PLAINFIELD — At a special meeting last week, the Plainfield Town Council voted to dismiss Ed Daum from the Board of Police Commissioners.
Town Council President Robin Brandgard and members Kent McPhail and Bill Kirchoff voted in favor of the dismissal. New member Renea Whicker abstained from the vote, and member Edmund Gaddie voted against the dismissal.
McPhail, who is the liaison between the Plainfield Police Department and the town council, proposed to immediately terminate Daum’s position at the meeting, and Kirchoff said he supported McPhail’s motion.
“His observation over a number of months is (that) the performance of the police commissioners and the police department was being impacted and something needed to be done,” Kirchoff said. “And based on the input from him (McPhail) and the input from Robin (Brandgard), I felt like I needed to support their observations.”
Brandgard said he voted in favor of the dismissal for a number of reasons.
“Things were not working right amongst the commissioners, and things weren’t working smoothly,” he said. “And trying to set a standard for caring for people and treating people properly was not happening.”
Brandgard added that although there is no candidate in mind at the moment, there is a spot to be filled on the Board of Police Commissioners.
Daum, who has been a police commission member for almost 20 years, said he felt the situation was handled inappropriately.
“I wish I would have been given a chance to give a letter of resignation due to my health,” he said, referring to the cancer he is currently fighting.
Daum added that he believes the termination was due in part to the accusation from many that he didn’t support Plainfield Police Chief Jeff Mitny.
“That’s totally untrue,” he said. “I have been very supportive of all of the chiefs that I have served with.”
At the November Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Daum asked Mitny about a theft from the Victoria’s Secret store at Metropolis mall.
The investigation of the robbery had been turned over to the investigative unit of the Indiana State Police, Daum said. He added that officers allegedly did not turn in all of the merchandise that was recovered from the robbery.
“They’re innocent until proven guilty, and rather than me finding out about it as a commissioner from Chief Mitny, I learned of it on the street through gossip and rumor,” Daum said. “When I questioned the incident, Mitny and Kent McPhail took offense of it and thought that I should have kept my mouth shut rather than question the chain of command.”
Daum also supported the Plainfield Political Action Committee, a political group that lobbied to replace Brandgard, McPhail, and Kirchoff with new council members during the last election.
“I have no regrets,” Daum said about his time as a commissioner. “I just wish I would have been given the opportunity to walk out on my own card rather than being fired.”
lindsay.jones@flyergroup.com
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