County,Funk to part ways
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By MARK GUNDERMAN mailto:mark.gunderman@lee.net
Thursday, December 6, 2007 10:12 AM CST
Chippewa County Sheriff’s Department deputy Benjamin Funk will be resigning from the department and will no longer be employed by the county, County Administrator Bill Reynolds confirmed this morning.
Funk served a 10-day unpaid suspension in October and became the subject of controversy when details about unusual behavior were made public. Funk was suspended by Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk for a Fall 2006 incident in which he pointed his service weapon under his chin and made vague suicidal statements, according to records the Herald received through an open records request.
Those records also revealed details about other unusual behavior by Funk, including making comments about committing horrible acts to see people's reactions, and graphic descriptions of the best way to commit suicide with a firearm. Many local citizens felt Funk should have been fired for his behavior.
Disciplinary procedures are outlined in county policies and are also affected by union contracts.
Asked this morning if the Sheriff’s Department had heard public concerns about Funk, such as people asking for a deputy to respond specifically and asking that Funk not be sent, Kowalczyk said he had not heard any such reports. However, he added that Funk had not worked much lately.
After serving the suspension, Funk was back on duty for about a week and a half. Since Nov. 9, Funk has been on paid administrative leave, Kowalczyk said.
Kowalczyk said he could not comment on the reasons for that, but said the matter involved discussions between himself, Funk, Reynolds and the county’s corporation counsel.
Reynolds said he could not comment on whether Funk’s resignation involved any kind of an agreement with the county.
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