CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — The former Circleville chief of police and former acting chief will be receiving thousands of dollars to voluntarily retire and resign.

Former Circleville Police Chief Shawn Baer and former Acting Police Chief Douglas Davis will voluntarily step down from their positions, per ordinances passed on Wednesday, April 10 at a special council meeting.

This comes after a month of allegations including harassment and intimidation, leading to both being placed on administrative leave with pay for their alleged misconduct. Those agreements state that both of the internal investigations have not been completed but will end, without findings, as soon as all parties sign it.

After an executive session, NBC4 was directed to the city’s employment counsel, Benjamin Albrecht. He refused to go on camera and instead gave a printed statement, which reads:

“The City of Circleville has voted to authorize the Mayor to execute Separation Agreements with Chief Gary Shawn Baer and Deputy Chief Douglas Davis of the Circleville Police Department. The decision to enter into Separation Agreements with Chief Baer and Deputy Chief Davis was made to avoid further disruption in the City’s Police Department and minimize future legal costs incurred by the City. The City looks forward to continuing to serve the citizens of Circleville. The City shall have no further comment.”

Benjamin Albrecht

While Albrecht would not go on camera, one councilmember did speak up and said he is disgusted.

“I’m sad. I feel like there’s no justice,” Councilmember Zack Brooks said. “I voted no. I don’t think that we should have done that. I think that, you know, I think our citizens would much rather see us investigate these matters than give them a payout and move on.”

Brooks has spoken out alongside the former public safety director who was hired and fired in one week, he said because he tried to hold the police department accountable.

Now, Brooks said he is the one trying to get some accountability.

“We really do need new leadership in the department,” Brooks said. “We need to clean it up as quick as possible. But I am disgusted that we’re just going to give them a slap on the wrist and let them get away with $70,000 a piece.”

Some Circleville residents came out to the meeting hoping to make their voices heard.

“Nobody will listen. They do as they please. I don’t know what else to say,” Circleville resident Diana Draise said.

Brooks said he plans to continue pushing for answers and hopes someone on the state level gets involved.

“We need to have new leadership,” Brooks said. “There’s no denying that. So at least the best thing out of this is that we’ll start to look for new leadership and hopefully have a quick turnaround.”

The separation agreement states that both Baer and Davis will not seek re-employment with the city.

Brooks shared that the voluntary retirement for both men will happen on April 11 and he believes the signing of these agreements is being finalized on April 10.

NBC4 was hoping to speak with additional city councilmembers, the mayor or the law director on camera. However, they directed us to the city attorney who again gave us that written statement copied above.

The full separation agreements that are being executed with Chief Baer and Deputy Chief Davis can be found here: