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July 31, 2009

Hunter: Officer's reinstatement a travesty

BY ART BUKOWSKI

CHEBOYGAN -- A Michigan State Police trooper is back on the job after being fired for poaching a deer while on duty, a fact that doesn't please hunter Matthew Connolly.

Connolly, a Traverse City resident and lifelong hunter, said many northern Michigan sportsmen weren't happy to discover trooper Donald Bolen returned to work at the state police Cheboygan post this week after an arbitrator overturned his May firing.

"I think it's a travesty," Connolly said. "Police should be held to a higher standard."

A separate arbitrator upheld the termination of ex-trooper Jeffrey Hadley, Bolen's partner in a November 13 poaching incident along Mograin Road in Cheboygan County's Benton Township.

Bolen, 41, was at the wheel of a state police patrol vehicle when the officers trained a spotlight on a 10-point buck. Hadley, 45, then propped a rifle on the passenger door and dropped the deer with a single shot. The incident occurred two days before the state's firearms deer season.

An arbitrator found Bolen played a lesser role than Hadley. State police contend they can't and won't challenge his reinstatement.

Bolen is back to work, but his superiors and those in Cheboygan's law enforcement community know his credibility could be questioned. Cheboygan Prosecutor Daryl Vizina said he's asked state police to make sure Bolen is paired with another trooper to back up any potential court testimony.

"There are some concerns, but obviously it's not our choice as to whether or not (Bolen) comes back," Vizina said. "It is what it is, and we have to deal with it."

'Will take some time'

State police Capt. Tim Rod, commander of the 7th district, said Bolen will have to work to repair his reputation.

"He's got to rebuild that trust in the community, and with his fellow police officers and the rest of the law enforcement community," Rod said. "That's something he's got to do on his own, and it will take some time to do that."

Some members of the public likely will view Bolen differently in the wake of the poaching incident, Rod said, and some may even confront him with it.

"I think the general community is going to look at him and give him a chance to work through the mistake he made," he said. "There will be some people who ... bring it up. He's got to be a professional and deal with those people the same way."

State police administrators believe Bolen's behavior merited termination, but contend they can't take additional action because the arbitrator's decision is deemed final under union contract.

"It was binding, there's nothing to appeal," state police spokeswoman Melody Kindraka said.

Bolen was spared because his role in the crime wasn't as significant as Hadley's, said Mike Moorman, president of the Michigan State Police Troopers Association.

"To paraphrase: less culpability, took responsibility for his actions, showed remorse throughout the process and whatnot," he said.

It was a different story with Hadley, Moorman said.

"His arbitrator felt that obviously he was more culpable, more involved, and I think the arbitrator took exception to the fact that while (he) certainly became remorseful and sorrowful, it was only after he had been caught," he said.

'It's a union issue'

Bolen lost about a week's pay due to contract provisions that he be paid 60 days after disciplinary action, Moorman said.

Dean Molnar, assistant chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement division, directed all questions on the incident to Mary Detloff, the DNR's spokeswoman. She refused to give an opinion.

"It's a union issue and we have no comment," she said.

Dozens of troopers across the state recently lost their jobs due to state budget cuts. But that has no bearing on the Cheboygan incident, Moorman said.

"You have to keep in perspective that this incident with former trooper Hadley and trooper Bolen occurred nine or 10 months ago and the process ... was started long before layoffs were even thought of or dreamed of."

Most members of Cheboygan's hunting and law enforcement communities contacted by the Record-Eagle wouldn't comment on the record about Bolen's reinstatement. Some, however, believe he deserves a second chance.

"I don't think he should have lost his job in the first place," Indian River hunter Bill Fisher said. "Don't take the man's livelihood."

Keith Charters, chairman of the state Natural Resources Commission, said Bolen has been through enough.

"The publicity that he received, and the internal scrutiny ... from his peers, I think that was probably enough punishment for him," he said.

Hadley and Bolen used a saw to cut off the buck's head and antlers and threw the rest of the carcass into a railroad ditch, according to a DNR investigation.

Hadley later entered the ill-gotten antlers in a police-sponsored big buck contest, though the rack was disqualified because it didn't have a valid hunting tag attached.

Two anonymous tips led DNR officials to launch an investigation. Hadley told curious officers at the Cheboygan post that blood and hair found in his patrol vehicle belonged to a road-killed deer he took to a needy family.

The pair pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor conspiracy, poaching and trespass offenses. Hadley was sentenced to four days in jail, Bolen to two. Each also must pay $9,711 in fines, 89th District Court records show.

Their hunting and fishing licenses also were suspended for three years.

Bolen did not respond to messages left for him at the Cheboygan post.

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