JEFFERSON POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Jefferson officer fired
The Jefferson police officer who reportedly had a relationship with a teenage girl at the school where he worked as a school resource officer has been fired.
Police chief Joe Wirthman said Thursday morning that Robert Fehr had been fired with violations of the officer code of conduct, neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming of an officer being among the reasons for his dismissal.
“He wasn’t fired for having a relationship with her (the teenage girl),” the police chief said. “It was other things that came out during the investigation.”
Wirthman said that records show that Fehr had more than 60 hours of personal phone conversations during a two-month period.
The relationship between Fehr and the teenager was investigated by the district attorney, who found no criminal wrong-doing. Fehr was placed on administrative leave with pay at the end of January.
“Based upon the current investigation, there is no state criminal statute I am aware of that Officer Fehr has violated,” district attorney Brad Smith wrote in a letter to Wirthman. “The student in question was 17-years of age at the time of the alleged contact. In Georgia, the age of consent is 16 years.”
Smith also said the relationship reportedly did not occur while Fehr was working
“He wasn’t fired for having a relationship with her (the teenage girl),” the police chief said. “It was other things that came out during the investigation.”
Wirthman said that records show that Fehr had more than 60 hours of personal phone conversations during a two-month period.
The relationship between Fehr and the teenager was investigated by the district attorney, who found no criminal wrong-doing. Fehr was placed on administrative leave with pay at the end of January.
“Based upon the current investigation, there is no state criminal statute I am aware of that Officer Fehr has violated,” district attorney Brad Smith wrote in a letter to Wirthman. “The student in question was 17-years of age at the time of the alleged contact. In Georgia, the age of consent is 16 years.”
Smith also said the relationship reportedly did not occur while Fehr was working
Gripe all you want to, the bottom line is Officer Fehr committed no crime, but violated Department S.O.P's and City Policy.
Did you work for the Dekalb PD? I didn't think so. Everyone is an expert.
Wow, Selous Rhodesia? I had to google that!!!
When you told them you werent going to file charges, the Athens paper reported that "Detectives with the Jefferson Police Department and staff members with the Jackson County District Attorney's office have spent weeks poring over telephone records and witness testimony to find when the relationship started."
So, Did you do an investigation or was thar wrong also? Why didnt you call in the GBI?
He doesn't need to chase a bad guy down the street, He has a dog that can out run ANY bad guy a lot faster than ANY cop.
Now Billy Mac is another story, I have seen him chase on foot and catch who he was chasing. He doesn't have the mantra of no foot chase.
As for "wtf 1025" (how cute) most of the posters on this blog know these people as well as you. And to make the universal claim that the JPD officers are busting their butts, we all know better. They are either too apathetic because morale is so low or they are afraid to police because they will certainly get in trouble if they do. JPD is not proactive it is like most reactive and they all know it on Pine and Gordon don't they? Disclaimer... there are some who work their butts off Mace, Woods, and some others but for the most part you won't see JPD fighting the crack or meth problems. So wtf1025 we have lives outside of being a cop. Remember, this blog is the public's opportunity to speak, if you don't like it get out of public service!
I would like to say that I do not condone any of the staements in reference to "have you seen the fat one that rides with the dog. I would like to see him try and chase a bad guy down."
To the officer which the nasty comment was directed at, I have much respect for him and have actually seen him chase several people on foot without a dog and capture them. Im sorry someone had to stir the pot once more.
Thanks,
S. Rogers
Neither Chief Wirthman nor DA Brad Smith claimed that the DA's office did an investigation.
That portion of this article was written by the reporter responsible for the story- and not necessarily Mike, he's just the one who posted it.
There was no need for the DA to get involved and I agree with JAUTRY that Fehr knows he got off easy on this one. If he'd been reinstated he would have been the laughingstock of the police force. "Conduct unbecoming of an officer" is a pretty light charge compared to what could have been issued (IMO).
He had over 60 hours to one person while on duty in 2 months.
considering the police only work about 15 days a month and 12 hour shifts that means he was on the phone about 2 hours a day to that person(not including any other personal calls he made).
that equates out to 1/6th of his work day(or night) on the phone to her.
