At the sheriff's office, the administrative inquiry continued. Loomis received an opportunity to respond to allegations that he had approved complaint closures without reviewing relevant evidence. He argued that the department had expected supervisors to handle hundreds of tasks with little support. Investigators acknowledged the workload but found that several decisions involved omissions too fundamental to explain as ordinary delay.
One file contained an email from a patrol deputy asking Loomis whether a complainant's video should be requested. Loomis replied, "Not necessary. We already have the officer's statement." Another contained a handwritten note directing a clerk to close a complaint after the complainant asked for an independent review. The records did not prove a criminal conspiracy, but they showed how a supervisor had made it easier for Perkins to dismiss criticism instead of examining his own conduct. Loomis was removed from complaint oversight, then terminated after the administrative process concluded.
His termination did not erase the fourteen letters that had gone out under his name. The sheriff's office notified complainants that their cases were being reassessed and offered them the opportunity to submit additional information. Some did. Others declined, weary of repeating painful experiences to another set of officials who might not listen. The department could not require forgiveness, and its new supervisors were instructed not to treat refusal to participate as proof that an old complaint had been baseless.
Fielding faced a separate administrative hearing. He had not torn the uniform or placed the handcuffs on Grace, but he had been present, had recognized serious problems with the basis for detention, and had failed to intervene. Investigators considered his cooperation and his admission that he feared career retaliation. They also considered the responsibility every sworn officer has to protect people from unlawful conduct, including conduct by fellow officers.
At the hearing, Fielding did not attempt to blame Perkins for his silence. "He made the decision to arrest her," he said. "I made the decision not to speak when I knew we had no reasonable basis for it. I knew there was a printed program. I knew people were offering to verify her identity. I kept thinking I would say something at the next moment, and then the next moment passed."
His lawyer argued that a junior officer should not be held to the same level of authority as the deputy directing the encounter. The panel agreed that rank differences mattered to discipline, but concluded that the basic duty to report an obvious violation did not disappear because one officer was younger. Fielding was terminated from the department. The state certification board then reviewed his conduct, imposed a professional sanction, and barred him from sworn law enforcement employment for a period subject to a formal reinstatement process.
Olivia sat beside Fielding after the hearing and waited until the room emptied before speaking. He told her he did not know how he would find another job. She reminded him that they still had a daughter to raise and that their financial problems were real. Then she added, "But we can't build a life by pretending you weren't there. We'll figure out work. You have to figure out how to be the man you wanted Lily to know."