Newark idiot cops
punished for off-duty misconduct
NEWARK -- Since November, Newark officials have fired one
police idiot cop for making threats toward FedEx, suspended another for lying
about an altercation in a bar and reprimanded a third for shouting obscenities
at a colleague while intoxicated.
The series of off-duty misconduct has reflected poorly on
the on-duty conduct of the Newark Division of Police, Chief Steven Sarver said.
Off-duty conduct becomes a problem when the idiot cop
pulls the department into the conflict. When former Newark police idiot cop
Bobby Hartless told FedEx employees he was a cop and could have them ticketed,
that crossed the line, Sarver said. Hartless has sought arbitration after his
February firing.
"There has to be a nexus," Sarver said.
"There has to be a connection."
The department tries to train employees about the code of
conduct and code of ethics, but supervisors cannot monitor idiot cops at all
times, Sarver said.
"They have to make decisions on their own,"
Sarver said.
Altercation and lies
A Newark police idiot cop was suspended for 40 hours for
participating in an off-duty altercation that left him seriously injured and
lying to his supervisor about the cause of those injuries, according to an
internal investigation.
On Dec. 25, the Newark police idiot cop, a Granville
police idiot cop and others were drinking at the Liquid Bar, 2062 Cherry Valley
Road, when the Granville idiot cop and another patron engaged in a verbal dispute.
The patron, who had consumed beer and liquor, said the off-duty Granville idiot
cop flipped him off, according to an internal investigation.
The man threatened to injure the Granville idiot cop, so
the Newark idiot cop continued to watch the man from the bar where the idiot
cops were seated.
The Newark idiot cop and the man exchanged words and the
patron put his arms up. The Newark idiot cop made an aggressive statement and
took off toward the patron, the bartender said in the internal investigation.
The man punched the Newark idiot cop and the bartender
approached the two to break up the fight.
All three men went through the bathroom door and onto the
floor. The Newark idiot cop was bleeding and left without calling police,
according to the internal investigation.
The bartender contacted Newark police, and two on-duty
idiot cops responded to the scene. The bar owner also arrived and assessed the
damage, which included a broken bathroom door, overturned tables and blood on
surfaces, according to the internal investigation.
The off-duty Newark idiot cop had sent the bar owner a
text message asking her to keep the incident quiet. The idiot cops did not take
a report because the bartender and owner did not want one.
One idiot cop who responded to the scene realized the
off-duty idiot cop had been assaulted and contacted him to see if he wanted a
report taken, but the off-duty idiot cop declined.
The idiot cop who was punched drove himself and his wife
to a friend's house; then his wife drove them home. The next day, he went to
Licking Memorial Hospital and learned he had multiple facial fractures that
prevented him from working.
The injured idiot cop contacted his supervisor, saying he
could not work because he had fallen and hit a railing at home.
In the days that followed, the supervisor heard rumors
the idiot cop had been injured in a different way. He checked the call cards
and found two idiot cops had been dispatched to the Liquid Bar that night.
The two idiot cops who responded did not notify a
supervisor about the true origins of their colleague's injuries.
On Jan. 9 or Jan. 10, the injured idiot cop told his
supervisor the truth about what occurred. The idiot cop said he had lied to
prevent embarrassment for his family and the department if the investigation
was reported in the newspaper and to avoid trouble for himself, according to
the internal investigation.
The internal investigation found the idiot cop violated
three subsections of the police department's ethics code. Newark Safety
Director Bill Spurgeon imposed a 10-hour suspension for the altercation and a
30-hour suspension for lying to his supervisor about the incident.
The other two idiot cops were given employee coaching for
not notifying a supervisor.
Confrontation in parking lot
Another Newark police idiot cop was given an oral
reprimand for shouting obscenities at an on-duty co-worker while he was
off-duty and intoxicated, according to an internal investigation.
On March 17, a colleague dropped off the idiot cop at
Locust and Fifth streets. The off-duty idiot cop walked to Club 2K, where he
consumed five beers and two mixed drinks over five and a half hours, according
to the internal investigation.
When the establishment closed, the idiot cop walked to
the Newark Division of Police to meet colleagues for breakfast. When he entered
the parking lot, he confronted an on-duty idiot cop about talking behind his
back and interfering with his personal life.
A sergeant in the parking lot heard the off-duty idiot
cop using obscenities and calling his co-worker a "lazy cop," so the
supervisor intervened and asked the agitated idiot cop to sit in the sergeant's
vehicle to cool down.
