On Dec. 18, the Delphi Board of Works voted in a special session to terminate a Delphi Police Department officer accused of attempting to wrongfully sign off on required training with another officer.
– Photos courtesy of The City of Delphi
On Dec. 14, the Board of Works opened a disciplinary hearing at the Board of Works meeting to discuss the incident involving 18-year police officer Shane Bernhardt. The hearing was broadcast to the public through Zoom, but public comment was not permitted for the hearing. Mayor Anita Werling served as the Presiding Officer, Spencer Kingery and Breanna Maxwell served as fellow Board of Works members, Miriam Robeson represented the Board of Works, Michael Dean represented the City of Delphi, Elizabeth Bemis represented Bernhardt and Delphi Police Department Chief Nate LaMar and Officer Shane Bernhardt were also present.
The Prosecution entered exhibits into the record before calling Officer Justin Wilson, Sergeant Colin Deckard and Chief Nate LaMar as witnesses. The Prosecution reportedly requested a brief recess before calling Chief LaMar to the stand, which was granted at 6:20 p.m. with a resume of the hearing at 6:30 p.m. Following the cross-examination of LaMar, the Prosecution rested its case.
The Defense was then invited to present its case, entering two exhibits into the record before calling Former Chief Brook McCain and Officer Shane Bernhardt to the stand. Following the testimonies, the Defense rested its case.
Werling announced that the board members were presented with three choices following the presentation of evidence and testimonies, including to dismiss the case, terminate the officer or render other disciplinary action. The action could have been taken on Dec. 14, but the Board elected to resume the case on Dec. 18 where the decision to terminate Bernhardt was finalized.
According to the evidence presented during the case, Bernhardt allegedly texted another officer, Justin Wilson, stating “I have a deal for you,” which was followed with an offer to sign off on Wilson’s emergency vehicle operations training if Wilson signed off on Bernhardt’s defense tactics training. According to the records, Wilson denied the offer, stating that Chief LaMar would terminate the two officers, and Wilson reportedly informed LaMar of the interaction.
LaMar brought multiple charges against Bernhardt in the case, which included fraud, perjury and official misconduct. Bernhardt served as the emergency vehicle operations course instructor while Wilson serves as the defensive tactics instructor.
Bernhardt approached the Board during his testimony, clarifying that his message was not implying that the two officers “cut corners,” but rather, he was proposing a deal to exchange training material, which included the exchange of his slide deck for Wilson’s DVD videos for training and certification, which is an allowed practice by the Delphi Police Department. Bernhardt also stated that the message was intended to ask Wilson about whether he would hold the training while injured.
Bernhardt concluded by starting that Chief LaMar and Officer Wilson never contacted him to ask what he meant by “a deal” or “signing off.”
Spencer Kingery, Board of Works Chairman, stated that the evidence presented throughout the case, including the text message and a pattern of behavior that was reinforced by Werling, warranted the board’s actions.
“My decision was based on my understanding of the facts and my interpretation of the facts,” Kingery said. “I have been a law enforcement officer for 14 years. I know when mistakes are made. With this, most look at it as a simple text message, however, it goes beyond that. It brings up questions of ethics and integrity, and with those being questions also brings up the credibility.”
Kingery focused heavily on the idea of “credibility” in his statements regarding his decision to vote in favor of terminating Bernhardt, stating that when someone undertakes the duties of becoming a police officer, law enforcement and the safety of the community is placed as the top priority for that individual, which influences credibility.
“Yes, it is a text message, but it was also interpreted by another officer as well of being unethical,” Kingery said. “My review over it, I look at it as also being unethical.”
Breanna Maxwell, Board of Works member, echoed Kingery’s statements as she seconded his vote, stating that the evidence influenced her decision.
“We were presented evidence, we went over it, I have to agree with Spencer based on all the evidence that was presented,” Maxwell said.
Werling concluded the statements from the board during the meeting, stating that through the evidence, she has concluded that termination was the best course of action to take in the case.
“I would just like to say that after what was presented in the hearing was a very small amount of the evidence, and in reviewing all of the evidence and taking the text message at its face value, it is clear to me that this overstepped the bounds of what we would expect from any officer,” Werling said. “It also brings a pattern of behavior with it that I think has been a question for much of the career of this officer.”
Werling continued to comment on Bernhardt’s contributions to the City of Delphi and the people that he was sworn to protect, but she stated that the evidence in the case superceded his accomplishments and reflected poorly on his duties as an officer.
“He’s well-known in the community, very well-liked, he’s a great friend to a lot of people, he gets along well with kids, and those are all very positive traits,” Werling said. “But, he also cuts corners, and skirts responsibility, and doesn’t do jobs that are assigned to him, and in this case, brought another officer into a questionable situation.”
The vote to terminate Bernhardt was unanimous among the Board of Works members and the Mayor. Members of the public in attendance during the decision-making hearing began to leave the chambers prior to the conclusion of the meeting once the decision was announced.