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Photos by Sera Frederick / Police Chief Diane Young's one-year tenure could end tonight at City Hall amid the corruption scandal with suspended cop Michael Ihnken being shown the door as well.
OAK HILL -- Police Chief Diane Young was given the job a year ago by a divided city commission amid controversy and angst about her admission to snorting cocaine 100 times in the 1980s. With the police force rocked by scandal and some in this small seaside city at Volusia County's southern tip the mayor said tonight is more than ripe for cutting the cord and severing ties with Young
With a brewing scandal in the police force mounting over allegations of corruption and the ensuing chaos, Young's worst fear -- the cocaine past -- has now come full circle with the mayor and others livid one of her officers was initially sworn in as a reserve and issued a gun and a badge despite failing a drug test.
"I would hope she would do the right thing and step down," the mayor said. "I'm prepared to pass the gavel and call for her to be fired." The mayor said mounting allegations of corruption and by Young's "own acts and omission in leadership have brought the police department to the brink of collapse.
The mayor learned of the failed drug test from an investigator with the State Attorney's Office last month . Lauer was lived about that going into the Jan. 24 city commission meeting during which Young sought the firing of suspended police officer Michael Ihnken, the subject of not one but two consecutive State Attorney investigations.
The commission was advised that night by City Attorney Scott Simpson that those reports -- finding "probable" cause that felony crimes were committed by the suspended cop, but short of successful prosecution -- were separate from the misconduct alleged by the chief; namely that Ihnken failed to keep his training certification up to date, resulted in the police force shutting down for 24 hours in favor of coverage from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Ihnken, who denied wrongdoing, told the commission it was Young who was inept and that even if he were retained he couldn't work with her because of what he described as a hostile environment.
After a 3-2 vote spared Ihnken, the embattled police chief found herself on the ropes with Lauer demanding she resign. Young refused and earlier today, Lauer told NSBNews.Net that she will renew her demand that Young resign or she will push for her termination at a 6 p.m. city commission meeting tonight at City Hall.
As for Ihnken, the mayor said: "He's not even an issue any more. He'll be fired tonight if I can help it."
Because Ihnken also failed to keep his police certification up to date, he cannot be returned to active duty without going through state certification again and the rehiring process to resume policing with Oak Hill.
The mayor said because of the certificate issue, Ihnken won't be retained since she's the swing vote in making that happen. NSBNews.Net's investigation into allegations of corruption in the department included a series of public records requests, including the Sheriff's Office, that revealed Ihnken sent a letter of apology to Sheriff Johnson apologizing for going behind his backing and stirring up trouble with the media about a traffic stop involving one of his off-duty deputies.
Ihnken told the sheriff he did this because he held a grudge against Johnson for not changing the status of his separation from that agency a dozen years ago when he was found guilty of stealing and lying about it. Allegations of theft have plagued Ihnken in his employment with Oak Hill - the only Volusia police force among seven he applied to that was willing to hire him. And that apology only came because Ihnken's brother, a deputy, was caught up in his revenge against the sheriff.
And despite their possible departures tonight, the city still has to conduct internal affairs on Ihnken and Young because they were named in the second State Attorney's report.
The mayor said the bleeding in the department has to stop, especially with its growing reputation of lawlessness, including even newer allegations that one officer was shooting and killing stray cats in his Edgewater neighborhood and that at least one cop was siphoning gas and sending pornographic photos to other cops with his cell phone.
The initial State Attorney's reports revealed accusations some of the officers were making and exploding homemade bombs while on duty and stealing stuffed animals from the Christmas toy drive and using them for target practice.
The second State Attorney's report also made mention of Brandy Sutherlin with details redacted. Several cops say he's the one who failed the drug test. Sutherlin abruptly resigned last summer after a 9-1-1 audiotape posted by NSBNews.Net revealed by he was off-duty and in the passenger seat with his wife behind the wheel when they had a confrontation with another motorist that prompted Sutherlin not only firing shots, but informing the operator they were chasing the other vehicle at speeds of 100 miles an hour.
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NSBNEWS.net by Henry Frederick. NSBNEWS.net audio of 911 call by Sera Frederick.
Oak Hill police officer Brandy Sutherin, at left in the photo, fills out a report while Oak Hill Police Chief Diane Young greets his wife, Christina, Saturday night, April 24, in a gas station parking lot across from the New Smyrna Speedway, after the couple told troopers they were victims of a road-rage incident that began on I-95 and continued onto S.R. 44, resulting in the off-duty cop shooting his gun at the other motorist's vehicle. Listen to the 9-1-1 call, NSBNEWS.net was first to report the story. He has since left the police force.
Despite informing the dispatcher they had three small children in the back seat, Sutherlin ignored pleas by the dispatcher to end the chase for the sake of the children. Eventually Sutherlin pulled over. Young and Ihnken were the ones from Oak Hill responding to the scene off State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach.
The mayor said the fallout from that incident put Oak Hill in an even bigger negative light with Young initially telling her Sutherlin had acted properly. And with the spectre of even more lurid details emerging, Young said she's concerned about the police department's veracity as an agency being called into question.
"I'm really concerned whether we will even have enough officers to even keep the doors open," Lauer told NSBNews.Net, adding, "We need to act now to turn this ship around. It's not going to happen with Diane Young at the helm. What is going on is killing this community and we need to end it now."
The mayor said she may have to turn to Sheriff Johnson, of all people, to come to the rescue and temporarily take over the department with the embarrassment and shame brought on the city by Ihnken's vendetta against Volusia County's top cop.
Just three weeks ago, the mayor led a 3-2 vote against Young's request that Ihnken be fired for allowing his firearms certification to lapse last year, which forced Oak Hill to turn over policing to Johnson's personnel for 24 hours so the officers, including the chief, could be re-certified.
At that Jan. 24 meeting, Ihnken publicly criticized Young as inept and vindictive and after his job was spared, the chief was the one on the ropes with the mayor asking her to step down. Lauer said the reason why she wasn't ready to pull the trigger on Ihnken because the certification issue in and of itself wasn't strong enough to merit termination, even with past allegations of wrongdoing.
Before knowing of Ihnken's past with the sheriff, the mayor had instructed Young to move forward with getting Ihnken returned to work, having already demoted him earlier last year from sergeant after a prior State Attorney's Investigation. Ironically, the police chief let Ihnken borrow her gun to re-qualify for his firearms certification after he publicly lambasted her as inept.
But since Ihnken's own ineptness resulted in his police certification to become invalid, he would have to go through the entire rehiring process, including fingerprint checks for any felony convictions, a physical, credit checks, a background check on past employment and a drug test.
And ironically the prerequisite of ensuring "pre-employment requirements" are met is what got Young in hot water with city officials in the first place with Lauer accusing her of "covering up" the earlier failed drug test.
The mayor believes Young's cocaine baggage, including whispers that she hung out with an outlaw motorcycle gang, has made Oak Hill, Volusia County's Windemere, referring to the Orange County force rocked by scandal.
"Young's character issues are taking the focus away from what the police are supposed to be doing. Public safety has to be number one," the mayor said. "I said from the beginning that bringing her in with her cocaine past would not allow us to go forward. And I am just literally distressed."