Post by KC on Apr 29, 2006 20:54:09 GMT -5
04/29/2006 - The West Lafayette police officer recommended for dismissal related to last summer's Fraternal Order of Police-sponsored bus trip says he has requested a hearing to challenge the suggested discipline.
Chief Dan Marvin on Friday filed charges with the city's Police Merit Commission, recommending that Specialist George L. Weast be fired for lying during internal and criminal investigations into allegations of misconduct by several officers during and after the July 21 trip to Cincinnati.
Weast, a 12-year veteran of the West Lafayette Police Department, is suspected of sending the two anonymous e-mails -- under the alias of former Chicago cubs shortstop "Nomar Garciapara" -- to Mayor Jan Mills that sparked disciplinary hearings against four officers. Weast did not attend the trip.
"As much as I have something to say, unfortunately I'm not able to because of department policy," Weast said when contacted by the Journal and Courier on Friday.
"I have sent a request to the president of the merit commission requesting a hearing. ... I expect him to receive it soon."
Weast, who works for the special services divisiondoing fleet management and maintenance and some traffic enforcement, is accused of unbecoming conduct and immoral conduct. Marvin said Weast also violated numerous merit commission policies.
In the findings of fact and formal charges against Weast sent to the merit commission Friday, Marvin said Weast originally lied about having any knowledge of the e-mails.
He later admitted to a state police detective that he had the password for the e-mail account, which he allegedly gained after "a note with the e-mail address and the password 'cubbies' followed by three numbers had been slipped under his office door," the findings state.
"Officer Weast is not being charged because he reported officer misconduct. He's being charged because he was not truthful and forthcoming," Marvin said. "It affects an officer's credibility with the courts and with the public as well."
The state police criminal investigation determined that the e-mail account had been accessed from three locations: the WLPD records department, the Otterbein Police Department, where Weast worked part-time, and from Weast's home using an America Online account.
Scott Ksander, a computer forensics expert from Purdue University, told investigators he believes Weast is the person who sent the e-mails, which contained both accurate and inaccurate descriptions of goings-on during and after the bus trip.
Weast also told investigators that his favorite baseball team is the Chicago Cubs.
The merit commission must schedule a hearing -- not fewer than 14 days nor more than 30 days -- from Friday, to hear evidence on the disciplinary action. It will be the fifth case related to the bus trip investigation since October 2005 to go before the five-member civilian board.
From those hearings, two officers were suspended, and two others were reassigned as a result of the investigation. One of the officers resigned in late February.
The city has paid more than $90,000 in legal fees getting to the bottom of the misconduct case.
Weast said he has hired Indianapolis-based law firm Ruckelshaus, Roland, Kautzman, Blackwell and Hasbrook to represent him. One of its attorneys, Elizabeth Bemis, represented Weast in early 2004, when Marvin recommended that Weast be dismissed, but the board instead suspended him for 30 days without pay.
Weast had been accused of lying to police and the prosecutor's office about an alleged illegal search during a drug investigation.
Chief Dan Marvin on Friday filed charges with the city's Police Merit Commission, recommending that Specialist George L. Weast be fired for lying during internal and criminal investigations into allegations of misconduct by several officers during and after the July 21 trip to Cincinnati.
Weast, a 12-year veteran of the West Lafayette Police Department, is suspected of sending the two anonymous e-mails -- under the alias of former Chicago cubs shortstop "Nomar Garciapara" -- to Mayor Jan Mills that sparked disciplinary hearings against four officers. Weast did not attend the trip.
"As much as I have something to say, unfortunately I'm not able to because of department policy," Weast said when contacted by the Journal and Courier on Friday.
"I have sent a request to the president of the merit commission requesting a hearing. ... I expect him to receive it soon."
Weast, who works for the special services divisiondoing fleet management and maintenance and some traffic enforcement, is accused of unbecoming conduct and immoral conduct. Marvin said Weast also violated numerous merit commission policies.
In the findings of fact and formal charges against Weast sent to the merit commission Friday, Marvin said Weast originally lied about having any knowledge of the e-mails.
He later admitted to a state police detective that he had the password for the e-mail account, which he allegedly gained after "a note with the e-mail address and the password 'cubbies' followed by three numbers had been slipped under his office door," the findings state.
"Officer Weast is not being charged because he reported officer misconduct. He's being charged because he was not truthful and forthcoming," Marvin said. "It affects an officer's credibility with the courts and with the public as well."
The state police criminal investigation determined that the e-mail account had been accessed from three locations: the WLPD records department, the Otterbein Police Department, where Weast worked part-time, and from Weast's home using an America Online account.
Scott Ksander, a computer forensics expert from Purdue University, told investigators he believes Weast is the person who sent the e-mails, which contained both accurate and inaccurate descriptions of goings-on during and after the bus trip.
Weast also told investigators that his favorite baseball team is the Chicago Cubs.
The merit commission must schedule a hearing -- not fewer than 14 days nor more than 30 days -- from Friday, to hear evidence on the disciplinary action. It will be the fifth case related to the bus trip investigation since October 2005 to go before the five-member civilian board.
From those hearings, two officers were suspended, and two others were reassigned as a result of the investigation. One of the officers resigned in late February.
The city has paid more than $90,000 in legal fees getting to the bottom of the misconduct case.
Weast said he has hired Indianapolis-based law firm Ruckelshaus, Roland, Kautzman, Blackwell and Hasbrook to represent him. One of its attorneys, Elizabeth Bemis, represented Weast in early 2004, when Marvin recommended that Weast be dismissed, but the board instead suspended him for 30 days without pay.
Weast had been accused of lying to police and the prosecutor's office about an alleged illegal search during a drug investigation.