After Mentone Town Councilwoman Jill Gross Monday announced a complaint had been filed against one of the town’s police officers, Town Marshal Jim Eads got into a heated exchange with Councilwoman Shelly Krueger.
Eads and Krueger got into an argument at the March 2 town council meeting after Krueger presented the other councilmen with rough drafts of policies for town employees and the police department. Eads then apologized at the April 13 meeting after Gross said that what happened at the March meeting should never happen again.
Last night, Gross started the regular town council meeting by stating, “Last month I had asked for an executive meeting and we had that meeting July 13, I believe. We had received a formal complaint against the police department. It is actually still being investigated and we’ve asked for a response from the officer involved. That’s all I have.”
She did not indicate which officer it was, who filed the complaint or what the complaint was.
Krueger then presented her policies for the police department to Gross, Council President Tim Croy and Eads for them to review. She said she went with Silver Lake’s format and wanted to adopt it at the 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 meeting.
Eads then stated he talked to Indiana Law Enforcement Academy staff attorney Charles N. Braun II.
“He suggested that he’s available for writing these policies. He can write them for $3,500 flat fee, and that won’t go over that amount. Or, for $1,500, he can review what we currently have and make suggestions on what we have from there,” Eads said. “Until these – what Shelly wrote here gets approval by a lawyer or something – I don’t know. I don’t understand why we need all this.”
Krueger responded, “Most of it was something you said you wanted because you liked Silver Lake’s policies and the format of how it was written.”
Eads agreed, but then pointed out a policy on use of an emergency restraint chair. He asked why the town needed that policy since it doesn’t have the chair.
“Silver Lake is real similar to our department and their attorney, and Mr. Braun, which I think you mentioned, wrote that policy for them. Obviously, they probably don’t have that either, so it really doesn’t matter if it’s there or not. If it doesn’t apply, then we don’t use it,” Krueger said.
Eads then pointed out the town also doesn’t have a Pepperball system, but there was a policy for that, too.
“Why do we need a policy for something we don’t have?” Eads asked her.
“The future,” Croy commented.
“Well, you know, Jim, that’s the way Silver Lake’s is written, too, and I’m sure they don’t need half the stuff that’s in there, but that’s the way Mr. Braun wrote it,” Krueger said.
“No, this is the way you wrote this,” Eads countered. “So you’re copying Mr. Braun, is that correct?”
When Krueger tried to respond to Eads, he kept repeating the question over her attempt to comment. She also accused Eads of “putting words into my mouth again. I’m not going to argue.”
“If this is Mr. Braun’s, which he sold to Silver Lake, and you just copied and pasted Mentone on it,” Eads said.
Krueger said she received “explicit” permission from the Silver Lake Police Dept. chief to use whatever she wanted from their policy. She also noted she received permission from Winona Lake Clerk-Treasurer Kent Adams to use whatever she wanted from their town policies.
Raising his voice, Eads said, “The biggest problem I have, Shelly, with this is that you’ve talked with more people – other marshals, other departments – than you have with me to write our own policies.”
Krueger responded that she talked with him originally about the policies but he wasn’t interested.
“That original conversation, you asked me to write one policy. That’s what you asked me to write. You didn’t ask me to write this whole thing,” Eads said.
“And your point?” Krueger asked. “Your point is? Why does that make that not necessary?”
Eads said it was necessary and, “I’ve been asking for this for years. But you, as a civilian …”
“I’m not just a civilian,” Krueger said.
“You are a civilian,” Eads remarked. “Do you understand what a civilian is, Shelly? You’re not law enforcement. You are not law enforcement.”
“That does not matter,” Krueger said.
“Why does it not matter?” Eads asked.
“Kent Adams wrote his policy. He’s not a law enforcement officer. He’s Winona Lake’s (clerk-treasurer),” Krueger said.
Eads said he wanted Braun to write Mentone’s policies.
“Well, you could have had that option any other time, but now it’s too late,” Krueger said.
After Eads asked why it wasn’t an option, Krueger answered, “Why was it not an option for you before? Why are you bringing it up now as we’re getting near the end of the year? In my estimation, I think you’re just trying to stall the whole process.”
Eads said no, but that he wanted it done right. Krueger said when she presented him with the Winona Lake policy, he said he preferred the Silver Lake policy. Eads then said he hasn’t even looked over what Krueger presented Monday.
“Now, you have another excuse not to adopt it,” Krueger said.
“My biggest thing is, I don’t want you – you, a civilian – writing my policies for the police department,” Eads said. “That’s the biggest problem I have.”
Krueger reminded him that the council is allowed to make such decisions as elected officials.
“You are the only person that came to me and asked me to write that,” Eads said. “This should be a council decision, Shelly.”
Krueger answered, “It is going to be a council decision. I’ve had input from both board members. They are not against it,”
Krueger asked Gross if she was against the policy and Gross responded that the town needed a policy.
Gross said the discussion was getting “way out of hand again.” She said they all needed to look through what Krueger presented first.
“Why should you guys ask me to put my 21-year career on the line for something that Shelly just copies and pastes?” Eads asked. “You are, by adopting this, you are.”
When Gross asked him if he’s read the policy, he said he hadn’t, adding that it hasn’t been “approved by a lawyer or anything like that.”
Croy said they would provide town attorney Larry Beeson with a copy of the policies.
Eads and Krueger then argued over whether Eads was stalling and if Krueger was trying to rush the policies through before election year in 2016. She said she wasn’t trying to rush anything through because she had been working on the policies for the past four months. “It’s not a last-minute decision,” she said.
Croy ended the discussion by saying everyone would look over it and “go from there.”
(Story By The Times Union)
