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player ready...The Gary Police Civil Service Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to suspend reserve officer Joe Franklin’s police powers for 60 days for violating procedures while taking a prisoner to the Lake County Jail.
Franklin, whose police powers allow him to make arrests while working his full-time job at the Gary Community School Corp. and any other security job within the city, did not attend the brief special meeting held to issue the board’s decision.
After a 45-minute executive session, the board quickly approved a recommendation by attorney Rinzer Williams, who said the city “did not meet its burden of proof” that would justify a permanent suspension. The commission conducted a hearing at its regular monthly meeting last week.
The suspension is retroactive to Feb. 25, the day Chief Larry McKinley filed his complaint against Franklin, the board ruled.
The chief’s complaint stated that on Jan. 3, Franklin delivered Hakeem Kennedy, 28, to jail, but not the bulk of Kennedy’s money – more than $300.
Kennedy was arrested on a Lake County warrant. The property sheet prepared by the arresting officer showed he had jewelry, cash and coins, among other items. A jail transport officer is responsible for making sure all the listed items are taken to the county jail when the prisoner is moved from the Public Safety Facility.
At the Lake County Jail, a video recording of Franklin’s actions shows him with Kennedy’s property envelope that contained less than one dollar in change, but does not show him depositing any paper money into the cash machine inside the jail. The process at the jail requires transport officers to get a printout of the cash deposit from the machine to include with the jail property, but there was no receipt attached, the chief’s complaint alleged.