Madras failed to investigate officers’ allegations against former chief. The state took ‘no action.’

Published 10:15 am Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Four Madras police officers approached the city in June 2022 with a shocking disclosure.

Much of the department — possibly half of its officers — were at risk of quitting.

In a series of meetings with a city human resources staffer, the officers said this was largely due to a steep decline in morale and what they alleged was misconduct and poor leadership by Madras Police Chief Tanner Stanfill, according to a summary report of their conversations obtained by The Bulletin.

The officers — two of whom were sergeants — accused Stanfill of disregarding their health and safety, of seldom showing up to work and leading a hostile work environment where officers feared to report their concerns, records show.

They accused Stanfill of allowing his drinking to impede his duties and described encounters in which the chief would slur his words or appear to be hung over at work, records state. Two of the officers alleged Stanfill called on-duty patrol officers to give him a ride home while he was drunk, records show.

“Officers are complaining that the Chief is calling them during overnight shifts and screaming and yelling at them belligerently during their shifts,” a sergeant told the human resources staffer.

This took a toll on a department struggling with staffing, records show. One officer told human resources the stress had caused him to consider suicide. Another said he nearly blacked out and collapsed at work, and later, he was taken to the emergency room while suffering from “heart attack symptoms due to stress.”

But the city of Madras did little — if anything — to investigate the officers’ allegations against Stanfill, The Bulletin found.

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training — which is responsible for holding Oregon law enforcement officers accountable for bad behavior — also reviewed Stanfill’s case after he formally resigned Nov. 1, 2022.

After one month, the standards and training office moved to close his case “with no action,” records show.

“At the present time, Mr. Stanfill’s certifications are in good standing,” Jennifer Levario, who managed Stanfill’s case for the standards office, told The Bulletin in an email Friday.

Chief’s actions alleged in reports, email, letters

The officers’ allegations were among dozens of pages of reports, emails, letters, memos and meeting minutes contained in the standards office case file on Stanfill, which The Bulletin obtained and reviewed through Oregon public records law.

The records do not name the human resources staffer. The standards office said it redacted the officers’ names because “providing some anonymity encourages greater openness to officers who may not otherwise come forward to report alleged misconduct, for fear of retaliation.”

Taken together, the records portray a department in turmoil and officers who said they were short-staffed and severely overworked, records show.

The Bulletin made three calls to a phone number listed as Stanfill’s, but he did not call back to discuss the allegations. Stanfill also did not respond to requests for comment at his home, via email and in a text message.

Investigation after resignation

Stanfill was on medical leave from July 7, 2022, until he submitted his resignation on Oct. 14, ending 22 years with the department. He formally resigned Nov. 1 due to “medical reasons,” according to a personnel record. He had been chief since 2015.

But on Dec. 8, 2022, more than five months after the officers came forward, Charo Miller, the human resources and administrative director for the city of Madras, said in an email to Levario that the officers’ allegations were “uninvestigated.”

That’s because the meeting to discuss the matter “with the city administrator was canceled, due to (Stanfill’s) medical leave, which eventually led to his permanent absence from the department,” Miller told Levario in the email.

A day later, the state standards office began a review of the “uninvestigated” complaints against Stanfill, according to a Feb. 9 memo, which is publicly available online. The state requested records and reviewed the officers’ allegations “to determine if (Stanfill) continues to meet the minimum standards for certification as a public safety officer in Oregon,” records show. The state found that “(n)one of these claims were subjected to a full investigation and corroboration of facts,” the memo said. The state recommended closing the case without action.

The state “mostly” relies on agencies like the city of Madras to investigate, because the state does not have its own investigator in the professional standards division, Levario wrote in Friday’s email.

“Corroboration is more than just a series of allegations or complaints,” Levario said. “It requires additional evidence that supports the allegations.”

The state standards office also noted Stanfill’s conduct “may” meet requirements to deny or revoke his law enforcement certifications, a memo said.

However, because the officers’ complaints were not fully investigated, the state “lacked sufficient evidence to determine if moral fitness violations occurred prior to his separation of employment,” according to June 12 meeting minutes from the Police Policy Committee, a board made up of law enforcement officials who review disciplinary recommendations from the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

The committee affirmed the state’s recommendation to close Stanfill’s case, Levario wrote in a June 28 letter to the former Madras chief, adding that his law enforcement certifications “remain in good standing.”

The Bulletin made multiple phone calls and sent emails with questions to Miller and interim City Administrator Christy Wurster to learn why the officers’ complaints were “uninvestigated,” which they didn’t dispute.

“Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this issue because it is a personnel matter,” Miller said in an email Friday.

Tim Plummer, Madras’ new chief, who recently has been praised in the news media for improving morale and staffing in the department of 10 officers, declined to comment. Madras police officers did not respond to requests for comment.

A department in turmoil

The records reveal how the department struggled under Stanfill’s leadership. Officers were often called to cover extra shifts and work 12-hours at a stretch, records show. They took dozens of calls daily, sometimes with little backup or supervision, leaving them feeling unsafe and concerned for the public, records show.

Multiple officers accused Stanfill of dragging his feet in hiring, records show.

One sergeant said “the attitude that is being portrayed by the Chief is that he feels the staff should just ‘suck it up’ and ‘get on some pills,’” records show.

Misconduct allegations

While the officers worked overtime and holidays, they accused Stanfill of seldom showing up to work, and working “maybe 3 days per week if they are lucky,” records show. At least two officers accused him of trying to make it seem that he would work more than he actually did by showing up at work or sending emails in the morning or evening, records show.

Three officers said Stanfill didn’t cover shifts — even as the chief was praised by city officials, including the city administrator, for covering those shifts, records show. “This has severely degraded morale,” the records say.

The most serious allegation made by officers, according to the records: Stanfill’s drinking habits prompted him to sometimes work hungover and sometimes call officers and yell at them while sounding drunk.

One officer recalled an incident in May 2022, where he responded to a hotel room to deal with a “high liability person” who was “often intoxicated,” records show. The officer arrived and “noticed (Stanfill’s) personal truck in the parking lot and saw him standing and drinking a beer outside the room (the officer) was supposed to respond to,” records show.

The officer “could clearly tell (Stanfill) was intoxicated,” records show. The officer was called to another incident but “intended to return to verify that (Stanfill) was not driving his truck while drunk.”

The officer said he learned that later in the same evening, Stanfill called an on-duty officer and asked for a ride home, “because he was intoxicated,” records show.

When the city’s human resources staffer first listened to the Madras police officers, one thing stood out: the officers were describing a department completely different than the one the public believed to be serving Madras.

But the situation was worse than that, records show. The officers were “visibly shaken,” “teary eyed” and “distraught.”

Afterward, one officer said he felt relieved for having spoken about it all. Another said he may not have come in if it weren’t for another officers’ bravery to speak out.

Another thanked the human resources staffer for listening. He felt like he might finally be able to sleep that evening.

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