Springfield Police Department’s most
experienced narcotics officer resigned unexpectedly this week,
saying that he feared retribution for exposing the misconduct of
other officers. On Tuesday, Sgt. Ron Vose delivered a two-page
letter outlining his concerns to Mayor Tim Davlin’s office
and left another copy with Chief Don Kliment. In the letter, Vose claimed that he was
transferred from his position as a supervisor in the Criminal
Investigations Division to patrol shortly after submitting a
20-page memo alleging that administrative and criminal violations
had been committed by certain officers known to have
“credibility issues.”
Although Vose did not name the officers in his
letter, several sources inside SPD confirmed that Vose has been
critical of SPD Detectives Jim Graham and Paul Carpenter. Last
summer, SPD turned Vose’s 20-page memo over to the Illinois
State Police Division of Internal Investigation. That probe is
ongoing, with no completion date promised. But in October,
Carpenter was placed on administrative leave and Graham was
transferred from what was then called the major-case unit into
general investigations. Contacted by phone Tuesday night, Vose
declined to comment, saying that his resignation doesn’t take
effect until Jan. 19. “I’m still employed by the
department, and I really can’t [comment],” Vose said.
“My resignation speaks for itself; that’s all I can
really say.”
However, another officer — a supervisor
in the Criminal Investigations Division who spoke on the condition
of anonymity — defended Carpenter and Graham.
“They’re great guys. They’re hardworking
detectives,” the supervisor said. “They feel that they
were unfairly attacked by Ron Vose and his accusations.
These two have not been interviewed [by ISP]. These guys have been left
in the dark.” Vose spent much of his 27 years with SPD
working undercover drug operations, often with task forces composed
of state or federal law-enforcement agencies. With one task force,
he negotiated a deal that resulted in a 100-pound haul of cocaine.
In July 2002, he took charge of SPD’s narcotics unit and over
the next two summers staged large-scale sting operations resulting
in more than 80 arrests. According to his resignation letter, Vose has
been complaining to Kliment about alleged misconduct since June
2004. In April, soon after speaking to the mayor about his
concerns, Vose discovered packing boxes with his name on them left
outside his office door and interpreted it as an act of
retribution. “This was an apparent message for me to clean
out my office,” his letter stated. He was subsequently
disciplined “without cause” he wrote, and transferred
to patrol. “These actions were obvious retaliation
and were meant to teach me a lesson about what happens to an
officer who exposes police misconduct,” Vose wrote.
“This will also serve as a notice to anyone else who thinks
about reporting misconduct.” Kliment denied retaliating against Vose. The chief
suggested that there’s another side to the story but declined to
comment further, citing signs of pending litigation. Vose mentioned
several times in his letter that he has retained a lawyer. Vose’s attorney, Howard Feldman,
acknowledged that Vose’s transfer to patrol did not cost him
any rank or pay. Still, Feldman says, the move punished Vose. “He lost the status of being a
supervisor in an investigations unit — something he had done
well over a long number of years — and his career was cut
short,” Feldman said. Rumors of Vose’s allegations against
fellow officers have rippled through the department for months. The
apparent rift between the former narcotics supervisor and the chief
has puzzled veteran officers, who recall a time when Kliment and
Vose were both active in the patrolmen’s union, often working
together for the same cause. For the past decade or so, they have
lived next door to each other, and their families have been
friends. Vose resigned on his 49th birthday, a year shy
of the age requirement for retirement. Consequently, he won’t
be eligible for full benefits until 2007. “Even though my pension benefits will be
significantly reduced by this decision, I feel that this is the
only way to avoid additional retaliation,” he wrote. Davlin’s only response was a brief
statement issued by e-mail: “I am saddened to learn that the
city is losing the services of Sergeant Vose. He is a personal
friend of mine and has been a valued member of the Springfield
Police Department for over 27 years. He will truly be
missed.”
This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2006.
