Public Disciplinary Hearing to be Held for Officer LeBert October 15

– Allison Goldsberry

Medford Police officer Stephen LeBert, who was caught on video threatening a wrong-way driver in July, faces a disciplinary hearing that will determine whether he keeps his job, according to information released by Mayor Michael McGlynn’s office.

In a statement, Mayor McGlynn said the police department’s internal affairs division has completed its investigation of the July 26 incident. Mayor McGlynn ordered that a disciplinary hearing be held to determine whether Officer LeBert, a thirty year veteran, should be discharged, removed, or suspended from his job.

City legal counsel is expected to meet with LeBert’s representation prior to the hearing, which is taking place on Thursday, October 15 at 10:00 AM in Alden Auditorium at Medford City Hall. The hearing officer is Louise Miller, Medford’s Chief Procurement Officer and Director of Personnel and Budget. Witnesses and others connected to the incident are expected to be at the hearing.

In the hearing notice from Medford Police Chief Leo Sacco, Officer LeBert is quoted in a passage about the reason for the hearing. He is alleged to have threatened to shoot the driver, Michael Coates, and to have used several expletives directed toward him. Officer LeBert was off-duty during the time of the incident and allegedly drove his own personal vehicle in an unsafe manner while trying to get the attention of the wrong-way driver.

Officer LeBert is also accused of several departmental violations, including conduct unbecoming of a police officer, conduct injurious to public peace and welfare, and Medford Police policies regarding pursuit and use of force.

“It is well-established that police officers must ‘comport themselves in accordance with the laws that they are sworn to enforce and behave in a manner that brings honor and respect for rather than public distrust of law enforcement personnel,” said a passage in the disciplinary hearing notice. “They are required to do more than refrain from indictable conduct. Police officers are not drafted into the public service; rather, they compete for their positions. In accepting employment by the public, they implicitly agree that they will not engage in conduct which calls into question their ability and fitness to perform their official responsibilities.'”

“Your actions, speech/language and behavior/demeanor on July 26, 2015 violated these fundamental standards as they have clearly increased ‘public distrust for law enforcement personnel’ and can easily be described as ‘conduct which calls into question [your] ability and fitness to perform [your] official responsibilities.'”

Part of the hearing will focus on previous disciplinary actions taken against Officer LeBert, which include three separate suspensions in the 1986 and 1992 and public complaints against LeBert.

The police department’s internal affairs investigation includes video and audio of the incident and interview transcripts, according to the hearing notice.

Medford Police first heard about the July 26 incident via an email sent to Captain Kevin Faller from a California resident who had seen video on YouTube that was apparently taken by a camera on Coates’ dashboard.

LeBert has been on administrative leave since the incident.