Chief ousted in 6-1 vote

City Council voted to dismiss Lance Nosse following investigation into misconduct

Following a two-day administrative hearing process, Kirtland City Council voted 6-1 on Aug. 3 to terminate police Chief Lance Nosse, who had been accused by Mayor Kevin Potter of multiple accounts of misconduct in office and violation of city rules.

The dissenting vote came from Ward 1 Councilwoman Kelly Wolfe.

Nosse had previously been suspended without

The letter went on to break down the accusations into 13 violations, including consuming alcohol before operating a city vehicle and operating it with an open container, vulgar language and racist comments, and bringing disrepute to the department...

pay following a vote from council on July 12 while Potter sought the hearing for the official termination. This action was prompted by the findings of a threemonth investigation into Nosse’s conduct, led by the mayor, Law Director Matthew Lallo and Assistant Law Director Tom Lobe.

According to a July 7 termination letter sent by Potter to Nosse and his attorney, Frank Consolo, the mayor believed there was ample evidence provided by the investigation to conclude that Nosse was guilty of “misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, misconduct in office, gross neglect of duty, and/or habitual drunkenness.”

The letter went on to break down the accusations into 13 violations, including consuming alcohol before operating a city vehicle and operating it with an open container, vulgar language and racist comments, and bringing disrepute to the department through “a failure to maintain a level of moral conduct both in your personal and business affairs.”

The hearing began at 6 p.m. Aug. 2 and continued until about 2 a.m. before officials decided to resume the meeting the following evening, when they reached the decision to terminate.

Lallo called several witnesses, including city workers and police department members, to testify before council about their experiences with Nosse. In their testimonies, they spoke about overhearing or learning about Nosse using the ‘N’ word — which Nosse said he “did not recall” — along with making other racially insensitive, vulgar and sexual comments in the workplace. A couple of witnesses attested to Nosse becoming increasingly absent or late to work over the late winter and spring, which they said affected the department’s ability to run efficiently.

Video evidence was also presented to council showing Nosse removing alcoholic beverage cans from his city-issued vehicle at the home of one of his subordinates.

Official phone records from late 2020 to March of 2021 were presented that showed overage charges from Nosse using one of the mobile phones issued to the police department, a flip phone, for personal use. The records showed a surplus of outgoing text messages and call minutes.

When Nosse himself took the stand, he asserted that his own iPhone had been broken, and that’s why he had need of the flip phone.

The former police chief’s testimony was emotional at times, as he admitted to council that he was an alcoholic — a problem he said he only truly realized he suffered from near the end of April. Nosse said he has since sought treatment and rehabilitation.

In response to the testimonies that were brought against him, Nosse said he was “baffled and dumbfounded,” by most of the comments about his behavior.

When he was asked by city officials to sign a letter of resignation while undergoing treatment, Nosse said he didn’t feel he was in the right state of mind.

“I did not feel it was fair and just to sign the resignation,” he told council.

Nosse and his attorney stated they felt the whole investigation was a “witch hunt from the beginning” — an effort by city leaders to push Nosse out of office.

In closing statements, Lallo told council that the decision to pursue terminating the chief did not come lightly.

“This whole process is not about terminating someone because of his disease,” he said. “This is about terminating someone because of violation of our policies and law.”

“He should be setting the example for everyone else,” Lallo added.

Nosse’s termination is effective immediately. Lallo said that Sgt. Jamey Fisher, a Kirtland law officer for more than 20 years, will be acting chief.

“(Fisher) was appointed as the executive officer of the Kirtland Police Department and will remain in that role until a new chief is appointed and confirmed by Council,” Lallo stated.