The township hired Douglas Duckett, an independent lawyer, to investigate the charges. He found Herzog didn’t deserve discipline but some of his behavior was inappropriate.
Hensley retired on June 23, and both Herzog and Gutman were given performance improvement plans in July 2020 and told they needed to work professionally together. Gutman resigned in January.
Herzog said he has made a concerted effort to open lines of communication with the entire department.
“I went to all the shifts and all the units and had talks with them and open communication, said we’ve got to start this healing process of what’s going on and how we move forward,” Herzog told the Journal-News. “So there’s a lot of communication going on.”
He said that, after Gutman left, he went to the Fraternal Order of Police unit to share “my vision, how we move forward, how we fix the department, the healing process, and I will say communication has been incredible between the FOP and the command staff.”
FOP Secretary Sgt. Brent Lovell agreed the department is on the mend and said, “we’ve moved on from the situation and morale is good.”
During this past year Herzog said he has taken steps to improve himself as a leader.
“I’m not naïve, we still have healing to go on but we’re doing a lot, I’m doing a lot,” Herzog said. “I’ve entered into several different programs throughout this year, whether they are leadership — I’ve taken a leadership program at Xavier University — just to help develop myself, to open myself up as far as what flaws do I have, what mistakes have I made that I didn’t know I’ve made, to help me heal and help me develop those below me and bridge any kind of gap”
Gutman’s resignation letter submitted Dec. 31, acquired through a Journal-News public records request, said his final day would be Jan. 16. In the letter, he accused the administration of dismissing legitimate complaints he and others made and asserts that “the retaliation has made the working environment intolerable.”
“Our complaints were essentially ignored and in some cases the blame was placed on the whistleblowers, including me,” Gutman wrote. “For that reason, retiring is the safest and healthiest option for myself and my family.”
Township Administrator Larry Burks and Assistant Administrator Lisa Brown declined comment because there is possible litigation pending by Gutman and Hensley. Gutman’s attorney, Elizabeth Tuck — she longer represents Hensley — would not say whether there will be a lawsuit.
“We were working very diligently to make it a comfortable, safe workplace for everyone,” Herzog said about Gutman’s resignation. “We had a process in place to continually improve and if he felt different that’s something you’d have to ask him.”
Since July, there have been seven resignations and two retirements from the 90-person department. There are eight open positions, which officials said is typical for the department.
Officer Michael Lopez, who came forward after Gutman and Hensley revealed their issues, was one of those who left the department. He said he was “humiliated” when Herzog referred to him as “brown Mike” when giving him a commendation.
In his resignation letter dated April 16, he wrote to Herzog, “I am thankful for all this position has taught me over the past 20 years, and the relationships I’ve established.”
Gutman received a performance appraisal from Assistant Chief Brian Rebholz on May 12, 2020 in which he received an overall rating of 3.82 on a 5-point scale. The township has no records of disciplinary actions against Gutman or anyone else involved in the controversy since last July. Herzog’s performance evaluation will be done this summer.
Herzog has not filled either captain position. The department has previously promoted from within, but he said none of the six lieutenants wanted the jobs, which surprised him.
“I thought for sure I’d have a couple,” Herzog said. “I had several of them come speak to me and just ask about what exactly am I looking for, or they spoke to why they just didn’t feel it was the right time for them.”
He said the department has operated with one captain before. He, Rebholz and the lieutenants have been picking up the extra work.
Herzog said he has received about 17 extrenal applications for the captains positions and hopes to have the positions filled by July.
“The applicant pool is smaller than it normally is just because of what’s going on in the world with police officers right now ...,” Lovell said. “We put our trust in the administration we have a great working relationship with the chief, we trust through his knowledge and promotional process the right person will be found.”
Trustee Mark Welch said he supports Herzog.
“When something like this happens it’s an opportunity really to make improvements,” Welch said. “Suddenly the veil is torn and things that were hidden are now exposed. This is a perfect opportunity to really capitalize on that and to move forward with improvements and betterments and to get a longer lasting solution than we had before.”
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