Panel: Portsmouth Police Officer Broke Code of Ethics

( Portsmouth,N.H.) A panel investigating a disputed inheritance has found that a police sergeant in Portsmouth breached the department's code of ethics and duty manual.

The report says Sgt. Aaron Goodwin violated the code by not refusing Geraldine Webber's offer to leave him $2.7 million in stocks and real estate upon her death. It goes on to say that he should have refused her as soon as she made the offer and notified his supervisor. It also says his chain of command should have advised him about the department's policy that officers cannot accept gifts from the public.The panel suggested instituting annual ethics training, improving internal investigations and updating the department's 20-year-old regulations. A judge has taken Goodwin's case under advisement.

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