HUTCHINSON, Kan. — In February of 2018, several Hutchinson police officers and a longtime captain were terminated from the force.
The firings were said to be connected to an incident in which a female officer was spotted driving intoxicated with her child on board. That officer resigned from the force. But the controversy surrounding the incident led to three officers getting fired. That included a captain who had been with the force for more than 30 years.
Now, the Hutchinson City Council will have to consider an appeal from the Fraternal Order of Police to have the officer who was part of the original traffic stop reinstated. In April of this year, an arbitration hearing was held for officer John Suda. During that hearing, an arbitrator issued a statement that Suda should be reinstated without back pay or benefits. In September, City Manager John Deardoff rejected that recommendation and upheld Suda’s termination.
It was determined in the hearing that Suda shut off his body camera during the traffic stop of the officer, then failed to conduct an impairment test of the officer. The third charge was that Suda was untruthful and evasive in his statements during an internal investigation.
While the arbitrator found evidence of the first two charges, he stated there was insufficient evidence that Suda lied. He said, while the first two charges were serious errors, they did not bring just cause for termination.
In a letter to the Fraternal Order of Police, Deardoff stated that the city went to great lengths to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the matter.
The appeal will be heard during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
