A former Williston police officer was cleared on Wednesday following an investigation into his potential misuse of sick time and improperly working out at a local gym while on-duty.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said she reached her conclusion after reviewing an investigation into the matter she asked Vermont State Police to conduct.
She wrote in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon that “there is no Probable Cause to believe that Officer (Justin) Huizenga intended to mis-use sick leave or any other form of paid work hours which would constitute Fraud. Therefore, the State continues to find Officer Huizenga to be a credible witness.”
Huizenga, a sergeant in the Williston Police Department at the time the allegations arose against him, is now on the force in Winooski. He said in a statement Wednesday to VTDigger that he is eager to continue his career in police work.
“I am passionate about the Police profession and have always done my job with great pride and integrity. It’s unfortunate that these persons made these irresponsible and unsubstantiated allegations,” he wrote.
The state’s attorney wrote in her release Wednesday that on April 18, she received an anonymous email containing an “unfinished report” by the town of Williston, described as an administrative investigation into potential misuse of sick time by Huizenga while he was a member of the Williston Police Department.
The same email, George said, was also sent to Jessica Brown, who is the supervising attorney for the Chittenden County Public Defender’s Office.
Two days later, on April 20, according to George, she asked Vermont State Police to investigate to determine if any criminal fraud had been committed and whether her office could continue to use Huizenga as a credible witness if he is called to testify in court.
In the statement issued Wednesday afternoon, George said the investigation “highlights several facts” that led her to conclusion that there was no probable for a crime.
Those included:
• The Williston Police Department’s policies were “unclear and often unsupervised”;
• Several of the department’s officers “were relaxed in their habit” of signing in and off shifts;
• Other officers and administrative personnel in the department “were under the same impression” as Huizenga regarding their ability to work out during shifts;
• Huizenga’s multiple roles at different times over the years required him to attend meetings and events at all hours and to be “on-call” 24/7;
• Attendance at some of those events and meetings would have otherwise constituted overtime, however, due to his “flex schedule,” he often did not claim them as such;
• Huizenga had a “flex schedule” in order to serve as an uniformed officer, an administrative sergeant, and as acting chief.
VTDigger has filed a public records request with Vermont State Police seeking a copy of its investigation in the matter.
Williston Town Manager Rick McGuire, reached late Wednesday afternoon, said the matter started out as a disciplinary process. Two other police officers, the town manager said, had come to him in September 2017 with the allegations of misconduct against Huizenga.
McGuire said the officers came to him because then-Police Chief Todd Shepard was in the process of retiring.
Soon after, McGuire said, he hired an outside investigator, Daniel Troidl, a former captain with the Vermont State Police, to conduct a probe into the matter. However, while Troidl did compile a report, the disciplinary process was eventually brought to a close with no action.
“I did not reach any conclusion because the employee left our employment before I was able to hold a hearing, that’s part of due process,” McGuire said. “You can’t issue a punishment, or make a decision on punishment, or potential disciplinary action, until you hold a hearing and listen to both sides of an issue.”
Huizenga, who joined the department in 2006, submitted his resignation in October on the day that the new police chief, Patrick Foley, was sworn in, the town manager said. Huizenga joined the Winooski Police Department days later.
Winooski Police Chief Rick Hebert couldn’t be reached Wednesday for comment.
According to Troidl’s report, obtained Wednesday by VTDigger, he interviewed several former and current members of the department, including Shepard, who served as the town’s police chief from August 2012 until September 2017.
“Shepard advised that he is unaware of any Policy/Directive/General Order or Employee Agreement/ Cont(r)act that allows for Officer’s to workout or go to the while on-duty,” the report stated. “Shepard advised that he has never given Huizenga or any other employee permission to workout while on-duty.”
Shepard also reported that he treated Huizenga as his “second in command” and would usually have him cover the acting chief role when he was away. Although Huizenga had a standard eight-hour day shift, Shepard said he “gave Huizenga the flexibility to adjust his schedule, as he wanted.”
Troidl, as part of his report, created a chart using attendance records from Champlain CrossFit in Williston, where Huizenga worked out, and documents such as time reports.
He added that all the work records may not be accurate. “Huizenga did not sign on or off-duty so dispatchers entered him on-duty when they saw him and off-duty when he left or it was beyond his normal work hours,” the report stated.
The report cited about 40 times where Troidl reported Huizenga “worked out on shift” and alleged the misuse of roughly 10 sick days.
“It should be noted that I came across several dates in which Huizenga went off-duty at 12:00 and back on-duty at 1:30 and attended Crossfit at 12:00,” the report stated.
“On some other days he used Sick Leave to attend CrossFit. There were also times he worked out just before or just after his shift,” Troidl wrote. “If Huizenga believed he had permission to workout on-duty, there would be no reason to do this.”
During Huizenga’s interview, Troild added, he reported that he did attend Crossfit classes while on-duty as part of his regular workday.
“Huizenga claimed to have received permission from Chief Jim Dimmick, who resigned in 2007, to do so,” the report stated, and two other officers interviewed backed up that claim.
The report also stated, “Jim Dimmick advised that any discussion about working out on-duty on shift was related to using the equipment provided at the office and that there was little or no interest. Dimmick advised that he did not give permission for officers to go to a private gym, in a department vehicle while on-duty.”
Huizenga, in his interview with Troidl, referred to the allegations against him and investigation into them as a “witchhunt.”
McGuire, the town manager, said Wednesday that department is moving ahead under Foley, the new police chief.
“He’s been changing a lot of different things in the department.” McGuire said. “I don’t know all the different changes that have been made, it’s his department, but I do know that morale has improved, and to me, that’s important.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Officer cleared in probe into misuse of sick days and on-duty workouts.