By Tiffany Flournoy
MINDEN, La. — The Minden Fire and Police Civil Service Board on Thursday declined to take further action on a grievance involving the city’s police disciplinary protocol after an investigation that produced no written investigative report, recordings, or other documentation outlining how the investigation was conducted.
The grievance, filed by Lt. Kenneth James of the Minden Police Department, centered on allegations that Police Chief Jared McIver failed to forward an internal police complaint review involving Lt. Shane Griffith to the appointing authority — the Minden City Council — for review. However, that process is normally only deemed necessary if disciplinary action has been imposed. In this case, it was not.
James, who serves as division head of the Criminal Investigations Division, raised concerns about protocol transparency and compliance with established civil service procedures.
The matter was heard by the board during a hearing in March, where members unanimously agreed to take a further look into James’ complaint and authorized an investigation into the allegations.
Following that decision, the board appointed members Tommy Davis and Corey Plunkett to conduct the investigation to determine whether further action was warranted.
The board met Thursday to address their investigation. The meeting opened at 5 p.m. and entered executive session approximately two minutes later, after Davis said he and Plunkett had not yet had an opportunity to brief the board on their investigation. The board reconvened in public session roughly 16 minutes later.
After returning to open session, Plunkett presented the recommendation that the investigation did not support further action. No motion was made to adopt the recommendation before a second was offered, followed by a roll-call vote that was unanimous. James, who also serves on the Civil Service Board, recused himself from all discussion and voting.
In his oral report to the public, Davis provided a vague summary of the investigation, saying he and Plunkett met with Police Chief McIver and Deputy Chief Tokia Harrison to hear their testimonies and also reviewed written materials associated with the internal complaint and the chief’s response to the material, including documentation related to the chief’s closure notice.
Davis said there was no written report available from the investigation he and Plunkett’s conducted, only an oral report.
When asked whether the investigation he and Plunkett conducted relied on memory in presenting its findings, Davis responded, “Yes. There was no recording of the investigation, but we interviewed these people…”
Davis also acknowledged he could not exactly recall how long the investigation took to conduct, estimating it may have lasted two to three hours.
Board members provided no details about the actual matter under review, instead referencing it only generically as an “investigation into a complaint.”
The Webster Journal was unable to identify any publicly available procedures outlining how the board conducts or documents its investigative process.
During public comment, attendees questioned the transparency of the board’s process.
The board’s attorney was not present at Thursday’s meeting, neither was Minden’s city attorney.
(Below: Lt. Kenneth James)
