New Miami police chief fired after declining to take drug test, accusations from mayor

A Butler County police chief is out of a job for refusing to take a drug test after the mayor noticed the police department reeked of marijuana, public records show.

New Miami Village Council unanimously voted to terminate police Chief Harold Webb effective June 27.

Mayor Jewell Hayes-Hensley has accused the police chief a long list of alleged violations since taking office, including not responding to 911 calls and stealing hot dogs. Recently, she accused him of “theft in office,” falsifying time sheets and daily logs, and “cashing his paycheck knowing he was required to show proof of his being at work,” according to a letter outlining her allegations.

She said she smelled marijuana in the police department June 20 after going there with another member of the council to collect the chief’s daily logs.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth was who has been smoking weed in here. The smell of marijuana could knock you off your feet,” she wrote.

Police chief resigns after request to take drug test

The village’s attorney personally hand-delivered a letter to the police chief’s home notifying him to take the drug screening.

Webb refused, however, because he was required to do it in front of a nurse as a witness and he felt that degrading, according to a text message he sent the mayor.

“You know what you win. This is the third time you have questioned my integrity,” he said in the text, adding that she would have his resignation “this evening.”

Webb said smell of marijuana came from the more than 850 grams of marijuana flower in the office from a seizure in March.

“Sorry things didn’t work out for us," he wrote. "Hopefully, you can continue to move the village forward.”

Webb said he would turn in his resignation and any New Miami Village-owned property "as soon as possible." When he didn't resign, council voted to fire him.

The village released the text messages to Fox19 in response to a public records request.

Webb’s attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment verbally and in writing Wednesday. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser declined to comment.

Webb was appointed top cop of New Miami, a tiny Butler County community of just over 2,200 residents, last year.

He also works full-time for the U.S. Postal Service, village records show.

Captain Dan Bower is expected to be appointed acting police chief at the next council meeting later this month, according to the mayor.

Hensley declined to be interviewed on camera but said in a statement to Fox19 “it is my job to ensure the residents of our community are safe. My goal is to turn our village around and make it a safe and thriving community for all.”

“Council and I are working very hard to have a greater police presence in our village and do a major cleanup both with crime and housing," she said. "It is time that residents of the village of New Miami know they have a mayor and council working to put the community’s needs first and do everything within their power to make the village of New Miami a safe, clean, and thriving community.”

Mayor, chief have clashed for months

Earlier this year, the mayor put Webb on administrative leave without pay over administration of the police department's Facebook page, which Hensley said allowed inappropriate comments including from the chief's wife.

Hensley ordered the entire Facebook page taken down.

“We will not use a village site to tear our village down,” she wrote in a March 30 email to a New Miami police officer.

The village council voted to reinstate the chief in April after his lawyer pointed out his suspension violated Ohio law because procedures to do so were not properly followed.

Grievances filed at that time against the chief were all from other people, including some village employees but not any police officers, according to his lawyer, Jeff Gray.

As for the 911 calls, New Miami has a part-time police department so when there is no staff working due to budgetary issues, emergency police calls are rolled over to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the chief has previously reported to the village council and the mayor.

“Chief has decades of experience in law enforcement. He’s never been disciplined before, nothing to this magnitude. His officers love him,” Gray told Fox19 earlier this year.

“They are willing to stick up for him. I think that speaks a lot about his character.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio police chief fired after accusations of marijuana use, theft