Braddock Police Chief Faces Termination Hearing This Week
BRADDOCK (KDKA) -- In Braddock, it's a battle of who's in charge.
The police chief faces a termination hearing this week, but the chief said he's filing charges against the borough manager and council president.
Chief Guy Collins said he suspected things were amiss last week when two borough officials showed up to take his police cruiser and a yelling match ensued.
"Next thing I know, the borough manager and council president we're knocking on my door, demanding my keys. And yes, I got upset," he said.
The fight is just one of the charges spelled out in a notice demanding that he appears at the borough building for a disciplinary hearing on Thursday morning. The chief said despite being sidelined with a stoke, the borough is trying to fire him.
"I had a stroke on (Feb.) 23 while I was working, and it seems like now they're trying to come up with whatever to try to terminate me," he said.
Things have been rocky between the chief and new leadership in the borough, but neither the borough manager nor any member of the council would comment on Monday.
But in the hearing notice, they accuse the chief of failing to fill out time cards and exhausting 70 percent of the department's overtime budget in the first three months of the year. The chief said the time cards were filled out and the overtime was necessary.
He added that the borough violated his rights and he plans to file charges against both the manager and council president.
"We're seeking to file charges, more along the lines of obstruction," Collin said. "I've not been written up. I've not been served with any papers that I violated anything. But all of sudden, this is what I get in the mail."
And his department appears to be standing behind him.
"Until I hear from somebody else otherwise, Guy Collins is still my boss," Sgt. Michael Smerkar said. "He's still the chief of police of this department."
Collins is scheduled to hear his fate on Thursday morning. But whatever the decision, it's not likely to end there.