Ross police union members cast 'no confidence' vote for chief

For a second time, members of the union representing police officers in Ross have taken a “no-confidence” vote in the leadership of Chief Joe Ley.

A letter sent on Tuesday from the executive board of the Ross Township Police Association announced that 27 officers voted in favor of the no confidence vote and six voted to support the chief’s leadership.

“Our previous efforts in this matter brought much-needed attention to the mismanagement and disparities we have endured,” the letter said. “Unfortunately, the no-confidence vote did not have its desired effect, which was to change our work environment for the better.”

The letter said the vote was taken as a result of the “recent controversies” facing the department.

The controversy stems from an alleged incident on Jan. 26 during the department’s 7 a.m. roll call involving video of a teenage male performing a sex act.

The letter accuses a police sergeant of having the video on his personal cellphone and showing it to other officers while joking and laughing.

Union officials accused the chief of minimizing the gravity of the incident when it was reported.

The letter notes that depending on the content of the video, displaying it outside the course of a criminal investigation could result in a felony charge of sexual abuse of a child.

A spokesman for the police department referred comment about the no-confidence vote and the video to Dan DeMarco, president of the Ross Board of Commissioners.

DeMarco declined to comment on the no-confidence vote, but said township officials know about the video and have taken action.

“The Ross Board of Commissioners is aware of the allegations set forth in the letter and take them seriously,” he said in an email to the Tribune-Review. “We have no other information regarding this matter, which has been turned over to the Office of the Attorney General for investigation.”

In the letter announcing the vote, union leaders said the video incident is only the latest problem plaguing the police department.

“In recent months we have been inundated with unnecessary policy changes, tedious activity logs, frivolous uniform changes and most recently an edict announcing zero-tolerance on policy and procedure violations.

“We have had cameras put in our break room as well as our patrol room. Even though our officers deal with the public in stressful, uncertain situations, we have minimal complaints.

“It’s clear that none of these changes even slightly address the problems that exist within our department and appear to be more of a reprisal for our efforts to address the double standards and division within the department,” the letter states.

The previous no-confidence vote against Ley was taken in the fall of 2020 and accused him of creating a dysfunctional and toxic work environment in the police department.

Following that vote, Commissioner Chris Eyster, who served on the public safety committee, said much of the rancor between officers and the police administration stems from the 2019 firing of Officer Mark Sullivan, an eight-year veteran of the department who was charged by agents from the state Attorney General’s Office after the department accused him of illegally using department computers to search internal files.

The charges against Sullivan were twice dismissed by district judges and he was rehired by the township.

The letter about the most recent no-confidence vote references the Sullivan case and accuses Ley of using a double standard.

“Sullivan was placed on administrative leave when Ley suspected serious misconduct. Patrol room computers were seized,” the letter states.

“Officer Sullivan languished on administrative leave while the entire department was subjected to months and months of questioning by the lieutenants and interrogation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. In contrast, the officer in the current situation remains on active duty,” according to the letter.