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    CBKN76
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    Sgt. Geoffrey Cole: Sergeant Cole was Duenas’s supervisor on the scene in the Bernal incident and is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit for failing to stop the unjust arrest​
    CASETEXT.COM

    CASETEXT.COM
    . Cole allegedly stood by while Duenas handcuffed and charged Bernal without cause. The lawsuit includes counts for “Failure to Supervise” and “Failure to Intervene” against Sgt. Cole, noting that as the ranking officer present, he should have known no crime was committed and prevented the violation of Bernal’s rights​
    CASETEXT.COM
    . Beyond the Bernal case, Sgt. Cole has faced public allegations of misconduct in at least one other instance. In a widely shared comment on the police department’s Facebook page, a resident claimed that Cole unlawfully entered a mother’s home without a warrant and handcuffed her teenage son by mistake, only to remove the cuffs upon realizing the error​
    FACEBOOK.COM
    . That online allegation portrays Cole as abusing his authority and lying to cover a mistake (though it remains an allegation on social media; no court case on that specific incident has been reported yet). What is confirmed is that Cole’s conduct is under scrutiny due to the Bernal lawsuit. The outcome of that case will determine if Cole is held civilly liable for allowing a false arrest. Internally, it likely prompted retraining on First Amendment and disorderly persons issues. Cole has not publicly commented, but the litigation and community complaints suggest a pattern of overstepping constitutional bounds, or at least not preventing such overreach by subordinates. For a small department like Bogota’s, these incidents involving Sgt. Cole undermine public trust and could lead to disciplinary action depending on the lawsuit’s resolution.

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