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SALT LAKE CITY — Allegations of offenses ranging from the alteration of time cards to having sex while on duty led two officers to lose their peace officer certification and six other certified officers to have their certifications suspended during a hearing Thursday.
The punishments were handed down during the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council’s quarterly meeting, held in Sandy. The council last met on Sept. 20, 2018, when other law enforcers were suspended.
On Thursday, the council heard 10 cases involving everyone from cadets to police officers and emergency dispatchers. Those cases included:
— Bryan Cunningham, Utah Valley University Police Department: Cunningham was handed a 1 1/2-year suspension for falsifying his time card, which is a government record. Utah Assistant Attorney General Lynda Viti told the board Cunningham had a previous suspension for DUI in 2014 and had resigned from the UVU Police Department in November.
— Kevin Fuller, West Jordan Police Department: Fuller was fired from the West Jordan Police Department in April 2017 after the department determined he had altered an evidence log from a 2013 case and then lied to the department about it.
Fuller addressed the board and maintained his innocence. “I did not lie, I was merely mistaken about a case four years prior and I remembered inaccurate information,” he said. “I’m saddened and devastated that my honorable career has been tarnished and discarded because I did not remember what occurred in a report I wrote four years prior.”
After more than 30 minutes of discussion, the POST board proceeded to suspend Fuller’s certification for four years for lying under Garrity.
— Scott Garrett, POST cadet: The board suspended Garrett’s certification for two years for not disclosing previous methamphetamine use and selling methamphetamine roughly five years before he applied in 2017.
— Martha Alejandra-Gonzalez, Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office: The board suspended Alejandra-Gonzalez’s certification for one year following a DUI conviction in Idaho in September 2018. She was fired from the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office a month earlier.
— Kenneth Hammon, Davis County Sheriff’s Office: The board recommended a letter of caution for Hammon for hitting a civilian employee at the county jail.
— Steven Harlow, Blanding Police Department: An investigation from an outside agency found Harlow had lied about a relationship with a 17-year-old nanny he had hired to care for his children, Viti said. Harlow initially denied a physical relationship, but later said he had kissed his nanny.
It was also determined Harlow had sex with his then-wife “while on duty at the police department on more than one occasion,” and “grabbed the breast of a female ride-along in the patrol vehicle on at least one occasion.”
Harlow was fired from the Blanding Police Department in August 2017.
Harlow called the firing “a punch to the gut.” He defended the claim of sexual conduct while on duty, saying he was not in a public place at the time and it had only been brought up after he filed for divorce.
“This was with my wife,” he said. “She was on a ride-along with me. It was (a) late night. We went to my office behind closed doors in my office and engaged in the sexual conduct. … I think, honestly, we kid ourselves that there are no police officers who ever have sex on duty with their wives. We just don’t hear about it.”
Harlow added he wasn’t aware he had lied under Garrity regarding the relationship with the nanny, which was the other claim brought against him.
The board proceeded to revoke his certification.
— Swen Heimberg, South Salt Lake Police Department: The board suspended Heimberg’s certification 6 months for accessing a police database for non-police reasons on four occasions.
— Londo Palomin, unemployed: The board revoked Palomin’s certification for lying under Garrity and other offenses. Viti told the board Palomin wasn’t currently employed and had no law enforcement experience.
— Morgan Swensen, Grantsville Police Department: Swenson’s case was held in a closed session with concerns regarding “fitness for duty.” Viti said Swenson was fired from the department.The board voted to indefinitely suspend Swenson’s certification.
— Rebecca Williams, Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center: The board suspended the dispatcher's certification for 18 months in relation to a DUI crash in February 2018. Viti said Williams resigned from the dispatch service.
