The Associated Press
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Three police officers have been fired and two other officers and a dispatcher have resigned after an investigation determined that the six men had on-the-job trysts with a former female dispatcher, the city manager said Thursday.
One officer resigned Wednesday after City Manager Kurt Kimball mailed discharge letters dated Oct. 2. The other two employees who quit did so after an internal police investigation that began in late August.
Those who resigned likely would have been fired, Kimball told the Grand Rapids Press.
He said the men’s “self-centered” actions with the woman violated behavior guidelines for city employees. Kimball refused to identify any of the men, saying only that they ranged in age from 27 to 40 and earned between $51,107 and $57,032.
“In the end, these officers fell victim to their own egregious errors in judgment,” Kimball said. “Their self-centered actions embarrassed themselves and their fellow officers. Together, they succeeded in tarnishing the image of the GRPD and, by extension, the city of Grand Rapids.”
A grievance will be filed to protest the firings of the officers, said David Leonard, president of the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association.
Leonard said while they admitted wrongdoing, the punishment was too severe. It will take until spring for the matter to go to an arbitrator and one to three months after that for a decision to be reached, he said.