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Sandy Journal

Details of former Police Chief’s harassment revealed during city council meeting

May 04, 2018 09:41AM ● By Justin Adams

Greg Moffitt reads a letter submitted by one of the victims of alleged sexual harassment by former Sandy police Chief Kevin Thacker to the city council.

By Justin Adams | [email protected]

 

Additional details about the behavior of former Sandy City Police Chief Kevin Thacker were revealed in the form of a first-hand account which was read aloud during the May 1 Sandy City Council meeting.

The letter, written by a Sandy City employee identified only as “Victim #3,” was read by Greg Moffitt, the President of the Sandy Fraternal Order of Police. In the letter, the victim stated that she wished to remain anonymous because she believed “there will always be coworkers who will treat me differently for coming forward and telling the truth about Kevin’s behavior.”           

The victim’s letter specified some of the actions which led to the April 24 firing of Thacker, which the victim characterized as “inappropriate touching of private areas.”       

“Kevin has massaged my neck and shoulders, touched the sides of my breasts during these hugs, rubbed and patted my upper inner thigh on multiple occasions, leered at my chest, and made inappropriate comments about my figure in certain clothing. He has forced me into physical contact by announcing, ‘Come give me my hug,’ in work settings,” the letter read.          

The victim said that she never reported the harassment to the city’s human resource department because she felt it would have hurt her working environment as well as her chances of advancing in the department.

However, she said that she was “relieved” to come forward once the investigation was opened after the anonymous allegation of another victim “opened the floodgates.”

“I was glad to get the incidents off my chest because it made me feel dirty and ashamed,” the letter read.

The letter also called out Councilwoman Kris Coleman-Nicholl for forwarding an open letter posted by Kevin Thacker on social media to the department. The victim characterized that decision as being “openly disrespectful to the victims,” in her letter.

Following the city council meeting in which the letter was read, Coleman-Nicholl said that she regretted forwarding the letter.

“Bad call on my part. All on me, one hundred percent. There was an open letter on Facebook that I forwarded to the police department, not intending to hurt anyone. But absolutely I deserved what I got, and I’ll own it,” she said.