An Ohio police chief has been fired after the mayor of a small town accused him of a series of violations, including having the police smell like marijuana and falsifying overtime reports.
When the mayor of New Miami Village in Butler County asked Police Chief Harold Webb to administer a drug test, he refused, finding the procedure, which had to be performed in front of a nurse, humiliating.
Miami’s new village council voted unanimously to fire Chief Webb on June 27.
The mayor of the town of 2,200 has now listed a long list of alleged violations by the fired chief.
Examples of this include ignoring 911 emergency calls and even stealing hot dogs at a local gas station, when only free soda was allowed during work hours.
Mayor Jewell Hayes-Hensley also accused Webb of “theft in office” by falsifying time sheets and “collecting his paycheck knowing he had to prove he was at work.”
An Ohio police chief, Harold Webb, pictured, was fired by the New Miami Village Council for multiple violations, including falsifying overtime reports and the police smelling of marijuana
The mayor of New Miami Village, Ohio, Hayes-Hensley, had become suspicious and the chief had stated that he was on duty when in fact he was off duty.
Hayes-Hensley became suspicious that the police chief had stated he was on duty when in fact he was not on duty at the police station.
In early June, the boss stated that he had worked 48 hours in one week, but had only been seen at work two of the seven days.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Webb was only “logged in for service” one day of the week.
The mayor then asked for video evidence of the chief at work, but none was forthcoming. Webb also works full-time for the US Postal Service.
When Hayes-Hensley visited the police station to pick up the chief’s daily timesheet, she smelled the distinctive odor of marijuana.
“The first thing out of my mouth was who smoked weed here. The smell of marijuana can knock you off your feet,” she wrote in a lengthy and descriptive five-page letter detailing her allegations.
Webb, who had been in the job for just a year, said the odor stemmed from a March raid in which more than 850 grams of marijuana flowers were seized.
A letter was then personally delivered to the police chief’s home, informing him that he had to take a drug test.
Webb refused, saying he felt humiliated when told he would have to take the test in front of a nurse, as a witness.
“You know what you win. This is the third time you have questioned my integrity,” Webb texted the mayor, adding that he would resign “tonight.”
“Do you understand how degrading it is for someone to see me pee? And the reason my office had an overwhelming odor of marijuana is because there was over 2 ounces of marijuana flower from the search warrant on Reiff Drive in March.
“Too bad it didn’t end well for us,” he wrote. “Hopefully you can help the village.”
The chef got into trouble earlier this year for allegedly stealing hot dogs from a local gas station when the agreement was that he would only get free soda
Mayor Hensley felt she had no choice but to fire the mayor after he failed to submit his resignation letter despite offering to do so.
Despite Webb’s resignation, he never submitted a letter of resignation, leaving the New Miami Village City Council with no choice but to fire him.
Mayor Hensley wrote in a statement: “My job is to ensure that the residents of our community are safe. My goal is to turn our town around and make it a safe and thriving community for everyone.
“The council and I are working hard to have a greater police presence in our village and to do a major cleanup, both in terms of crime and housing. It is time for the residents of the Village of New Miami to know that they have a mayor and council that puts the needs of the community first and will do everything in their power to make the Village of New Miami a safe, clean and thriving community.”
During Webb’s short tenure in the role, he had already had a run-in with the mayor and had been suspended without pay after he allegedly misused the police department’s Facebook page.
The town of New Miami in Butler County, Ohio has a population of 2,200
Hensley said the chief allowed inappropriate comments to be posted on the message board, including those from his own wife. The Facebook page was eventually deleted.
“We will not use the location of a village to tear down our village,” Hensley said at the time, in April of this year.
After Webb was reinstated from suspension, more complaints were filed against him, including some village employees. However, it was only a few months before the chief was finally fired.
“Chief has decades of experience in law enforcement. He’s never been disciplined before, never to this extent. His officers love him,” Webb’s attorney, Jeff Gray, said. Fox 19 earlier in the year.
“They’re willing to stand up for him. I think that says a lot about his character.”