Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant Under Investigation; Records Shows Investigators Never Questioned Her
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Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant Under Investigation; Records Shows Investigators Never Questioned Her
The Magna Cum Laude graduate hailing from Central Michigan University found herself for the last 63 days under investigation by not one entity of the city, but two whose task is to investigate if any ethical and misconduct policies have been violated.
Police Chief Elanie Bryant (Badge No. #5000) joined the Division of Police on June 2nd, 2021, after a nationwide search. “I am firmly committed to embracing change, diversity, and clear and open communication to improve safety, enhance accountability and rebuild trust between officers and the community,” she says on the Division’s website.
The departments currently investigating the Chief are:
The Department of Inspector General
Civilian Review Board
The Office of Ethics and Campaign Finance (OECF)
The allegations
According to the Department of Inspector General (DIG) investigation memorandum obtained by UnBossed! Columbus, through a public records, request. The complainant filed the complaint anonymously via the DIG hotline voicemail on December 12, 2022, with three allegations of misconduct and violation of city work rules.
The memo summary states the initial complaint:
On December 12, 2022, the complainant filed an anonymous complaint with the City of Columbus Department of the Inspector General (Columbus DIG) alleging misconduct by a sworn employee of the Columbus Division of Police. The complainant alleged (allegation 1) that the sworn employee asked for football tickets for her and her son in the Presidential Suite for the Ohio State vs Michigan game, which were valued over $25.
The complainant also alleged (allegation 2) that the sworn employee asked for an additional ticket for her security detail, but was not granted one.
Lastly, the complainant stated (allegation 3) that the sworn employee and her son sat in the Presidential Suite while her security detail stood outside the suite.
The investigation
The complaint was forwarded to the Office of Ethics and Campaign Finance (OECF) for review by DIG investigators. It is unclear on what date the complaint was forwarded. According to the investigative memo, Bryant did provide the OECF with receipts that revealed that she personally purchased tickets for herself and her son in Section 21D of the stadium.
UnBossed! Columbus has learned that the particular date and game in question by the complainant was Chief Bryant’s son’s 23rd Birthday.
In the second allegation, Chief Bryant reported that she did not ask for a ticket for her security detail, Officer Christina Bell, badge no. 2960. Her explanation for why Officer Bell didn’t require a ticket was that she was considered “on duty.” Thus not requiring a ticket.
The DIG investigators also looked into the allegation of the Chief sitting in the Presidential Suite while Officer Bell stood outside the suite. That she also had an explanation for Bryant told the Investigators that she did visit and spend time in the Presidential Suite during the game. But it was only to socialize and not watch the game. However, she also visited the Incident Command Center and several other sections to socialize with acquaintances, according to the investigative memo to the Inspector General.
The evidence
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
- United States President John Adams
UnBossed! Columbus contacted The Ohio State University Athletics Department in regards to the cost of tickets for section 21-D in “the Horseshoe” on game day for The Ohio State-Michigan game. We were told that each ticket was $240 with taxes and fees included. Meaning Chief Bryant produced receipts for a total of nearly $500 to the OEFC.
We also inquired about the cost of the Presidential Suite and were told “they couldn’t give an exact price,” because suites are priced at a yearly rate. The representative gave us the pricing range for any suite within the stadium. They range from $35,000.00-$133,000.00.
Through Facebook pictures posted by Bryant, you can tell that they were taken while she was in the Presidential Suite. UnBossed! Columbus has been unable to confirm how long or at what point she was in the suite. We also haven’t been unable to determine if she was in her assigned seating in section 21-D during the game either.
The biggest bombshell as you can see pictured above is that the Department of Inspector General’s investigators never interviewed Chief Bryant or Officer Bell who was on the Chief’s detail at all about any of these allegations.
Nor did they interview anyone present during the game in the Presidential suite to corroborate the complainant's allegations.
It appears all of the evidence they relied on to make the recommendations to Inspector General Hendricks was documents from the OECF and Chief Ethics Officer Renata Ramsini.
Divison’s reaction
When UnBossed! Columbus reached out to the CPD Public Relations advisor, Melanie Amato for an interview request with the Chief we were told by phone,
“Chief Bryant is out of the office, for the rest of the week. She is traveling doing panel discussions around the State.”
After the phone call, UnBossed! Columbus followed up via email asking if anyone from the Division would be available for comment. On March 22, we received an email back stating,
Thanks for your email. We have no comment at this time.
Appreciate it.
The Inspector General’s comments
On March 21, UnBossed! Columbus reached out to Inspector General Hendricks's office for an interview via email. A couple of hours later we received a response from Gayle Saunders, of The Saunders PR Group.
According to The Saunders PR Group website, they specialize in strategic communications planning, reputation management, media buying, and content management.
Saunders's response to our initial interview request began with her informing us that she works with “the Columbus Department of the Inspector General on media matters.”
Further, she went on to decline UnBossed! Columbus’s interview request.
The complaint you reference is still under investigation. As such, the Department does not comment on any active complaints or any complaints currently being investigated by the Columbus Department of the Inspector General, wrote Saunders.
Questions still remain
There are still many questions surrounding this investigation:
Why was this investigation on administrative hold from January 13, 2023, to February 21, 2023?
Why didn’t Logan Contos and Richard Blunt, Deputy Inspector General, who were the case managers of this complaint speak with Bryant?
Why did Inspector General Jacqueline Hendricks, just sign off on the recommendations given in the memo without asking “why” her investigators never spoke with the Chief?
When was the Chief notified she was under investigation?
Did the Chief try to stall the investigation in any way?
Why did the DIG investigators only rely on the OECF results and evidence from their review/investigation?
What date was the complaint forwarded to OECF?
Office of Ethics and Campaign Finance (OECF)
We’ve reached out to the OECF multiple times and left voicemails with the City’s Chief Ethics Officer, Renata Ramsini. We were unsuccessful at speaking with anyone.
The findings
As it stands right now, the Inspector General has written the following on March 7, as her recommendations to the Civilian Review Board:
I concur with the investigation findings. The investigation found no evidence to substantiate allegations 1 and 2 by the complainant. Therefore, it is recommended that that allegations 1 and 2 be closed with a finding of “Unfounded”.
Also, in regards to allegation 3, the investigation found that the actions by Chief Bryant were not a violation of any CPD policy, procedure, and/or law. Therefore, it is recommended that allegation 3 be closed with a finding of “Exonerated”.
When the Inspector says she has found the Chief “unfounded” on allegations 1 and 2 it is defined as “the investigation found no evidence that substantiated the complainant’s allegation.”
On allegation 3 she was “exonerated” meaning, “the investigation found evidence that the alleged incident(s) happened, and the incident(s) are supported by CPD policies, procedures and/or laws.”
What’s next?
UnBossed! Columbus was told by Gayle Saunders, the investigation “will go before the (Civilian Review Board) CRB, it may go as early as the April meeting for review and vote.”
What we know for sure according to March 7, Civilian Review Board meeting minutes is that the case wasn’t assigned to a board subcommittee to review. Meaning the vote won’t happen until the board meets in May because it will be assigned next month in April for review.
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