Lexington police chaplain, six other officers retire. FOP blames demonizing police.
A former Lexington police chaplain who has been sued in federal court over allegedly striking a Black autistic teenager in 2019 will retire Saturday.
The Lexington police and fire pension board approved the retirement of Lexington police officer Donovan Stewart at its meeting Wednesday. On Monday, the Lexington Police Department announced it would no longer have a chaplain position and instead would have a civilian wellness coordinator. Stewart would be placed in patrol, the department said.
Stewart has been an officer since 2000, according to police records.
Stewart is accused in court documents of hitting the teenager after he was restrained in an incident at the Fayette Mall in February 2019. The minor child in the incident was also charged. The federal court case against Stewart is still pending.
Stewart late Wednesday said he will have a press conference on Thursday in front of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge to discuss his future employment status, WLEX reported. In addition, Stewart will also “provide further information about legal steps they are undertaking in response to recent false, malicious statements and other defamatory publications by certain individuals,” the television station reported.
Protesters who have asked for more police accountability and oversight have questioned why an internal investigation of the Fayette Mall incident has not been conducted. City officials have said that an internal investigation cannot be conducted until the other legal actions are resolved.
With Stewart’s retirement, an internal investigation is now moot.
In addition to Stewart, the board approved the retirements of six other police officers in June and July. Those retirements include:
- Sgt. Franklin Patrick
- Sgt. Allen Culver
- Officer Bart Morse
- Officer Christopher Russell
- Officer Michael Carroll
- Sgt. Todd Iddings
Lexington Police Lt. Jonathan Bastian, who is a pension board member and is also president of the Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4, said during the Wednesday meeting the seven retirements in June and July was high. Bastian said he fears more police officers will retire in August because of recent Lexington protests sparked by the police-involved killings of George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
Bastian said several police officers, including Stewart, purchased time so they could retire early. The department has about 605 sworn officers.
“I think it’s important for our public, the taxpayers and citizens of Fayette County, and honestly the elected officials of Fayette County to recognize and understand the challenges and difficulties the current environment is placing our police department in. More importantly, our individual police officers, making them question whether they should stay dedicated to this profession,” Bastian said.
Bastian said Lexington police have been demonized for actions of police in other cities.
“If we continue to demonize police officers and especially continue to blame Lexington Police Department and its officers for things that are happening elsewhere in the United States, we are going to continue to see this pattern,” Bastian said. “And it’s a pattern that should frighten the citizens and the elected officials of Fayette County. This is unheard of. I’ve never seen this before and it terrifies me.“
The amounts of Stewart’s and the other police officers’ annual pensions were not immediately available Wednesday.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has not recommended any changes to police policy since the protests began in early June. A Tuesday council meeting to discuss police oversight may be canceled because of a lack of consensus among the 15-member council on the agenda for that meeting. The council will likely make a decision during Thursday night’s meeting on whether to move forward with the Tuesday meeting.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 7:49 PM.
