Busted! Lieutenant could be fired in misconduct case !

[Guest jeffOH]

This was just too great not to share. The same LYING Vice cop who set me up last year may be fired for "misconduct" during the same sting in which I was arrested. HA! HA!

 

 

Lieutenant could be fired in misconduct case

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Alayna DeMartini

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

A Columbus police lieutenant has been stripped of his gun and badge while he awaits a decision on whether he will be fired.

 

Police Chief James G. Jackson concluded that Lt. John P. Meyers should be fired after Jackson found him guilty of 13 acts of misconduct, including asking an officer to "get naked" with him during an undercover operation.

 

Meyers, a former vice officer, was transferred last week from the juvenile bureau to the patrol bureau to do office work.

 

Safety Director Mitch Brown has the final word on how Meyers will be disciplined. Meyers does not have a hearing date before Brown yet.

 

Jackson and top police officials found that Meyers propositioned the undercover officer during a prostitution sting.

 

Officer Jennifer Mancini spurned Meyers, then reported it, an investigation by the Police Division’s internal-affairs bureau found.

 

The March 4, 2004, incident at the La Quinta motel on the Far East Side wasn’t the first time that Meyers asked to see Mancini nude, said the report, upheld by Jackson and other police officials.

 

Two days earlier, as detectives were videotaping Mancini working undercover to arrest a man for prostitution, Meyers told detectives, "If you guys get to see her ---, so do I."

 

He then ordered that videotape destroyed, the report said.

 

Meyers, 49, has worked for the department for 25 years. He was ordered out of the vice squad during the investigation. In August 2004, he was given a job in the juvenile bureau.

 

Meyers could not be reached for comment yesterday.

 

The investigation also found that Meyers:

 

 

• Violated Police Division policy because he defied Jackson’s order allowing vice officers to touch a prostitute’s chest or expose themselves to reassure a prostitute that the men were not undercover police officers.

 

 

• Ordered a laptop computer seized in a brothel investigation to be removed from the police evidence room. The investigation found that Meyers gave the laptop to an attorney friend to conduct a forensic examination because, he said, the Police Division’s forensic-computer specialist was backed up.

 

 

• Failed to forward a complaint about a vice officer conducting an illegal search and seizure to the internal-affairs bureau.

 

ademartini@dispatch.com

[Guest jeffOH]

And here's the letter I fired off to Public Safety Director Mitchell Brown and the Columbus Dispatch:

 

RE: Vice Squad's Lt. John P. Meyers' misconduct:

 

Should Columbus Vice Squad's Lt. John P. Meyers be fired for his misconduct, it couldn't happen to a more deserving officer. This is the same officer who was involved in the prostitution sting in which I was arrested in March 2004. The same sting in which the undercover officer got naked(Meyers) and touched me first. This is the same officer who responded to my letter to the Dispatch in which I complained about the overzealous tactics Vice was using to set up what would have otherwise been consenting adults in a private situation. Meyers' behavior PERFECTLY illustrates why most law enforcement across the country have discontinued allowing undercover vice to get naked and allow themselves to be fondled. This is at least the second time in the past few years that Columbus Vice has had a problem with such officers going too far to make an arrest. Such methods only serve to promote corruption and misconduct amongst vice officers, which is why many cities have put an end to such tactics. And to quote Lt. Meyers' from his now ironic response to my letter, "I would also suggest that he seek legal counsel and I hope he will consider another line of work in the meantime."

[CT Dick]

Congratulations, Jeff. You must feel that there IS some fairness in the world. :-)

 

Dick

[Guest jeffOH]

>Congratulations, Jeff. You must feel that there IS some

>fairness in the world. :-)

 

Yes Dick, 'tis sweet!

[guyinsf]

Good news that understandably brings some sense of satisfaction to you. One thing in the story that really bothered me is that the guy was transferred from Vice to Juvenile when questions regarding inappropriate sexual behavior on the job first came out. So, let's see -- let's put a cop who allegedly has difficulty controlling his sexual impulses into a position where he will primarly be working with troubled teens? Given the family histories that many teens involved with law enforcement have, it seems cruel to put him in a position in the Juvenile Division. He should have been transferred to the desk job as the first step.

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

Jeff,

Good news! I remember reading with interest the threads you posted on this as it enfolded last year. I was lucky enough to have spent an evening with you the year prior to this, so I knew what a great escort we were losing.

What goes around comes around.....I hope you feel a sense of vindication, and I hope you continue to post on the MB. It is like visiting with an old friend.

[Guest jeffOH]

Thanks Cockeyed! I'm semi-retired at this point, seeing mostly regular clients and the random new client off this site. Between working at the gym, babysitting my business partner's 2 year-old son a couple of days a week and seeing a few clients a week---I'm staying quite busy.

 

Guynsf--I thought the same thing when I read about Meyers' transfer to the Juvenile Division, but it sounds like desk duty in the Patrol Division is about right.

 

This was the same officer who was going to do a joint TV interview with me for a reporter with NBC4. I decided not to go through with it after the reporter told me that he told her in her background interview with him that it was against policy for undercover vice to get naked and allow themselves to be fondled. I told her that he was a liar and I refused to participate if that was going to be his game. That's probably why there was audio tape only available when my attorney asked if there was video he could see. It also explained why he made such a hasty retreat to the bathroom grabbing his clothes on the way before his buddies burst through the door guns drawn....

[twinkboylover28]

KARMA

[Guest jeffOH]

RE: Vice Cop FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Columbus Vice Squad Lieutenant Fired

Reported by Maureen Kocot WBNS 10TV

 

 

A high-profile Columbus Police lieutenant is out of a job after being accused of making lewd comments to a female officer.

 

The former lieutenant gave 10TV his reaction to Friday's move by Division of Police.

 

You've seen him on 10TV time and again, commenting on raids and arrests. Then-Lt. John Meyers held a high profile job on the city's vice squad busting prostitutes.

 

"We live in a political environment. This is, part in part, hardball," claimed Meyers.

 

The city fired Meyers for asking a female officer, "…go into a hotel room with me and take off your clothes and get naked with me..." during a vice sting operation.

 

 

The Division also says Meyers ordered the destruction of a videotape and then lied about it.

 

Meyers denies the accusations and says he believes he was fired in retaliation for a lawsuit he filed against the city three years ago.

 

"Because I went out and filed this lawsuit, well, ‘we're going to show you,’" said Meyers, characterizing the termination as the city’s reaction to him filing suit.

 

 

Meyers added some of the people who worked for him simply didn't like him.

 

"Some of these people didn't like the fact that I was running a straight ship in Vice," Meyers claimed.

 

He says he plans to appeal his firing first thing Monday morning

[+ deej]

RE: Vice Cop FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can almost see that grin on your face from here. }(

 

He may not be on duty, but Karma is!

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

RE: Vice Cop FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for the update, Jeff! I had been wondering the outcome of this. Good luck to you!!