CIRCLEVILLE (WCMH) – For the second time in two weeks a police chief in Circleville has been placed on administrative leave.
According to a statement from the City of Circleville, Acting Chief of Police Doug Davis was placed on administrative leave, with pay, due to alleged employee misconduct. The statement said that the department is “in the capable hands of experienced leaders within the Agency,” but did not publicly name an interim successor.
The statement said the city took this action, “in order to protect the integrity of the department while the investigation is ongoing.”
Details of an investigation were not released, though a letter submitted to Davis by Circleville Mayor Michelle Blanton cited “potential misconduct”.
The decision to place Davis on leave comes two weeks after Shawn Baer was placed on administrative leave for alleged harassment, intimidation, retaliation, threats of discipline, misuse of position, improper expenditures, failure to adhere to deadlines and timekeeping violations.
The Circleville Police Department continues its recent run of controversy after an incident in July 2023, when one of its officers, Ryan Speakman, unleashed a K-9 on a truck driver during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 23, which began on U.S. 35.
Speakman was initially fired by the Circleville Police Department but he contested the decision by filing a grievance through the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association. He received a $40,000 lump sum payment after submitting a voluntary letter of resignation. The City of Circleville also settled with the truck driver, Jadarrius Rose, for $225,000.
The chief, who reviewed the incident two days after it occurred, said that Speakman was fired not for the incident itself, but only after receiving reports that, “he was crying and talking with other employees about being stressed over the July 4, 2023, K-9 deployment.”
Baer ordered Speakman to stop communication about the incident, but the chief would later receive more reports about Speakman discussing the incident with fellow officers, dispatchers, the city’s Director of Public Safety with another employee present, and family members.