HORICON — Hearings began Tuesday for a Horicon police officer facing 15 accusations that could result in his termination or other disciplinary action.
The Horicon Police and Fire Commission heard the charges against officer Bill Pansier by Lt. Adrian Bump and ruled on three motions by Pansier’s attorney Paul Bucher. The PFC then adjourned the hearings until Nov. 9 and 10.
Seven of the 15 charges against Pansier stem from his attendance at the Wisconsin Narcotics Officers Association Convention in Green Bay Aug. 19 to 21.
The charges allege that Pansier did not attend any of the educational seminars or portions of the convention. He was chosen for the convention because he is part of the Dodge County Multi-jurisdictional Drug Task Force. As such, he is required to attend.
The county pays the conference fees of $150 and the city of Horicon paid for the cost of the hotel room - $198 for two officers for the weekend. The city also paid wages.
According to the complaint, Pansier was suspended with pay starting Aug. 26 after Bump spoke to him about the conference. Bump has been placed in charge of the Horicon Police Department while chief Joe Adamson serves with the military.
Bucher, early in the hearing, said the Wisconsin Narcotics Association Conference was a “big drunk” and admitted that Pansier did not attend meetings in part because the first day was a golf outing and Pansier had been drinking at the event.
“He went to the conference, he stayed in Green Bay, he didn’t go to the courses,” Bucher said.
But he added that Pansier has no previous disciplinary record and was certainly not the only officer who did not attend meetings.
Pleier argued that most officers attended meetings.
Pleier and Bump detailed city and police department policies that show unexcused absences of three or more days are grounds for dismissal. He also introduced Pansier’s daily activity log that recorded him as having attended courses all three days.
Seven other charges against Pansier, accuse him of not issuing citations after giving warnings that required action from the person warned. The final charge against Pansier states that he did not complete an investigation after a request for additional work from the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office.
After hearing testimony from Bump, the PFC adjourned into closed session to deliberate Bucher’s motions to dismiss the charges.
Bucher’s three motions, all of which were rejected, were that Bump did not have the statutory authority to file charges, that there is no factual basis for the charges and that Pansier’s due process rights were being violated because he did not have time to prepare a defense using documents provided by the city.