Last update - 00:00 29/10/2007
Police chief penalizes officers who failed to prevent stabbing
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Significant steps will be taken in the coming days against a number of officers at Petah Tikva police station, including the station commander, over their handling of an incident last week in which a female resident of the town was stabbed by her partner.
Immediately after the incident was reported, station commander Superintendent Nissim Mor appointed an investigating officer to probe claims of insufficient action on the part of police who visited the couple at the scene of the crime hours before the stabbing occurred.
The probe found that a neighbor had called Petah Tikva police complaining of an unruly man next door. A police unit was dispatched and upon arriving took the neighbor's testimony and did not investigate further. The neighbor said she had stressed to police that she suspected the man had attacked and injured his partner who was still in the apartment at the time.
The following morning the police were called again to the apartment where the neighbor had entered and found the woman. She had been stabbed all over her body and was suffering severe burns to the head. The woman was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
The police inquiry was launched instantly despite explanations on the part of the station and regional commanders, who said the officers called to the scene had made the right decision in not entering the couple's apartment. They said the police were required to deal with the incident as a "neighborly dispute" and nothing more.
The results of the probe indicated a chain of operational shortcomings, the most serious of which was the policemen's failure to deal with the case to its completion. On the basis of the findings, the regional commander decided to take serious steps against those responsible for the mishandling of the incident.
The Petah Tikva police chief received a demerit in his personal file; the patrol commander will be brought before the police disciplinary board and demoted. The patrol policemen will also be brought before the disciplinary board. The duty officer on that night will receive a demerit in his file and he, as well as the station's patrol chief, will be reassigned.
These are not the first allegations of mismanagement on the part of Petah Tikva police. Last week, the family of Inbal Amram, who had been murdered last year, filed a lawsuit, claiming that the murder could have been averted had it not been for the station's negligence. An investigating officer was also appointed in this case, but the policemen who handled the case are still in active service.