Here's my 'strictly independent' thoughts and observations, and do not reflect the opinions of anyone but myself.
This is probably a case of 'the perfect storm'. Jeff, I'd heard, was a perfectionist. It could have been that any blemish on his record would have been unacceptable in his mind.
Then, there's this, as of June 2013.
Fargo ex-cops claim the environment at work is "toxic" | WDAY | Fargo, ND
I can't get the longer article to show, but it was a cover story for the Forum last year. If you have a 'toxic' environment with strong handed, overbearing punishments for seeming menial mistakes......... that we ALL make...... fallibleness is a quality ALL humans possess...... That MAY make someone try to 'cover up' something otherwise seen as fairly petty. In no way am I condoning this, just an observation. But, if we're at the point where we fear the street, and we fear admin....... it makes good cops just shut down, in ROD mode, just trying to get thru the shift.
Then, there's lost credibility. The taser discharge...... not so bad...... the cover up afterwards, bad. All we have anymore is our integrity, and it's getting to the point that just our word is not enough, the courts was videos, recordings..... of everything. Once the truth came out, credibility was shot.
Yeah, he messed up. However, take your licks, resign or get fired, or whatever....... put time between this and the future, at which point, try something else. With his experience, down the road, he could have gone to any podunk town and been the Chief.
Overall, it's just a said chain of events and the perfect storm.