Saratoga officer fired

Justin Brown terminated following unanimous decision during special meeting

Less than a year after being hired by the Town of Saratoga, Sergeant Justin Brown was terminated following a 90 minute public hearing at a special meeting of the Saratoga Town Council on March 1.

The termination of Brown from the Saratoga Police Department (SPD) comes three months after Carbon County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) attempted to execute a search warrant for a K9 dog, Shaw, owned by Brown. 

The hearing, which had originally been scheduled for February 11, had been postponed following Brown's arrest on February 9 for two misdemeanor charges of vicious dog at large, a misdemeanor charge of interference with a peace officer and felony threatening an officer. The latter two charges came in relation to the attempted execution of a search warrant on the evening of December 31.

The shadow of the criminal charges Brown is facing loomed over the public hearing, which operated similar to a courtroom. With Mayor Creed James presiding, Jane France-legal counsel for the Town of Saratoga-and H. Michael Bennett-legal counsel for Brown-questioned just two witnesses; SPD Ken Lehr and CCSO Ben Opfar. Members of the council were also allowed to ask questions. Throughout the proceedings, Brown himself said little aside from confirming to James he wished the hearing be kept public.

Opening Statements

In her opening statement, France stated the reasons to consider terminating Brown from the police department were "quite narrow".

"They arise out of Mr. Brown's behavior and actions on December 31, 2021 when Carbon County Sheriff Sergeant Ben Opfar tried to serve a search warrant that night at his home for the dog, Shaw, and also Mr. Brown's failure to return department equipment at Chief Lehr's request," said France. "You will hear from Sergeant Opfar and listen to his body cam recording of the conversation with Sergeant Brown that night. As part of an investigation into two different bites allegedly performed by Mr. Brown's dog, Shaw, Opfar obtained a search warrant and tried to execute it on the night of December 31, 2021. Sergeant Brown did not cooperate with the attempt and, instead of cooperating and lawfully objecting to the warrant if he thought there was a basis to do so, he threatened to break the deputies' necks if they attempted to take the dog."

France argued in her opening statement that, due to the threats made by Brown, Opfar and other CCSO deputies did not execute the warrant.

"Sergeant Brown should be terminated. These actions interfere with the Town and the Saratoga Police Department's ability to conduct its business in that it violates the public's trust and confidence in the Town's law enforcement officers, it negatively reflects on both the Town and the police department and it hampers the police department's abilities to carry out its duties to protect the citizens of Saratoga," France said. "There are severe consequences when you threaten violence, particularly when you threaten a law enforcement officer. Particularly when the threat is made by a law enforcement officer who, of all people, knows the law and understands the law and also swore an oath to uphold the law."

France further argued the comments made by Brown on December 31 were also grounds for termination as they violated the Town of Saratoga employee guidelines.

Bennett, meanwhile, characterized the comments made by Brown as "locker room talk" between law enforcement officers.

"What you're going to find is you're going to find a highly charged incident between competing law enforcement organizations, you're going to find that law enforcement is a difficult job," said Bennett. "It is ripe for disagreement, especially in situations like this, and what you are going to find is that law enforcement-because of their job and the fact that their job is so difficult-talks to one another a little bit differently than we might expect."

First Witness

The first witness called by France was Opfar, who had been involved in investigating both bites involving Shaw. The first bite was on July 23 and involved Brown's daughter while the second bite was on December 19 and involved Brown's ex-wife, Amanda.

"On December 19, I was working and we received information from dispatch that there was a bite at the hospital. A delayed report, the individual had already left," said Opfar. "I sent one of my deputies over there to speak with the nurse and then I proceeded to continue the investigation and came down to Saratoga and I made contact with Mr. Brown that night."

Opfar stated it was unclear at the time which dog had bit Amanda, adding he was told by Brown two to three times it was a younger Malinois named Liberty. The CCSO deputy said he was informed on December 22 by CCSO Deputy Patrick Patterson that it had been confirmed Shaw had bit Amanda. According to Opfar, he took that information to Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis and, on December 30, a search warrant was obtained for Shaw.

According to Opfar, due to comments made on December 19 by Brown, the decision was made to contact Brown via phone rather than approach his house.

"When I had initially investigated on the 19th, he had made a comment that if anybody was going to quarantine the dog he wasn't going to let that happen," Opfar said. "There would be a big fight and I better bring the sheriff and the SWAT team and everybody else."

Body cam footage from the night of December 31 recording the phone call between Opfar and Brown was submitted by France as evidence. In the recording, as the CCSO sergeant attempted to execute the warrant, Brown asserted multiple times his 4th Amendment Rights-the right against unreasonable search and seizure-had been violated. He also claimed multiple times the warrant was based on hearsay from Alyx Munson, a dispatcher with the police department.

