By David Stanczak
Two minutes is not enough time to find something positive to say about the situation in which the City finds itself in connection with former police officer Brent VanHoveln. Long story short: VanHoveln was fired and criminally prosecuted for turning in to the department tickets he supposedly issued to motorists, but had not. He filed a grievance, went to trial and was acquitted of official misconduct and forgery. Now he wants his job back.
With the benefit of my perfect 20-20 hindsight, it is easy to see the origins of this perfect storm. First, as VanHoveln noted in his appearance before the City Council the other night, although the Bloomington PD has a progressive discipline policy, it fired VanHoveln for his first offense. That always looks bad to an arbitrator (about which more later). Someone who was obviously not a member of VanHoveln’s fan club made a decision that termination wasn’t harsh enough; he needed to be made an example of and prosecuted on felony charges. A good prosecutor, in making a charging decision, views not only whether there was an offense, but whether it can be prosecuted successfully. The tickets were allegedly issued to meet police “performance standards”. “Performance standards” are to a quota system what “undocumented workers” are to “illegal immigrants”-a euphemism. And among jurors, a quota system is as popular as Yadier Molena at a Wrigleyville bar. Add the fact that calling what he did forgery is a stretch, and the acquittal was no surprise.
Unless there is a settlement, VanHoveln will tell his story to an arbitrator, a member of a community not noted for concern over employers’ rights or money. Apart from loss of pay and lack of progressive discipline, VanHoveln will claim vindication from a verdict after having to spend lots of his own money to defend himself against the unfounded charges.
The foregoing is not to vindicate VanHoveln. In his speech to the City Council, he showed no contrition or remorse, and even patted himself on the back for his honesty in the disciplinary investigation. But what he did was fundamentally dishonest. If he couldn’t live with the policy, he should have picked another department. That he took it into his own hands in the manner that he did indicates he should have picked another profession.
David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
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