Sergeant fired for alleged misconduct
James Myers was terminated for violating 13 police department rules and city’s personnel manual.
A Centerville police sergeant, who was in the midst of appealing a five-day suspension from 2019, has been terminated for allegedly violating police and city rules and regulations.
City officials confirmed to the Dayton Daily News that Sgt. James Myers has been terminated officially on Monday.
A copy of his termination letter obtained by this news organization reveals that the city stated it was terminating Myers for eight violations involving the police departments rules of conduct and five violations regarding the city’s personnel manual.
According to the termination letter, the problems stem from an audio recording made by Myers during an investigation into department affairs in December 2018 and into whether he withheld an audio recording he made while meeting with Police Chief Matt Brown and City Manager Wayne Davis.
“Myers intentionally withheld an audio recording of a conversation that was directly connected to an investigation. During the internal investigation Sergeant Myers was specifically informed that dishonesty withholding or untruthfulness may result in discipline up to and including termination,” the letter states.
Myers said in a statement during his pre-disciplinary hearing in February, that the tape was part of his role as a whistleblower, and that he was given whistleblower protection from the city in January 2018 for information he alleged to have regarding the wrongdoing of a fellow officer.
He claims in his statement that he did not disclose the recording, because it would have revealed that he was the whistleblower, and he feared there would be retaliation.
Davis informed Myers that his termination would be upheld, even if his appeal for a five-day suspension gets overturned by the Centerville Appeals Board.
Attorney Jeffrey Silverstein represents Myers and was planning to file briefs for his appeals case before March 30. He did not return requests to comment for this story.
Contact this reporter at 937-225-0586 or email Wayne.Baker@coxinc.com.