Do you really think they would look at (or care about) his cell phone usage while he was OFF DUTY?
O.K. so maybe that was all of his personal calls while on duty but it seems to me since this whole situation revolves around the relationship that the main thing they would look at is the time he spent on the phone to her while ON DUTY(I may be wrong, but, hey I tend to think with some logic).
As for can I drive and talk on the phone, yes but how would your boss feel if you were driving HIS vehicle around and talking on the phone for 1/6th of your day and not paying attention to the road (when your JOB is to pay attention to the other drivers on the road)?
A better reason to terminate him....We live in a right to work state. As long as they dont violate your rights they don't need a reason to fire you!
I am not saying you don't use logic, I just hate to see it when people "assume" with logic. We don't know all the facets on this one. I just think cell phone usage is a weak means to his ends.
And as for your last line...you're preaching to the choir on that one. Just let him go, even if it is for no reason, it's better than the wrong one.
And one more question (for anyone) why wouldn't they look at all personal phone calls if he was terminated for the reasons the Chief claims? Neglect of duty shouldn't discriminate by who he is talking to should it?
I do miss Jefferson, when you move away you realize it really was a pretty neat place.
Now I just can't wait to log in and see what some of my old friends are up to. Its not quite as much fun as going to Bruce's for the Tuesday lunch crowd, but it's close. you guys keep up the bantering back and forth, but don't hurt anyone. Remember the World is watchin'
Oh yea by the way great decision Chief Wirthman.
I'll even bet I could get the new chief and the old chief to sit down and have a beer and a steak. No Worries!
The thing thats ridiculous to me is that everyone on this blog talks about how screwed up Fehr is and how he should be fired. But then when he gets fired, regardless of reasoning, everyone whines about him being fired.
If Fehr was doing this to any of YOUR 17 year old daughters, your take on the situation would be A LOT different. But luckily for you, it was another mom and dads daughter, so you are all on the sideline watching. Put yourself in their shoes and think about some of your comments.
Great job Chief Wirthman! Unfortunately, in this screwed up community, your damned if you do and damned if you don't. Thanks for getting Chester the Child Molester off of the force.
Read what we're writing! I haven't seen a single post that says he shouldn't be fired. It is the reason he was fired (it looks like we ALL) have a problem with. Damned if you do it wrong, good job if you do it right.
P.S. It is nice to see someone use commas correctly. Looks like you have written a few papers in your time!
Let this be a lesson for other officers and for women getting involved with married men. (yes, I said it) For too long we have not assigned any blame to women. They can murder and get probation. They can commit adultery and routinely get custody of the children and get enormous amounts of child support. Equal rights means equal responsibility.
Good luck officer Fehr. You are the only one suffering. The rest of us get to go on with our lives in a normal fashion. You're paying the price.
I think my point was that the man always suffers the consequences of his actions, and women generally, don't. But maybe I was off point for this story.
If you didn't then GET REAL.
DO you really think that this paper printed ALL of the violations of policy?
the only thing they are concerned with is stiring the pot to get more hits on their web site and sell more newspapers
How do I know all of this?
I ask Questions.
I agree you haven't made any editorial comment about the story, but, when your reporter gathered information did she request all of the information or was she only interested in the sex aspect(I ask questions) of the investigation?
when Wirthman tried to explain the rest of the story and the (I believe it was) 7 policy violations (do an open records request)what did she tell him?
I'll anwser my own question for you.....I believe it went something like this.....I'll let you know if I need any other information.
Sorry Mike but not telling the WHOLE truth is not telling the truth. There is a reason when people are sworn in while on the stand in court and they say, the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth.
YOUR newspaper however is not bound by that rule.
to be excat. Im also friends with very many officers that
are with JPD, JCSO, APD & BPD. And i can say im very proud
of our officers with this county. AS for the drug free
they are doin a pretty good job at it.
But people please do not make fun of overweight cops! Just because they may be overweight does not mean they can not do the job! Trust me I know! I am sure he does the best he can. The dept. can do a fitness test however they cannot hold the employees already employed to the standard.
