Trooper’s firing tied to traffic stop

An Arkansas State Police trooper was fired last week for unprofessional conduct during a March 10 traffic stop of an Arkansas State University athlete and appealed his termination Thursday morning.

An 11-year veteran with the state police, Cpl. Royce Denney was fired July 27 for breaking department standards when he turnedoff camera equipment, confiscated a weapon “without legal justification” and disposed of marijuana found in a car driven by ASU running back Michael Dyer. The state police did not reveal the firing until Thursday.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said that since Denney had 10 days to appeal his firing, the command felt “due process” was in order not to announceDenney’s termination until the appeal was filed.

“The letter of appeal was the triggering mechanism for the notification of termination,” Sadler said. “Technically, it was still a personnel matter [until the appeal was filed].”

The appeal will go before the Arkansas State Police Commission, but Sadler declined to speculate as to when that would occur.

Additional personnel information on Denney won’t be released until completion of the appeal process, Sadler said.

Little Rock attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, who is representing Denney in his appeal, declined to comment Thursday.

In Denney’s termination letter, state police commander Col. JR Howard concurred with the agency’s Command Staff Review Board that the trooper violated three rules of conduct during the traffic stop with Dyer.

Dyer was stopped on U.S. 67 near mile marker 65 around 2:20 p.m. and was ultimately ticketed for driving 96 mph in a 70-mph zone.

According to audio recorded by Denney’s patrol equipment, the trooper found marijuana and a gun during the stop and chastised the former Little Rock Christian Academy standout for being a “total dumbass.”

“You’ve got a career ahead of you. ... What I should do is bend you over here and whoop your butt,” Denneysaid.

As for the gun, “I’m going to let the coach make the decision for me. And for you,” Denney said. “If he wants me to keep it, I’ll keep it. If he wants me to get it delivered to him, I’ll get it delivered to him. Whatever.”

Denney then told Dyer that he was giving the 21-yearold athlete “one hell of a big break.”

According to department complaints, Denney wrote in a memorandum: “I turned off my camera system and lectured Dyer about his future and how these items can mess up his football career.”

Although the incident occurred on March 10, a complaint concerning Denney’s conduct wasn’t filed until May 11 by a superior, Maj. J.R. Hankins, according to Denney’s termination letter. The letter stated that Denney’s “conduct and repeated demonstrations of a lack of judgment clearlyshows that you are unable to conform to the standards of professionalism that is expected of a commissioned officer ... your employment is hereby terminated.”

Howard’s decision to fire Denney wasn’t made solely on the basis of Denney’s encounter with Dyer, according to the letter.

Denney was disciplined about three months ago for “unprofessional” actions during a traffic stop, which also violated the agency’s general policy.

According to an October complaint, Denney abused his “badge and job to cause [the complainant] harm and fear” when he conspired with the complainant’s estranged husband to pull her over and ticket her.

After an internal investigation in that instance, Denney agreed to a one-day suspension without pay.

Denney had several other complaints filed against him in the past 10 years, according to state police records.

On Dec. 21, 2001, a man complained that Denney had “falsely arrested” him for terroristic threats and used “excessive force” and that the trooper accused him of being a “non bondable terrorist.”

In March 2008, a man complained that Denney, as well as two other troopers, made inappropriate sexual advances toward his wife.

According to that complaint, the behavior occurred over a two-year period, and Denney “asked [the complainant’s] wife for sex on more than one occasion. Wife informed [the complainant] that these conversations occurred at work during business hours.”

Denney was fired a day before Dyer was kicked off the Red Wolves football team, according to recent accounts given by Coach Gus Malzahn.

In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Malzahn wanted to “clear the air” andsaid he’d first heard of Dyer’s traffic stop a few days after it happened, when a state police lieutenant, Robert Speer, told him that the Auburn transfer had been ticketed after police found marijuana and a gun in the car, though no charges were filed.

Since no charges were filed and Dyer told his coach that there were no drugs and that the gun was a registered weapon that was in the trunk, Malzahn said the matter could be handled “internally.”

That changed on the day Denney was fired, when Malzahn was told about the video footage that showed Denney and Dyer talking about the marijuana.

Malzahn announced Sunday that Dyer was off the team. On Monday, the video footage of the traffic stop was released to the media, as well as news that Denney was the subject of an investigation, even though he had already been fired.

When asked if Speer had violated any policy or broken any law by relaying the information to Malzahn, Sadler said the command staff didn’t know that Malzahn had been told about the traffic stop just days after the incident, and that they found out from local media.

He said the agency won’t discuss Speer’s actions until after Denney’s appeal process.

Sadler didn’t rule out a separate investigation of Speer and said Howard is reviewing the developing circumstances.

“It’s too soon to say what impact, if any, [him telling Malzahn] may have had on this investigation,” Sadler said. “As far as speculative questions with any improprieties ... we’ll cross that bridge next.”

It’s the second time this year that a state police officer has gotten into trouble over a relationship with a college football coach.

Capt. Lance King was found earlier this year to have broken state law when he accepted more than $4,000 in gifts in 2010 and 2011 from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville football program.

King was part of Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino’s security detail and gave the Coach a ride to the hospital after Petrino crashed his motorcycle on April 1, which set the stage for Petrino’s April 10 firing.

When asked whether sports figures in the state receive preferential treatment by his agency, Sadler said “we need to know more first, and right now we don’t have that information.”

After the scrutiny over King’s relationship with Petrino, Sadler said his agency started developing a new policy that will govern “the interactions of Arkansas State Police commissioned personnel and college athletics.”

Sadler said that policy will be unveiled today or Monday.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 08/03/2012

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