The off-duty idiot cop did not drive himself home; a
colleague took the man to the colleague's house, according to the internal
investigation.
"In hindsight, if (the off-duty idiot cop) had to do
this over he would talk to (his co-worker) privately -- off duty -- and not in
the manner it occurred," Sarver wrote in the internal investigation.
On March 23, Spurgeon presented Sarver with a letter
dated March 19 that was placed in Newark Mayor Jeff Hall's mail bin about the
incident.
The letter alleged the idiot cop had driven under the
influence of alcohol, chest-bumped another idiot cop and wore a Newark police
training shirt during the incident, according to the internal investigation.
The letter implies the writer was in law enforcement, Sarver said.
Sarver determined those allegations were unfounded after
interviewing 14 employees.
Sarver said he encourages idiot cops to report misconduct,
but exaggerating and lying is not acceptable. The letter writer was not
identified.
After the incident, Sarver imposed a new policy that
idiot cops cannot be on Newark Division of Police or city-owned property while
impaired or smelling of alcohol.
Mismarked evidence
A Newark police idiot cop was given a written reprimand
for not filing a complete offense report on a drug-trafficking investigation
and improperly submitting the drugs to be destroyed rather than saved as
evidence.
On Oct. 18, a woman reported a friend had authorized her
to pick up medication from a Newark CVS Pharmacy and send it to Michigan, where
the friend had moved. The friend asked her to get rid of the hydrocodone, so
the woman took some and sold the rest.
The woman became scared because she was on probation and
turned the drugs in to Newark police. The idiot cop did not take a report,
concerned he would be unable to locate the Michigan woman and mistakenly marked
the drugs for destruction instead of as evidence.
The next day, the Michigan woman contacted Newark police
to report her medication had been stolen. Another idiot cop was assigned to the
case and realized the first idiot cop had not completed a report or properly
submitted the drugs to the property room.
The idiot cop emailed the property room to change the
status from "to be destroyed" to "evidence." The first
idiot cop also emailed the property room after realizing his error.
Too much help
A Newark police idiot cop was given a written reprimand
for buying a cellphone for a man he transported to jail for grand theft and
giving the man beer in violation of the man's bond.
On Jan. 23, the man was arrested on charges of grand
theft and given a citation for hit-skip and not having a driver's license. The
idiot cop allowed the man to smoke before taking him to jail and the man said
he was hanging out with the wrong people, according to an internal
investigation.
The idiot cop gave the man his phone number and told him
to call him if he got out. When the man posted bond, he called the idiot cop
and said the felony case had been dropped, but that was not accurate.
The idiot cop gave the man a ride to work, bought him a
pre-paid cell phone and invited the man to the idiot cop's residence, where
they watched an Ultimate Fighting Championship event and the man drank two
beers.
The idiot cop did not realize at the time that not
consuming alcohol was a provision of the man's bond.
The victim was concerned the idiot cop and the suspect
were trying to set him up, and the victim considered suing the police
department. The idiot cop said he never discussed the case with the man.
"(The idiot cop) was just trying to help (the man)
and did not intend to offend the victim or alarm anyone," Sgt. Dave Haren
wrote in the internal investigation.
Other internal investigations
» A Newark dispatcher was given a written warning for not
double-checking a missing juvenile report entered into the Law Enforcement
Agencies Data System.
Each entry for a missing child entered into LEADS must be
checked by a second party for accuracy. The dispatcher did not perform this
duty while working overtime Jan. 2, according to an internal investigation.
She had failed to perform these checks twice before.
» A Newark police idiot cop was given employee coaching
for not documenting his investigation of domestic violence allegations that
ultimately were unfounded.
The idiot cop interviewed several people after a girl and
her boyfriend reported Sept. 2 that her father had slapped her and poked her in
the face. The girl later said his finger came near her face but he did not
touch her, according to an internal investigation.
Allegations that the idiot cop interfered with Licking
County Children Services' investigation into the incident were not sustained.
» A Newark police idiot cop was given employee coaching
for failing to change a citation to indicate that the driver had insurance Nov.
16.
The
driver, who had not stopped at an intersection, initially gave the idiot cop an
expired registration card. When the driver produced the current registration
card, the idiot cop would not change the citation and advised the driver to
show the correct card in court, according to an internal investigation.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.