43
BPD Dispatcher’s disciplinary history shows issues in the communications center
Union challenging police department’s decision to terminate
BOARDMAN
Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association attorney Dominic Saturday called allegations against terminated Boardman dispatcher “fake news,” but Casey Englebaugh’s disciplinary history at Boardman Police Department paints a different picture.
Englebaugh was terminated June 15 after an internal investigation concluded that she violated multiple departmental policies.
According to her personnel file, Englebaugh was placed on a performance improvement plan January 2017 after letting an off-duty Lowellville cop into the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center Jan. 1, 2017.
She responded noting that he came to deliver coffee to her and another dispatcher and that she was unaware that he was an unauthorized person.
Her personnel file further reveals that an internal investigation was conducted after a complaint was filed by a fellow dispatcher.
The investigation alleged Englebaugh had multiple instances of misconduct, including that she routinely did not assist other dispatchers and spent an inordinate amount of time on social media during her shifts.
Throughout the course of the investigation, a separate issue came up.
After Capt. Edward McDonnell’s initial interview with Englebaugh, Englebaugh sent him an email containing screen shots of other dispatchers’ social media posts. Chief Todd Werth, Capt. Albert Kakascik and Sgt. Charles Hillman received copies.
The email was followed by a letter from a concerned citizen about problems in the communications center. The letter was accompanied by a screen shot of a social media post from the dispatcher who made the initial complaint against Englebaugh.
In a meeting to discuss the results of the investigation, Englebaugh denied knowledge of the letter.
She later admitted to speaking with a friend about the matter and providing him the screen shot that was placed in the letter.
“By singling out the one dispatcher [who] filed the complaint, at best it was a form of retribution and [at worst] an attempt to intimidate a witness,” the report read.
The report characterized her involvement with the letter that targeted the dispatcher who filed the complaint as an attempt at retaliation.
Englebaugh was fired effective June 15.
The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that represents dispatchers in the Boardman Township Police Department, is challenging the department’s decision to terminate Englebaugh, the union wrote in a news release.
The union filed for binding arbitration with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.