Please dont even go there with the county police department. All that would do is double the job the Sheriffs department does with one exception, the county commission would be able to tell the chief what to do....In the case of the Sheriff he is an elected official and they can Control ONLY his budget. the county commission looked into that idea so they could cut Stans budget because he isn't thier puppet and they want him to be.
They don't like him because they cant tell him what to do, or how to run the department.
Actually it would cut the Sheriff's job by about 3/4. The Sheriff would then be only responsible for Courts and the Jail. Sounds like to me you don't believe in the county government's ability to run the law enforcement side of things. It also sounds like you don't believe in transparency. That is, you think it is better for one man to have all the power and answer to no one other than fiduciary responsibilities. Sound familiar? I think that’s what got us in the financial crisis we find ourselves in now. Furthermore, if we went to a county police your job would not necessarily be at risk. The county police would still need at least the same number of officers on the road (or supervising them ;) ) as there are now. And from what I read of ole school, he has more of a problem with the smaller departments and their revenue producing ideologies rather than service based policing such as your department. With smaller towns reluctant to collect taxes and or provide city services to fund their municipality, they are left with the requisite to raise revenue through court fines. And that makes everybody happy right? Not. There are already county taxes (I know I know, not enough to fund a new PD but they would have to take from the Sheriff and work out some other issues, they could just get ideas from Gwinnett, DeKalb etc) so the new county police wouldn’t rely solely on court fines to exist as other towns do. Most municipal police cringe at the mention of County Police Services, but in reality they are mostly worried about their own jobs rather than a better more efficient system. I could provide a more trenchant argument for County Police but not in this forum.
"The (Jefferson) City Policy states that an employee can not perform acts which endanger you or another employee and be fully prepared to perform work assignments as required," Wirthman said in the written notice. "By being on the phone either on the way or during a call to service you put yourself, other officers and citizens in possible harm’s way by not being fully focused on the task at hand. Your personal calls were excessive to the extent that a reasonable person would say they went far beyond any reasonable expectation as to your work performance and work ethic."
Their was more, but I thought you guys may find this comment particularly interesting. Their were comments that dealt directly with personal conduct and how it reflects on the Department, which is where my beef has been all along.
What you are saying is ALL of this back and forth bickering could have been avoided by WAITING FOR THE OUTCOME instead of trying to ass-u-me what was going on in the investigation?
your name said it right.
I look at it like this...why not add more to the payroll by adding another department, a county police force. HELL NO!!
you made an ASSUMPTION that I work for the Sheriff, No, I don't and never have.
As for the sheriff not being accountable to anyone except for financial aspects of his department, that is where you are WRONG, He is an elected official and is accountable to the citizens of the county, and the Governer of the state! And for some unknown reason he keeps getting elected...Oh I know, the CITIZENS must like how the department is operating!
But he doesn't run the department anyway he spends to much time at his business. The Major runs the department.
now on to fines for court and citations, I say hell yea let the people who are breaking the law pay fines and help to keep my TAXES LOWER, Instead of putting in another department that would raise my taxes.
Oh one more thing the Sheriff is a CONSTITUNALLY MANDATED OFFICE so even if you took away 3/4 of his budget and left him with only the courts and warrants, HE WOULD STILL BE THE TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IN THE COUNTY.
I never made the assumption you worked for the county, that is a straw man argument , so read what I wrote a little more carefully. With what you have written about the intimate discussions between the reporter and the Chief I would never have even hinted at you wearing brown. My assumption was you were not a patrol officer working 12s. As for adding to the payroll, obviously the road deputies would be cut so there’s most of the money. It’s just a matter of moving money around. But remember, I said I wouldn’t get into that in this forum. It was your statement that the commissioners can’t control Stan, only his money. And why does he keep getting re-elected? It is obvious he is doing a good enough job that we citizens want to keep him around. Don’t even begin to think I would start to bash the Sheriff, I have way too much respect for him and I think he is a good man on a personal level. He has helped a lot of my family members in our time of need (not legal). I have seen a fundamental flaw or Freudian slip in your statement that is the shame of policing as it has become. You apparently think the function of police is to keep our taxes low… you should be ashamed! The function of police is to serve and protect. Raising revenue should never be the purpose of law enforcement! That is the nexus for the degradation. As for the constitutional lesson on the position of the Sheriff, you have no idea who you’re talking to, I have forgotten more about the Constitutions (State and Federal) than you will know (about them) in your lifetime.
