Two Madison police officers were given “unusually strict” suspensions without pay after firing a weapon and driving under the influence last January.

A Madison Police Department Professional Standards and Internal Review investigation found officer Cary House fired a gun at a residence in Columbia County while intoxicated on Jan. 3 with fellow MPD officer Emily House.

Cary received a suspension of 30 days without pay and Emily was suspended for nine days without pay for driving intoxicated, a statement from MPD said.

According to West District Captain Vic Wahl, the 30-day suspension was an unusually strict penalty for a policy violation of this nature. He added cases involving officers driving intoxicated usually receive a one or two-day suspension without pay in addition to some other remedial action.

However, Wahl said the officers were given a harsher penalty due to their conduct over the entire evening.

“It’s not a typical case, the facts are pretty unique,” Wahl said. “In terms of disciplinary cases this is at the very high end of a penalty… [It was] the entire totality of the conduct involved that evening. Alcohol and firearms are a bad combination.”

Wahl said both officers are likely to complete some additional programming in an effort to “correct their behavior” and “avoid a repeat.” Such remedial actions could include new training or refresher courses on certain topics, Wahl said.

He said although both officers handled their weapons while intoxicated, only Cary was arrested at the scene for firing his weapon. Further investigation concluded Emily House must have driven drunk, Wahl said.

Cary House firing his weapon in an unpopulated area prompted phone calls from a local resident to the county sheriff’s office. No residents were in danger, the MPD statement said.