Cpl. Michael Milbourn was terminated Monday afternoon by President Blaine Brownell following an incident in which Milbourn attempted to sway a member of the Public Safety Advisory Group's decision to suspend him.
On Feb. 13 the advisory group issued a statement that Milbourn acknowledged lying to his supervisors about his behavior regarding pepper spray used to disrupt a house party on Sept. 9, 1999. The board recommended, among other things, that Milbourn be suspended without pay for five days, demoted in rank and remain ineligible for promotion for one calendar year beginning Feb. 19.
According to a letter from Vice President of Student Affairs Douglas McConkey to Brownell issued Monday morning, Milbourn then contacted Grant County Captain Mike Ross to try to sway his boss Sheriff Oatess Archey, a member of the advisory group, to change the decision.
When McConkey learned of this attempt, he sent a letter to Brownell with the board's recommendation that Milbourn be fired.
In the letter, McConkey said that acting police chief Gene Burton and assistant director of Employee Relations Melissa Rubrecht met with Milbourn on Friday, where he admitted he initiated the contact with Ross.
"I believe this action on his part, in addition to the information submitted by the Indiana State Police and reviewed by the advisory group, is sufficient to now recommend termination," McConkey said in the letter.
Milbourn was fired Monday afternoon, and was unavailable for comment.
The board also recommended that a detailed determination be made of the amount of time since 1997 that Cpl. Alvin Tank and Sgt. Joe Pauley were paid and did not work.
If discrepancies are found by the board, the group recommends Pauley and Tank compensate the university for this time and a memorandum documenting these corrections of payroll irregularity be placed in permanent personal files.
"While the conduct of these officers may not have been criminal, we felt their behavior needed to be weighed against the standards of the university," McConkey said.
University members of the advisory group included: Norm Beck, associate vice president for human resources, Judy Lowe, member of University Senate's public safety committee, Sali Falling, director of University Compliance, Sandy Pyle, corporal in the Department of Public Safety and Randy Hyman, dean of students.
Outside members include: Oatess Archey, sheriff of Grant County; Hurley Goodall, former state legislator; and Scott Shockley, attorney for DeFur, Voran, Hanley, Radcliffe and Reed - the law firm that represents Ball State.
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