And my name is not a reference to me so I’m sorry if it offends, try not to live up to.
P.S. Do you think the Sheriff knows he doesn't run the department? Maybe you should tell him.
The intimate discussions between the Chief and Reporter...If you ask the chief he will tell you the same thing, all she wanted to know about was the sex. I asked after reading the athens paper and getting more information than this newspaper gave.
I do know a lot of people in Jefferson and I'm not afraid to ask questions if it is something I want to know about(not always do I get an response but I ask).
While you sleep, we're there.
When you're sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, or celebrating Christmas, we're there.
When its raining and cold, and you're glad to be in your home with your family, we're out there.
When it's your children's birthday, we're out there.
When it's our children's birthday, we're still out there.
You put on a suit and dress to go to work, we strap on a ballistic vest and a gun.
There's little room for error in your job, in ours there is none.
An error by you means a demotion, an error by us means a funeral.
When you tell your families "see you tonight" as you leave for work, you mean it. When we tell our family that, we pray we will.
At your job you strive to succeed, at our job we strive to survive.
In your job, one bad person is the talk of the office, in our job, one bad officer makes the news and suddenly were all bad.
In these headlines it's not what good we've done, but how much better it could have been done.
When you're scared you call us, when we're scared, we must carry on.
While you're eating a home cooked meal, we're having another hamburger.
While you're asleep with your spouse, ours sleep alone.
So the next time you're out with your family or friends, and you see a patrol car go by, remember the incredible sacrifice made by these officers every day.
Inside that car is a person that sacrifices his/her life, both professionally and personally Every day.
Are you guys saying it is ok to claim "do as I say and not as I do?" I mean does it really matter if he is the Chief, or what he has done on the road in Florida? If you have had any supervision classes at GPSTC you would know this is a method of leadership that will fail. The Chief should set the bar, not walk around it. Now, with that being said I'm not sure if the comment was about the Chief but if it is true don't you see the hyppocracy? If it wasn't about the Chief then you should see the REASON (according to the article) Furball was fired was weak. Just pick a better reason to fire him other than talking on the phone. I'm sure he isn't the only one guilty of talking on the phone that much.
Mayor Benton issued a Proclamation in honor of Captain Joseph Wirthman upon his
retirement from the Fort Pierce Police Department after 26 years.
Mayor Benton said he wants to thank Captain Wirthman for all the hard work he has given
this City in the past 26 years. They are going to miss him. Working with Captain Wirthman
for 11 years has been an honor, he has really been out there for the community. Good luck
where he is going. Hopefully dealing with people shooting deer after dark and that type of
thing will be a lot easier than some of the crime in Fort Pierce.
Also The chief should be supervising the department better instead of playing on the computer, maybe than he'd know what his officer's are doing, didn't we just have a possible hate crime/arson in the city limits, maybe if JPD protected and served instead of being a tax with a gun on 85 police force and patrol the town, we'd have less crime, I don't care about the drugs passing through, try doing something about the one's already here, instead of just trying to get some seized money
Who said anything about “getting out shot?” What in the world are you talking about?
In what world is she “more qualified than most in the state?” What are these qualifications? And if she is so qualified why is she working on the road in Arcade Georgia? You obviously don’t know her at all or you know her all too well.
As for sleeping around, no one on this forum ever said anything about anyone from APD sleeping around, unless you are wtf1025. But that can’t be because wtf1025 said “I’m not a cop”. By the way, 1025 is a police code for arrived on scene so if you aren’t a cop then I would say you need serious psychological help. It is obvious from this post that wtf1025 is the female APD officer because she was offended by the ambiguous remarks. That being said it begs the question why did she make derogatory comments about the Jefferson Police Officer in the name of PPD 784. Obviously she is trying to cause bad blood between PPD and JPD using a cowardly method of disguise. However, she just told on herself. Someone should let the APD Chief know what she is doing by trying to start something between the two agencies. Now she has caused the Officers from both agencies to hate her. And she being an Arcade Officer there will certainly be guilt by association for the entire Officers there in Arcade.
