The findings of a hearing held last summer regarding the police license of the Village of Ferrelview’s chief of police has been released.
In a decision handed down Wednesday, Nov. 6, the Missouri Director of Public Safety found cause to discipline Ferrelview chief of police Daniel Clayton for tampering with a public record. The nature of that discipline has yet to be determined by the Department of Public Safety.
Citizen file photo
Clayton was reinstated as chief of police in 2018 after a suspension by a previous board of trustees in 2017.
Clayton has been a source of both controversy and praise since he became chief of police in Ferrelview, a village which has had its own share of problems. Critics say Clayton has shown excessive use of force, sexual misconduct, harassment and more, leading to a suspension in 2017. Supporters say Clayton is doing his job and working to clean up the town and reduce crime.
In 2018, Clayton was reinstated as chief of police and the village’s only officer, though his powers were limited by the dissolution of the municipal court in the wake of a state petition audit that found the village had taken in too much money via traffic tickets since Clayton became chief.
A complaint was filed with the Department of Public Safety against Clayton in August 2017, alleging he violated “statutes or regulations governing (his) licensed profession.” The complaint cited four different incidents during Clayton’s tenure with the Ferrelview Police Department.
In the end, it was a 2016 incident not listed in the original complaint that found Clayton in violation of professional standards. According to paperwork issued by the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission, Susanne Gilheaney was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Clayton on Jan. 25, 2016. The driver was arrested and Gilheaney was also detained and taken to Platte City for booking. She was not issued any citations at the time and was released by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 26, 2016. In a later incident summary, Clayton reported that Gilheaney was issued two citations for failing to obey an order and resisting arrest. While he signed and dated the report on Jan. 25, Gilheaney was not notified of her citations until Feb. 3 when they were left outside the door of her apartment. The citations stated that Gilheaney refused to sign them while in custody, but during a later investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, it was determined the citations were not issued until days later and Gilheaney had never seen them.
“The dating of the citations and incident report for Jan. 25, 2016 and writing ‘refused in custody’ on the citation are false entries for purposes of tampering with a public record,” the decision states. “Clayton admitted he filled out the citations approximately nine days after the arrest; Gilheaney was not in custody at the time Clayton wrote the citations; and Gilheaney never refused to sign the citations because she was never given an opportunity to sign the citations.”
The commission found that Clayton purposely falsified the statement on the citations, stating cause for discipline was found. However, no cause was found that Clayton’s actions rose to the level of “moral turpitude,” which is considered a separate offense.
Still pending in Platte County Circuit Court is a civil suit brought against Clayton by Derrick Hayes, of Olathe, Kan. In it, Hayes alleges he was falsely imprisoned by Clayton after a traffic stop outside the village’s limits. Hayes said over the course of months, Clayton filed multiple citations against him in retaliation for his complaints.