An Ohio police chief reportedly lost his job after refusing to submit to a drug test, even though the mayor claimed there was a “passing-enough” smell of marijuana coming from his office.
The New Miami Village Council voted unanimously on June 27 to fire Police Chief Harold Webb, according to a letter obtained from the mayor’s office. Fox 19.
The drama leading up to the firing began on June 20, when Mayor Jewel Hayes Hensley claimed that a foul odor resembling devil’s lettuce was emanating from Webb’s office while she was collecting his daily reports.
“The first words out of my mouth were, who was smoking marijuana here?” the mayor of a small Butler County village wrote in the letter.
“The smell of marijuana may make you intoxicated.”
Before his firing, Webb received a letter at his home on June 24 from the village attorney informing him that he would face “disciplinary action” if he did not submit to a drug test at the mayor’s request by 5 p.m. the following day.
The former police chief arrived at the testing site on June 25 but reportedly refused to give a urine sample in front of a nurse witness, describing the incident as “humiliating”.
“You know what you won,” Webb texted Hayes Hensley after refusing the test. “This is the third time you’ve questioned my sincerity.”
He told her he would receive her resignation that “night.”
Webb, who has been chief for only a year, argued that the smell was coming from more than 850 grams of marijuana flower seized in a March raid, but his reasons were not accepted.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Hayes Hensley responded.
“Upon your resignation, you will return all property in New Miami Village and surrender all access to video cameras and computers to me.”
However, Webb did not submit his resignation, and the New Miami Village Council voted unanimously to fire him.
The small town’s mayor had previously accused Webb of numerous other violations before alleging the smell of marijuana was wafting from his office.
In the same letter, Hayes Hensley accused Webb of stealing hot dogs from a gas station when he was only allowed free sodas while on duty, failing to respond to 911 calls, “job theft,” falsifying timesheets and daily reports, and “cashing paychecks while knowingly required to show proof of employment.”
In March, the mayor placed Webb on unpaid administrative leave after he posted inappropriate comments on the police department’s Facebook page, including one posted by the former chief’s wife criticizing the mayor of New Miami Village. Fox 19.
Hayes Hensley said the inappropriate, sexually-charged comments remained on the public page for hours before being removed.
This action resulted in the removal of the entire Facebook page.
The village council ultimately voted in April to reinstate Webb after his attorney, Jeff Gray, argued that procedural improperities meant Webb’s suspension violated Ohio law.
But once he was reinstated, complaints against him were filed by others, including village officials, according to the outlet.
Gray told the outlet that none of the officers working for his client had filed a complaint against him.
“Her job is to ensure the safety of our community,” Mayor Hayes Hensley said in a statement after the firing.
“The Council and I are working hard to increase police presence in the Village and conduct a major cleanup on both crime and housing. Now is the time for the residents of the Village of New Miami to know that the Village Mayor and Council are putting the needs of the community first and doing everything they can to make the Village of New Miami a safe, clean and vibrant community.”
New Miami Village is a community of just over 2,200 people and is located approximately 38 miles from Cincinnati.
The mayor said Officer Dan Bauer is expected to be sworn in as acting police chief at the next City Council meeting later this month.