Now for the vest and duty belt… so what you’re saying is she did this on duty, because my post was concerning off-duty behavior. Keep telling on yourself!!
I have been watching this thread for a while, just because I am wondering how others have sooo much time on their hands to talk about other officers, but yet would never say it to that officer's face. And this is done through an online site, when nobody even knows who they are really talking to, or have any proof on who anyone really is.
This thread was originally about the JPD Officer, but then turned into a bashing session on a female officer that happens to work in Arcade. For anyone who wants to bash on that officer,(including, but not limited to You're out of your mind)I have some actual news for you. I know this officer personally, and she is a great officer. She has never once replied to anything on this site because to be quite honest, it is not worth it to argue with idiots who don't have anything better to do than make unfounded accusations. The only people trying to start trouble here, are the ones who are throwing stones, and have no clue that they live in an all glass house themselves.
Quit acting like five year olds, and go do some actual work for once.
Signed:
*Someone who knows*
oh by the way Oldschool65 i am not the one who started all the blogs about these 2 so lets take a few steps back and read before you accuse me of making it about something else k.... thanks
Omniscient one, who states in the first paragraph “when nobody even knows who they are really talking to, or have any proof on who anyone really is “, yet you somehow your extraordinary powers allow you to know what kind of house the authors live in. And how would you have a clue as to the quality of my work (“and go do some actual work for once”)? Now who’s making assumptions? I am happy you are so close with this officer and she has never told a single lie to you. Did you know that Webster took gullible out of the dictionary? If you truly knew her you would know what a ridiculous claim that is. Someone told me about what happened in court on a motion to suppress hearing. My friends have told me about her speeding through our city over 100 MPH several times and she wasn’t responding to a call. Do you know this side of her? If your answer is yes then your opinion is worthless. To condone this type behavior and make the claim “she is a great officer” speaks more about you than it does her. Mediocrity is not tolerated by the public nor should it be by you. This officer has made numerous enemies in our city especially with our police department. How is it they are all wrong and the two of you are right?
Cutintou,
Read the blog a little more carefully. I have been sticking up for the K9 officer. It was ppd784 who later identified themselves as wtf1025 who was talking about the k-9. As for the rest of your asinine logorrhea, it sounds like you need help.
You are coding messages that apparently you are the only one that understands. First something about getting out shot now someone was fired for accusing people of things. Let me make this clear, Fehr was fired for talking on the phone. And I’m not Fehr. Obviously you think I am someone that I’m not, but that doesn’t surprise me or offend me. It actually made me laugh.
Rather than shooting the messenger, why don’t you look at the substance of what is being said here. You claim you have such great respect for anyone who puts on the vest and belt. Does that go for Fehr too? Or does your respect end when someone gets caught? Remember Einstein, this blog was about the termination of Fehr and that’s what enraged people on this blog, his actions and the reason he was fired according to the paper. It is obvious to me you respect police officers who are employed regardless of their actions; your respect is based on employment. That, my friend, is a diaphanous mantra that you should be ashamed of.
Finally, would you people stop making the claim that you are not an officer? If you are so ashamed of it then quit your job. Do you really think you are disguising you identity by making that claim? If so, then you are as contemptible as you appear. The next time you make the abysmal claim that you are educated on anything, proof read your post! At least use spell check. You have no command over the English language and such a claim is negated by the rubbish that followed.
Again I cutintou, you were the one who made the leap that I was talking about the APD Officer when I made the comment about wtf1025 not me. Address that why don’t you?
I'm just trying to help, because I think we're on the same side!
I will leave this alone. My initial intention was to point out the reason Fehr was fired was weak. Then I attempted to point out “those without sin cast the first stone…”. As for “comments that can be construed as slander and liable” I assume you know the defense to these allegations (Slander, Libel and any form of defamation) is truth. What I wrote was either premised with rumor or it is the truth.
“Integrity is that thing you do when no one else is looking.” You are preaching to the choir, but let’s not forget it is also tested when people are looking. The end.
I think it is time to shut this thread down. It stopped being abot the original topic. If you truly are not just stiring the pot then TAKE THE POT AWAY and stop letting everyone else stir it for you.
Signed
HMMMMMMMMMMM