Records from a special meeting at which the vote was taken indicate trustees voted “to accept the chief of police’s recommendation for disciplinary action upon a full-time police department employee and terminate the employment of Douglas W. Hesler, effectively immediately.”
Messages left for the past week with Police Chief Charlie Stiegelmeyer regarding this issue have not been returned. Township trustees have either declined to comment – deferring to Stiegelmeyer – or attempts to reach them have been unsuccessful.
RELATED: Miami Twp. votes to dismiss police officer
This news organization has requested information on the grounds for the recommendation to terminate and for Hesler’s personnel file.
Hesler had worked as a handler for Miami Twp.’s police dog, Coron, for several years, township records show. That K-9 unit was disbanded earlier this year due to budget cuts, officials said.
Hesler was involved in the department’s K-9 program dating back to 2011. His Linked in page indicates he was a patrolman with the Miami Twp. Police Department and attended Sinclair Community College from 1992-94.
The firing came less than a week after Stiegelmeyer was promoted from police captain to succeed Ron Hess. On that same night – May 14 - trustees named Hess named full-time administrator, a position he held on an acting basis while also serving as police chief.
Stiegelmeyer, 55, was hired in September by Miami Twp. as a captain after serving as director of the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit, which serves Centerville, Germantown, Kettering, Miamisburg, Moraine, Oakwood, Springboro and West Carrollton.
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