The Paducah City Commission voted unanimously
Monday to suspend police officer Brent
Obermark for six months without pay, overruling
police Chief Randy Bratton’s recommendation
to fire him.
Obermark has been on unpaid suspension
since Oct. 24, meaning he could return to work
next month.
The ruling came after a seven-hour hearing
and 30 minutes of deliberation. Neither side
disputed the facts of the case:
On Aug. 3, a woman wrote a check for $37.07
later returned for insufficient funds to the
Tobacco Barn, the Hinkleville Road business
Obermark owns. Rather than turn the
case over to the county attorney’s office, as is
common practice, Obermark requested driver’s
license information on the woman from
Paducah-McCracken County E-911 and asked
deputy sheriffs from Marshall and McCracken
counties to go to addresses he uncovered to try
to get a phone number for her. He did all of this
without telling anyone involved why he was
looking for her or that he owned the business
involved, and most of it while on duty.
When he finally made contact with the
woman more than a month later, she went to
the store and paid the amount of the check
plus a $25 fee.
A clerk in the county attorney’s office
brought the case to the police department’s
attention. When compelled to be interviewed,
Obermark told the entire story truthfully,
both sides agree.
Where the two sides differed was on the
acceptable discipline. Bratton sought termination,
testifying he did not believe Obermark
understood the severity of his actions.
“We are not allowed to conduct rogue
investigations of citizens for personal
gain,” Bratton said.
He added that the actions were particularly
egregious given Obermark’s 12 years
of experience. “Even a rookie officer would
have known it was not acceptable.”
The department had turned the case
over to the state police for an investigation
into possible official misconduct,
but the state police sent a letter to Bratton
on Friday saying the case was closed
and declining prosecution. Bratton said
before the commission’s decision that
he planned to ask the state police to reconsider
after the hearing, when the evidence
would become a public record. After
the commission voted for suspension
rather than termination, Bratton said he
would discuss the matter with City Manager
Jim Zumwalt before deciding how to
proceed.
Obermark’s attorney, David Leightty,
argued that other Paducah police officers
have committed greater offenses and received
lesser punishments. When he tried
to provide examples, Stacey Blankenship,
the attorney representing Bratton, objected
on the grounds that those cases
had nothing to do with Obermark. Mayor
Bill Paxton upheld her objection.
Obermark testified, but Leightty did
not allow him to answer any questions
regarding the check case, advising him
to invoke his Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination given the possible
state police investigation.
Although the commission’s vote was
unanimous, Commissioner Robert Coleman
said he would have preferred a
lesser penalty. He twice noted that the
matter would not have come before the
commission if the woman had not written
a bad check. The commission’s order
also required Obermark to write a letter
of apology to the woman.
The six-month suspension is the longest
given to an officer in Bratton’s seven
years as chief. He said he believed that
anything longer than a 30-day suspension
should result in termination, but he
respected the commission’s decision.
C.D. Bradley can be contacted at
575-8617. |
