An arbitrator has
decided a former Daytona Beach cop who threatened to kill himself and other
policemen responding to his house after his wife called 9-1-1 is not fit to
return to work as a law enforcement officer.
Arbitrator Trevor Bain
of Alabama said the manner in which Ricky Delk handled the volatile situation
at his home the morning of Nov. 11, 2010, could bode badly for other scenarios
Delk will likely find himself in during the course of his duties.
"The arbitrator is
convinced that the Grievant's actions on Nov. 11, 2010, indicate that the
Grievant is not able to perform future assigned duties," Bain wrote in his
26-page report on Delk's grievance.
Delk, in fighting to get
his job back earlier this year, argued that his behavior that morning in his
DeLand home was fueled by an anti-depressant that had been prescribed to him.
The loss of his job runs
counter to the situation of other officers who have been fired over accusations
of wrongdoing, and have gotten their jobs back. That has happened either via
arbitration, or, through negotiations between attorneys for the officers and
the city, Police Chief Mike Chitwood said.
The morning of the
episode at Delk's residence, he had woken up early and told his ex-wife Kim
Jackson -- also a police officer -- that he dreamed he committed suicide in the
shower. He also asked Jackson whether she loved him and she said no.
Delk then pointed two
guns at his head and threatened suicide. Jackson called 9-1-1 and repeatedly
asked Delk to put down the guns. When officers arrived at the scene, Delk
threatened to shoot any cop who entered their home.
Jackson sternly warned
her estranged husband that she would have to shoot him if he attempted to hurt
a fellow officer. Delk fired one of the weapons, leaving a bullet lodged in the
ceiling of a closet, police said. He was arrested and taken first to
Stewart-Marchman Act for treatment, then to the Volusia County Branch Jail.
The criminal charge
against Delk -- firing a deadly missile into a dwelling -- was never prosecuted
by the State Attorney's Office. Instead, the charge was reduced to a
misdemeanor.
Delk also accepted a
deferred prosecution agreement that stipulated he could only carry a gun during
working hours.
While Delk was not
charged with a crime, Bain said Delk still committed an unlawful act, his
report shows. In addition, Bain said he is concerned that because Delk is not
allowed to carry a gun unless he's on duty, he would not be able to assist his
department or his community if something occurred while he was off duty.
Bain also said the
deferred prosecution agreement itself makes it obvious Delk should not be a
cop: "This indicates to the Arbitrator that the court had serious
reservations about allowing the Grievant to possess a weapon."
While Delk's actions
occurred while he was off-duty, Bain said those actions reflect on his
profession.
"Laxity of conduct
or manner in private life will certainly reflect badly upon the law enforcement
service and the individual law enforcement officer," Bain wrote in his
opinion. "The community and the service require that law enforcement
officers lead decent and honorable lives."
In the last couple of
years, officers fired after controversial incidents have come back to work for
the department.
Daytona Beach Lt. Major
Garvin -- who made national headlines after being accused of asking for free
Starbucks coffee in exchange for a better response time by police, was fired in
2008 and re-hired in 2010 even though police officials said he was untruthful
when he was given a polygraph test.
But a Palm Coast
arbitrator decided that the internal affairs investigation done on Garvin was
incomplete, and was steered and "motivated by personal gain" by the
sergeant who conducted the query. The arbitrator, George Mayer, ruled in
Garvin's favor.
More recent re-hirings
occurred last year when three officers -- Justin Ranum, Donald Aldridge and
Sara Martin -- were put back on duty. None of the three went through
arbitration, but were allowed back on the force under certain conditions.
Ranum and Aldridge stood
trial on charges of damaging a resident's trailer in August 2010. The two
officers were looking for a suspect, and investigators said they left several
small dents in Sandra Haley's trailer off Beach Street as they searched for
Haley's boyfriend.
In December 2010 though,
a circuit judge acquitted both officers and they went back to work in late
2011, said police union representative Bob Walker.
Martin was accused of
being untruthful during an internal affairs investigation. The query involved a
domestic abuse situation that had occurred at the Ormond Beach house Martin
shared with former Daytona Beach Officer Amy Monroe. Martin was rehired last
October, Walker said. Monroe lost her arbitration and her firing was upheld.
On Wednesday, another
controversial case will come before an arbitrator, when former Daytona Beach
Detective Janet Hawkins tries to get her job back.
Hawkins was fired in
2009 after her arrest by Holly Hill police that year. Investigators said
Hawkins scuffled with two officers and blurted out racial slurs. She was
charged with resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without
violence, a felony and a misdemeanor, respectively.
The felony was dropped
and Hawkins was convicted of the lesser charge. A circuit judge ordered Hawkins
to serve probation.