LaPorte police threaten to defy their new chief; mayor threatens discipline for any who do
LAPORTE — Some LaPorte police officers are threatening not to recognize the authority of the Mayor Tom Dermody's newly appointed chief of police. The mayor is responding with threats of his own.
Dermody said officers refusing to listen to the new chief will be dealt with on grounds of insubordination.
The LaPorte Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 54 has voiced opposition to Chief Dick Buell because he was not selected from within the department and wants the mayor to name a new chief from within the ranks.
Buell, 70, a former law enforcement officer, came out of retirement to accept the position on Feb. 5.
The FOP said the mayor violated local code, which requires a police chief be selected from within the department.
“The message conveyed by Mayor Dermody to our department, community and surrounding agencies with this decision is that we have no one fit to lead from within our ranks and the local codes that we are asked to enforce do not apply to Mayor Tom Dermody,” the FOP stated in its letter.
LaPorte City Attorney Nick Otis told a standing-room-only crowd during Tuesday’s city council meeting, a change in state law in 1996 upheld by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office in 2005 allows mayors to choose police chiefs from outside the department.
Therefore, Otis said the local ordinance adopted in the 1980s was no longer valid.
“The legislature has clearly spoken,” he said.
LaPorte Police Officer Robert Metcalf, speaking at the meeting on behalf of the FOP, said he has spoken to other attorneys who agree with the FOP’s position on the matter.
“As of right now, with this being a fluid situation, we don’t know legally where we’re going to be at 24, 48, a week, two weeks from now,” he said.
Buell spent five years with the LaPorte Police Department before moving on to the LaPorte County Sheriff’s office, where he served in various capacities such as chief of detectives and jail commander.
He was director of LaPorte County Community Corrections when he retired in 2019.
Several citizens at the meeting questioned the ability of Buell to effectively run the department, feeling he’s too old and out of touch.
Dermody, though, described Buell’s qualifications from a 30-year career in law enforcement as “second to none.”
He also said Buell’s “old school” approach and proven leadership skills are needed most of all to develop future leaders out of officers so they’re capable later of running what’s now a young department.
The FOP also announced before the council meeting that officers would recognize only the authority of newly appointed Assistant Police Chief Matthew Drangmeister, who was chosen from the ranks.
Dermody also said some of the complaints are from officers not liking the more disciplined approach Buell has brought to the department.
“Because Dick Buell says you’re going to shine your shoes, you’re going to square your uniform, you’re going to get out of your car and meet with residents and meet with business owners," Dermody said. "This is the new standard that we owe the entire department.”
Buell replaced Paul Brettin, who retired as police chief earlier this year after leading the department since 2020.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: LaPorte police threaten to defy new chief; mayor threatens discipline
