Members of the Seymour Police Commission voted 3 – 2 Thursday to demote Detective Sgt. Ronald Goodmaster to detective for failing to share information he allegedly knew about a wanted fugitive living in Seymour.
Goodmaster declined to comment on the decision.
Richard Gudis, an attorney of the police union, said he will file a grievance with the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration on Goodmaster’s behalf. The police commission did not have just cause to demote Goodmaster, Gudis said.
The demotion will result in a pay cut of about a dollar an hour, Seymour Police Chief Michael Metzler said.
Steve Chucta, Frank Conroy Jr. and Lucy McConologue voted for the demotion. Police commission chairman Howard Simpson and James Simpson voted no.
The demotion, effective immediately, strips Goodmaster of his supervisory role in the detective department.
“He’ll be doing regular detective work,” Metzler said.
Police commission member Frank Conroy, Jr. said what’s done is done.
“It’s tough for anybody. We had to make a judgment call and that was it. We’re not going to satisfy everybody,” he said.
Click play on the top video to see an interview with Conroy.
Both Howard and James Simpson, who voted against the demotion, declined comment.
Seymour police have not elaborated on what Goodmaster allegedly did wrong, other than that he withheld information about a fugitive who was eventually arrested.
Goodmaster’s flub was brought to the attention of the authorities by Bailey Cook, a retired Seymour detective who was found negligent in a civil lawsuit triggered by the death of three men after a car crash in 2001.
An internal affairs report prepared by Lt. Paul Satkowski found that Goodmaster’s action had violated four sections of the department’s duty manual. Commissioners did not act on three violations concerning Goodmaster’s truthfulness, attention to duty and insubordination.
Gudis wouldn’t answer why Goodmaster allegedly withheld information about the fugitive.
The union attorney wondered why Goodmaster, a veteran police officer with a previous solid work history, has become the target of three disciplinary actions in the last two years.
Gudis also said he’ll file a complaint with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission.
Gudis claims that three members of the Seymour Police Commission met in private to discuss the Goodmaster case. He indicated the action constitutes an illegal meeting.
Click here to read a previous Valley Indy story about that issue.
The police commission met in executive session for about two hours Thursday before making the decision to demote Goodmaster.
The video below is from Thursday’s meeting and was shot by Frank Loda.
