More investigations in Caldwell: State probes police officers for policy violations
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Hoadley Series
The FBI began investigating at least two Caldwell Police Department officers in 2021. So far it’s led to four federal charges against one Caldwell police officer: Lt. Joey Hoadley, who since has been fired. Here is our coverage since the investigation began.
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Six more officers were recently added to the list of Caldwell police officers under investigation.
Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday that five current officers and one former officer were under investigation by Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, for possible decertification.
The officers are being investigated for policy violations that are not criminal now but could become criminal in the future, Ingram said.
“These are allegations that have not been investigated yet,” Ingram said by phone. But if true, “they could result in discipline, removal from office and termination.”
Kelsey Woodward, a management assistant for POST, declined to comment further.
The POST investigations were spurred by an ongoing FBI investigation into two former Caldwell police officers, Ingram said. The FBI investigation resulted in a federal indictment of Lt. Joey Hoadley for striking someone while on duty, the Statesman previously reported.
Hoadley was fired on May 12.
Woodward told the Statesman by phone Tuesday that Hoadley hasn’t been decertified yet but offered no other details.
Ingram said he is launching a parallel internal investigation to “understand the facts.” He said the internal investigation has not begun, because there is no system in place to investigate current employees, and Ingram is looking for someone to lead the investigation who is unbiased.
“As the organization’s leader, the things with POST are serious,” Ingram said by phone.
This investigation was first reported by KTVB.
The officers under investigation are working but not handling current cases or responding to calls, Ingram said. That is because if the officers were decertified, that could throw any investigation they were working on or charges by the prosecuting attorney into question, he said.
Ingram took over the department during a turbulent time, but hopes to restore the department’s credibility in the public’s eye. Ingram was sworn in on July 1. Before that, he was a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Caldwell has 78 officers. From March to October 2021, six officers resigned from the department: Capt. Devin Riley and officers Amber Walker, Kenneth Branstetter, Ryan Bendawald, Anthony Rojo and Sean King.
Reasons an officer could be decertified
A police officer must meet all of POST’s basic certification requirements to serve in Idaho.
Depending on the offense, an Idaho officer could be decertified automatically, or at POST’s discretion.
Woodward explained that typically if an officer violated a rule, the officer’s department would submit a form that would be reviewed by POST’s Office of Professional Responsibility, overseen by Dan Smith, who initiates an investigation if warranted.
Smith and Division Administrator Brad Johnson, POST’s chief executive, then review the incidents “collectively.”
Any officer convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor that involves domestic violence, or who willfully falsifies or omits evidence to obtain a certification, or who violates any provision of the Idaho Uniform Controlled Substances Act, would face mandatory decertification, Woodward said, citing POST’s rulebook.
Reasons for discretionary decertification include a conviction of a misdemeanor that isn’t domestic violence, violating the POST Council’s Code of Ethics, criminal conduct even if the officer wasn’t charged, inappropriate sexual conduct while on duty, harassment or intimidation, lying or falsifying official written or verbal communications, inappropriate relations, sexual or otherwise.
Ingram did not know if the six officers’ alleged violations would fall into the mandatory or discretionary categories.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 3:43 PM.
