DELAND — A DeLand police officer with a history of complaints against her is facing termination after her latest episode of making demeaning remarks about the department to new recruits, investigative documents show.
Officer Rachel Riley, 30, a seven-year veteran of the department, was placed on paid administrative leave by Chief Jason Umberger on June 13, pending a hearing, said police spokesman Sgt. Chris Estes.
Estes said Riley's hearing with Umberger is scheduled for next week. After the meeting, Umberger will have five days to decide whether to fire her, Estes said.
According to an Internal Affairs report, Riley, who has at least 26 previous complaints against her, came under scrutiny again in March after four new recruits complained about Riley's conduct during a training session.
Investigative documents state that Riley, a senior police officer and trainer, got angry when she showed up to lead a training session and noticed that the department had not provided her with Narcan for the session. Narcan is a nasal spray provided to law enforcement to treat a known or suspected life-threatening opioid overdose.
Investigators said that when Riley realized she did not get the Narcan, she started throwing her phone around and talked about how much she detested the department.
"Officer Riley started talking about how much she hates this place and told them not to have high hopes coming in because it will be a letdown," investigators wrote in their report.
All four new recruits gave similar accounts of Riley's statements and conduct to investigators, the report states.
One female officer, Shannon Watts, was scolded by Riley and told not to wear makeup when she reported to Riley's training sessions, investigators said.
"It caught me off guard in breaking her rules before I even knew she had rules or what she preferred," Watts told investigators. "Because those 30 minutes was the first time I met her."
In concluding their report, investigators concluded that Riley violated department policies directing her not to engage in any conduct which constitutes neglect of duty, to respect superior officers, subordinates and associates and not to criticize or ridicule the police department, its policy and its members.
In a Notice of Proposed Discipline, Umberger told Riley that after reviewing the Internal Affairs report, "a core issue was identified" under DeLand Police Department Rules and regulations, which is "incompetence."
In the letter, Umberger listed six incidents of complaints about Riley between 2013 and 2017, including an incident in October 2014 where Riley was reprimanded and told to have training in communication and anger management. Riley also served an 8-hour suspension in 2017 after a in-department conduct complaint against her was sustained.
Riley had eight other incidents, and although they were not sustained, the majority of the complaints were demeanor and conduct based, the chief said in his letter.
Umberger also included in his review 12 additional incidents of supervisor notes and performance-tracking documentation that were demeanor-based, negative notations.
"The recurring theme outlined in your overall performance history exacerbates the findings of this investigation," Umberger noted.
Umberger ended his Notice of Discipline by saying: "The following is the recommended disciplinary action: (1) Termination of employment."
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