Greenwood Police Officer Sam Bowen poses in his uniform in this undated photo. Photo provided by Jay Meisenhelder
A Greenwood police officer was fired Thursday for sending obscene messages on government-owned devices in violation of the department’s policies.
The Greenwood Police Merit Commission unanimously voted 5-0 to terminate Officer Sam Bowen for violating three of the department’s policies: Information and Technology Use; Mobile Data Center Use; and Standards of Conduct. Commission members spent nearly an hour deliberating on the charges during a closed-door executive session before announcing their decision during a public meeting Thursday.
That meeting came a day after the commission heard nearly four hours of testimony about the messages during a disciplinary hearing.
Disciplinary charges were filed against Bowen based on electronic communications compiled after Bowen filed a federal lawsuit against the city in June. In that lawsuit, Bowen is accusing Police Chief Jim Ison of depriving/conspiring to deprive him of his First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech based on posts made on Facebook before the May Municipal Primary and messages he sent to other officers.
As part of the legal process for the lawsuit, police officials compiled a 5,320-page document containing instant messages sent and received by Bowen from July 14, 2021, to July 14 of this year. Within the document are over 100 exchanges between six officers that contain derogatory language that were sent on department equipment, according to the documents. The messages contained slurs referring to African Americans, Jewish people, the LGBT community and people with intellectual disabilities.
Bowen was just one six officers who were interviewed in August as part of an investigation into the messages. Three of the officers resigned before disciplinary charges could be brought and one officer is not up for termination. Bowen and Officer Elijah Allen were both suspended and facing termination.
Before voting to terminate Bowen Thursday, two commission members spoke about the case. Commission member Tom Brogan, referencing testimony given a day earlier regarding the effects the messages could have on the legal system, told Bowen the messages could be used by a guilty person to gain freedom.
“A good attorney will use the terms and language of that of those comments that are in the public record,” Brogan said.
What was most concerning to Brogan was that no one spoke up to say the content of the messages was wrong, or tried to tamp it down, he said.
“You’re using hurtful words on people in your own — brothers and sisters of arms in this department. … I’m just saying that there is a lot of shame to go around,” Brogan said.
Commission member Martha McQueen emphasized how the commission represents a spectrum of the city. Two members were appointed by the city council, two were nominated by police department officers and one by the mayor, she said.
“We are different political parties. We are a spectrum at the city of Greenwood,” McQueen said. “So this is, in my opinion, the city of Greenwood, the residents of the city of Greenwood are speaking tonight.”
Bowen’s attorney Jay Meisenhelder told reporters Bowen was disappointed by the commission’s decision. He felt the merit commission overlooked what they felt was “very clear evidence of retaliation” by Ison, Meisenhelder said.
“Now we’re going to go ahead and prove that in a lawsuit in federal court,” he said.
When asked whether Bowen had a message for the community, Meisenhelder said it would be to stand behind police. Bowen admits he did something wrong, but there are allegedly still “significant” issues with GPD that need to be addressed, he said.
“He brought this lawsuit originally because he felt he could help address these issues,” Meisenhelder said.
Meisenhelder would not comment on what’s next for Bowen in terms of employment. The lawsuit against the city is ongoing.
Ison declined to comment after the commission’s decision, citing the pending disciplinary and termination hearing for Allen. That hearing is set for Oct. 30.
City and police officials had testified during Bowen’s hearing Wednesday that they felt the messages were alarming and could undermine the public’s trust in the department. After reading the messages, Assistant City Attorney Drew Foster — a former prosecutor and incoming city court judge — said he felt they could undermine an officer’s credibility in court.
Assistant Police Chief Matt Fillenwarth was tasked with interviewing the officers involved and recommended Bowen be terminated. Fillenwarth said it likely that people who are in one of the minority groups mentioned in the messages would wonder if they were treated fairly if Bowen arrests them in the future.
GPD is only effective if the community trusts and believes in them, Fillenwarth said. The messages violate that trust, he said.
“There’s gonna be that doubt,” he said. “If I’m one of those groups, there’s always going to be that doubt.”
Under questioning Wednesday, Ison testified that he randomly selected two officers from each shift during the same time period to have their messages pulled to see if the conduct was systemic. Evidence showed that it was isolated to one group of officers he said.
When asked about the messages Wednesday, Bowen said they were not something he was proud of.
“It’s not anything I’m proud of. It was, for me, humor between friends and a way to deal with stress,” Bowen said. “I think a lot of people in this police department can attest the past two years have been very difficult for Greenwood.”
Bowen also took issue with statements that implied he was racially profiling. There were no instances of that, he said. Ison also said they didn’t find any evidence of that in cases Bowen was involved with either.
Greenwood Police has also hired a firm to do a comprehensive study of all arrests and traffic stops by all officers in the department over the last year to determine if profiling is a problem. It’s expected to take nine months to know the results, Ison said.
