Arbitrator says city can't hire outsiders to investigate Columbus police misconduct
An arbitrator has ruled that the city of Columbus cannot contract with outside agencies to investigate misconduct in its police division, siding with Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.
The ruling, issued Wednesday by arbitrator Margaret Nancy Johnson, of Perrysville, was related to a grievance filed in 2020 regarding the investigation into Columbus police officers' conduct during Downtown protests by local law firm BakerHostetler.
Johnson wrote in her decision that the city is "directed to cease and desist from employing such an entity to investigate complaints regarding Police Officer conduct."
The BakerHostetler investigation, which cost the city more than $600,000 on a no-bid contract, looked at 49 reports, some of which involved multiple complaints. Of those 49 reports, only eight involved sustained allegations, one of which resulted in discipline. That officer was given documented counseling for not filing the proper paperwork.
Three allegations were withdrawn, 28 were not sustained, 19 were unfounded and five were exonerated.
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The police union had filed a grievance, arguing the contracting of the investigation into administrative misconduct, which BakerHostetler was tasked to look at, violated the contract between the union and police because internal affairs investigators had previously done those investigations.
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Glenn McEntyre, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said the arbitrator's decision has no impact on the prior investigations or discipline issued as a result of the BakerHostetler investigation.
The decision also did not address the investigations into alleged criminal misconduct being done by retired FBI agent Richard Wozniak and special prosecutor Kathleen Garber. That investigation has resulted in misdemeanor charges being filed against three officers.
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The FOP had filed a grievance relating to those investigations, particularly attempts to force officers to provide evidence in criminal misconduct probes. A decision in that case has not yet been rendered by an arbitrator.
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In Johnson's Wednesday decision, she said the contract between the law firm and the city made clear the firm was working as an independent investigating agency, not as a part of the Department of Public Safety.
"In the contract for services, there is no recourse for the FOP should the Independent Contractor actually deviate from or infringe upon some contractual right of a Member," Johnson wrote.
Keith Ferrell, president of FOP Capitol City Lodge No. 9, said the arbitrator's decision reinforced the union's position that the BakerHostetler investigation was "unnecessary spending of taxpayer dollars."
"As the Lodge has said all along, there's clear contractual language that says the very capable investigators within Columbus police can do these investigations," Ferrell said.
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The decision does put a halt to two other investigations being done by BakerHostetler, both of which involved deputy chiefs. The law firm had been contracted to investigate Deputy Chief Ken Kuebler's use of social media, as well as allegations made by Lt. Melissa McFadden and against her relating to a book McFadden published in 2020.
McFadden also has an active federal lawsuit pending against the police division. Those investigations will now revert back to Columbus police and the city's Department of Public Safety for investigation.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther issued a statement Thursday saying the city plans to appeal the arbitrator's decision.
"The public demanded an independent investigation apart from police internal affairs. And later, a federal judge ruled that officers 'ran amok' during the protests," Ginther said through spokeswoman Melanie Crabill.
"Because the protests were an 'all hands on deck' event, the great majority of Internal Affairs personnel were actively involved in the division’s protest response. Neither Internal Affairs nor the Safety Director’s Office had the capacity to investigate the more than 1,000 complaints that came into the 'Report CPD' inbox. Per the FOP contract, such investigations must be completed within 90 days. We simply do not believe that this investigation violated the contract."
Also on Wednesday, Johnson ruled for the city in saying that former Chief Thomas Quinlan could be placed at the rank of deputy chief. An FOP grievance had been filed after Quinlan, who stepped down as chief in January, was placed in the deputy chief position. The union contract language said deputy chiefs were to be chosen from the ranks of commander.
That decision is a rare win for the city as most of the arbitration decisions in recent years have favored Columbus police over the city. In fact, a Dispatch review in 2018 of 23 cases that went to arbitration over the discipline and/or firing of Columbus police officers in the previous decade found that police often won the decisions.
bbruner@dispatch.com
@bethany_bruner
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police misconduct must be handled internally, arbitrator says
