of "education" when it comes to law enforcement constantly cause problems for their own pd's. The story sounds like some key facts have been omitted. Another typical trait of Universities, feeding the masses, especially students and thier families B.S. to support their own agenda, and keep the tuition flowing.. A cop goes down, you go, end of story. I worked for Universities for years before entering municipal service. I know what I'm talking about. Ultimately this will be good for him, he'll hopefully get picked up by an agency with some integrity in it's leadership. Good luck brother.

Rice University could have stated "This is the kind of character and dedication we admire in our police officers. An officer that put his life on the line to save a human being in a potentially deadly situation. We are proud of Officer Sedmak's actions and moral fiber." -That would have been great PR for the College. Every police oficer is called upon to PRESERVE life when possible.

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OFFICER SEDMAK SHOLD BE PROUD OF WHAT HE DID !!! AS FOR THE REASON POSSIBLY HIM LEAVING ENDANGERED THE STUDENTS AND CAMPUS THAT IS JUST LAME !!! KUDO'S TO HOUSTON PD OFFICERS FOR STANDING IN SUPPORT FOR HIM

wow Rice University has really got there head up there butt. Why would you fire an 17 year veteran of the force for possibly saving two lives? so if a policy said the no other police department can aid Rice university what would the university do? I ll tell you they would gripe and moun about mutual aid and community relations. Give the cop his job back.

I also sent a copy of my email to the Rice University Police Department at dispatch@rice.edu
I wanted to make sure the Chief of Police got a copy so that he would know what I think about him. Here is what I wrote it regards to the Chief of Police:
I wanted to also make it clear that I have no respect for your Chief of Police. If he does not understand why Officer Sedmak did what he did and will not stand up for his officer, he has no business in law enforcement. His reaction to this situation should have been along the lines, "My officer did exactly what he should have done by going to the aid of fellow officers in distress. He is a hero for putting himself in harm’s way to protect others' lives. He is the kind of officer we are proud to have representing our university. However, he did violate department policy by not calling in to dispatch and for that he will receive training/coaching. Being a police officer myself, I understand how he got caught up in the moment and failed to notify dispatch. We just want to make sure that does not happen in the future. So I will be making sure all officers at our department are reminded of our policy on notifying a supervisor in situations like this."

If you wanted to put Rice University on the map, you have done it now. Because of this story, everyone in the world knows about Rice University. If you look at all the posts and comments on the internet regarding this story, you will see that absolutely no one supports what you did and they now have a negative view of you. I believe the only way you can recover is to do the right thing and reinstate Officer Sedmak (though I can't understand why he would want to work for you). You might consider terminating your Chief of Police and letting everyone know you were simply relying on his bad judgment in this case.

I have to agree with TMPA, Kevin Lawrence. Officer down call, all available Law Enforcement personel should respond to assist.

Agree with the previous comments...pure idiotic...the Worse part of it all, Rice feels they did nothing wrong firing Sedmak. I'm Sure the College & Students Survived the hour Sedmak was away helping fellow-officers in distress ;/...agree with the BigHappy, it Should be on the news...