A Washington C.H. Police Department officer has resigned from the force after posting comments on Facebook that allegedly violated several of the department’s policies.
On Aug. 22, the day of WPD Sgt. Derek Pfeifer’s wedding, Logan George posted on Facebook: “That moment when pedophilia is not only supported but openly supported by several police officers, a detective, and other city officials. Smh”
George was reportedly referring to a wedding photo of Pfeifer, his wife, and several other officers and their significant others, according to WPD Chief Brian Hottinger.
“Logan posted on Facebook that Saturday night, and there were a lot of inferences made,” said Hottinger. “But it was an obvious reference to Derek Pfeifer’s wedding. As soon as I saw the post, I contacted Lieutenant (Jeff) Funari and Lieutenant (Rusty) Lowe that Monday morning and told them that we would initiate an internal investigation in regards to several policy violations regarding social media.”
George was then notified in writing that he was the subject of an internal investigation in reference to the potential policy violations.
“We started looking into what was said in regard to the policies that we have for social media,” said Hottinger. “Just several days after that, he had a pre-disciplinary conference. Lieutenant Funari did the investigation and Lieutenant Lowe held the conference. Lieutenant Funari presented what policies had been violated, and at that time, the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police), which is the union, requested that we stop any further investigation and that we not come to any conclusions or recommendations further up the chain of command, pending a five-day extension, so they could weigh their options.”
Hottinger said the WPD agreed to this request and that a meeting was scheduled with Lt. Lowe to discuss the continuation of the process.
“But at that time they instead requested to speak with me,” Hottinger said. “Rather than having a conclusion or recommendation from Lieutenant Lowe or Lieutenant Funari forwarded to me, they met with me, and the FOP initiated Logan George’s resignation. It was contingent on us stopping any further investigation or reaching a conclusion…that it would just stop right there. He resigned his commission, we agreed to it, and that’s what he did.”
Hottinger said the resignation occurred approximately three weeks ago.
“I would like to clarify some misstatements going around,” said Hottinger. “Logan George was not forced to resign his commission with the police department, he willingly did that on his own accord. I didn’t force anybody out. Logan and the FOP came up with the resignation. I simply accepted the resignation.”
George, who was a member of the WPD for approximately four-and-a-half years, had other disciplinary issues during his time as an officer.
George was suspended for 10 days and was on probation for six months following a June 22, 2019 altercation with Pfeifer, who was also suspended for three days and placed on probation for 30 days for the same altercation.
According to Hottinger, George was issued an oral reprimand for using improper language in Washington Municipal Court in front of other officers — specifically a female state trooper.
Hottinger said George also received two minor write-ups for failure to maintain control of a police cruiser and another minor traffic crash.
“We currently have three vacancies at the department because of two retirements in 2020 and now the resignation of Logan George,” Hottinger added. “We do plan on filling all three of those as quickly as we possibly can because we have more vacancies coming up in 2021 upon my retirement.”
Reach Ryan Carter at 740-313-0352.
