Opinion ID: 1960972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Beckman's Testimony

Text: Beckman testified at the hearing before the Board that in August 1988, after returning from a two week travel assignment with President Reagan, he was informed that he would be assigned for a month in Santa Barbara, California on a Presidential detail. He became upset because such assignments were customarily for only two weeks, and he was just returning home after two weeks away. He failed to appear for work the next day because he wanted to stay with [his] family, and as a result, he was given a one-day suspension and relieved of the Santa Barbara assignment. Beckman testified that after the disciplinary action, he made what he described as an unfortunate remark to a colleague, which he thought would not be disclosed. He said to his colleague that he had done something wrong and might as well just go into the boss's office and shoot it up and then just take care of myself also. Because of these threatening remarks, Beckman was ordered to undergo a fitness for duty psychological evaluation by Dr. Guedalia, which Dr. Filson mentioned in his report. Beckman did not receive any follow-up treatment with respect to the incident or the diagnosis by Dr. Guedalia. In the summer of 1996, Beckman was assigned to the Olympics in Atlanta as an intelligence team coordinator. While he was off duty at a club next to the Olympic site at Centennial Park, a bomb exploded, and Beckman went over to try to assist one of the victims. According to Dr. Filson's report, one of the women Beckman tried to assist had been decapitated. He and several other state agents interviewed witnesses through the night until he was relieved at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Although he had not slept in thirty-four hours, he resumed his regular work schedule the next day. In November of 1996, Beckman volunteered for an assignment to the Violent Crimes Task Force in Cincinnati, Ohio, which would not require travel. He testified that this assignment was more stressful, since he was concurrently assigned to the field office which still required travel. He acted as firearms and physical fitness coordinator, and his duties with the Task Force required that he find and arrest fugitives and other individuals wanted for the commission of violent crimes. He was on call around the clock.