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Terms of Columbus police sergeant ethics breach are released
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: January 13, 2017
A public records request by the Dayton Daily News resulted last week in the release of the settlement agreement between the Ohio Ethics Commission and a Columbus police sergeant on conflict-of-interest violations.
According to the agreement, Division of Police Sgt. Matthew Weekley was suspended without pay for 240 hours - the equivalent of a month based on eight-hour shifts - during which period he was unable to work off-duty assignments.
The agreement is dated Oct. 17 and was signed by the commission's Chief Investigative Attorney Julie Korte a month later.
A summary revealed that the commission opened an investigation into Weekley's potential ethics violations after the commission received an allegation that Weekley maintained outside employment with and participated in contract awards to a police department vendor - TASER International.
The investigation found that the police sergeant worked part-time for TASER International from 2010 through 2015, operating as a Senior Master TASER Instructor.
Weekley was paid $8,750 in instruction fees and was reimbursed for travel, lodging, and meals in the amount of $5,901, since March 8, 2010.
Weekley held the position of Defensive Tactics Unit Sergeant with the police department from April 2, 2012 through October 28, 2015, summary continued.
In this position, Weekley's responsibilities included ordering TASERs, TASER cartridges, and TASER accessories for the department.
The commission noted that in this capacity, he would make his recommendations on items and amounts to be ordered and this recommendation was then sent through his chain of command for approval which included a lieutenant, commander, and deputy chief. His recommendations could be approved, disapproved, or amended at any level in this chain of command.
A deputy chief, in 2013, ordered Weekley to cease employment by TASER on the basis of the conflict of interest.
Weekley, however, continued to instruct for TASER until he was relieved of his Defense Tactics assignment on Oct. 28, 2015.
"The commission found and Weekley admits that the facts support a violation of R.C. 102.03(D) and (E) of the Ethics Law because Weekley participated, as a sergeant with the (police department), in the process of ordering products from his outside employer, TASER International," the settlement agreement detailed. "In addition, he accepted a substantial thing of value by serving as an employee of a CPD vendor."
The commission determined that this matter should be addressed through its settlement authority and by the terms of the proposed mitigation.
By the terms of the agreement, Weekley admitted that he violated the conflict-of-interest provisions of the ethics laws.
In lieu of a referral of the matter to the appropriate prosecuting attorney, he accepted a public reprimand from the commission and agreed to not appeal the suspension by the department due to his failure to cease employment with TASER International as previously directed.
Weekley also acknowledged that any future alleged violations brought to the commission or prosecutor's office would be investigated fully and, if warranted by the facts, recommended to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, the settlement noted.
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