In the footage, when Opfar told Brown he wouldn't kick in his door, the latter responded he would break Opfar's neck.

"I'm calling you because I wanted to resolve this peacefully. I have a warrant issued from the judge and that's what I have to go on," said Opfar during the phone call. "You know that, as a law enforcement officer, I have to follow the paper that was issued to me."

Under questioning from Bennett, Opfar confirmed he had requested the search warrant for Shaw. Bennett also asked Opfar if he had shown the search warrant to Brown, with Opfar saying he had not. 

Second Witness

The second witness to be called by France was Lehr. While Opfar's testimony centered around the attempted execution of the search warrant, Lehr's testimony centered around the events afterward.

Under questioning from France, Lehr stated he had talked with both Sergeant Brown and Sergeant Tyler Christen after the events of December 31. When asked by France if he had talked with Christen that night, Lehr stated he couldn't remember.

Following those events, Brown had been sent a letter dated January 14 informing him he had been suspended from the police department. Questioning of Lehr by France appeared to show that while the letter had been dated January 14, it was sent out on January 15.

When France asked Lehr when Brown contacted him about the letter, the chief stated he couldn't remember. 

As was previously reported, the January 14 letter was sent unsigned by Lehr. A second letter, dated January 27, did bear Lehr's signature. When asked by Bennett who wrote the first letter, Lehr stated it was France. Bennett then asked Lehr why he didn't sign the letter, to which the chief responded "I don't know". 

Following a five minute recess before closing statements, when asked by Councilmember D'Ron Campbell-who joined via phone-about the letter again, Lehr stated it was sent out without his signature because the letter was sent from France's office.

In a February 14 interview with the Sun, Lehr stated he didn't sign the letter because he didn't "totally agree with it".

While also a consideration for his termination, the department equipment still in Brown's possession wasn't discussed as extensively as his conduct towards CCSO deputies.

France asked Lehr if he had made arrangements with Brown regarding the equipment prior to the January 14 letter, with Lehr stating he couldn't remember.

The letter begins by stating "This letter serves as written confirmation of our phone call today."

Lehr stated he had talked with Brown via phone and text message to arrange pickup of the equipment but "it never happened". Bennett asked Lehr if he believed Brown would steal the equipment with Lehr stating he didn't believe that would happen. 

Referencing the January 14 letter, Bennett asked Lehr if he believed Brown being barred from entering the police department or town hall made returning the equipment more difficult. Lehr agreed with Bennett. 

Closing statements

In the closing statements, France struck back at Bennett's characterizations of Brown's statements on December 31.

"A law enforcement officer whose job it is to uphold the law-and has executed who knows how many search warrants, just like Sergeant Opfar-threatened Opfar and his colleagues for simply doing his job. The same job Sergeant Brown has done time and time again," said France. "That's not locker room talk. That's not a couple of guys winding down over a beer after shift. That's a threat to a law enforcement officer while that law enforcement officer is trying to do his job."

France further argued not terminating Brown over his comments constituted a double standard.

"How can you expect the public to follow the law when a town police officer doesn't follow the law? You can't. You can't condone it, there's no double standard," France said. "This talk about locker room talk and blue talk is unacceptable and out of place." 

Bennett, in his closing statements, countered that despite his characterizations of Brown's statements "I don't think anyone here ... is going to try to get you to believe that this is acceptable behavior, that this is somehow something that we should condone."

"Why we're here is because you are being asked to terminate a member of law enforcement and I would just like to point out what I didn't hear," said Bennett. "I didn't hear that this is something the police are unable to address or correct. I didn't hear that there's a history of this kind of behavior."

As he continued, Bennett argued that Brown, rather than being terminated, should face administrative actions and be reprimanded.

"We give Sergeant Brown all of these duties and then when he messes up, when he says things that are untoward, we immediately say 'Well, you know what, this is just unacceptable and you can't be a cop anymore. You can't work for us'. I don't think we're there. I think there are remedial sanctions that can be done," Bennett said. "Is my client flawed? Absolutely. Are we asking you to condone what he said to Sergeant Opfar? Absolutely not. What we're asking you is to not terminate his employment, to give him a chance, to give some remedial measures should he choose to want to maintain his employment."

Unanimous decision

Following closing statements from both legal counsels, the town council entered executive session. After 40 minutes, both legal counsels and Brown were asked to join the council in closed session. Seven minutes later, the council reconvened in open session.

A motion to terminate Brown passed unanimously.

 

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