A Niles Police Department sergeant is facing possible discipline or firing in connection with what the village says are various police policy violations, including his public comments about how officers handled a well-being check involving a civilian department employee.
In a statement released June 18, the village of Niles accused Sgt. Nick Beyer, previously a commander with the department, of violating policies related to a March 21 crash and a March 29 aggravated battery and theft.
The village also accused Beyer of “engag[ing] in threatening and dishonest correspondence” after he was placed on administrative leave this spring.
Beyer has been referred to the Niles Fire and Police Commission “for discipline up to termination for multiple violations” to police department policies, the village said.
The decision to send Beyer before the commission comes after internal investigations were conducted by the police department and an outside law firm, the village said.
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Beyer did not return a phone message this week, but in an email he accused the village of “being dishonest with the public” and opening “retaliatory investigations.”
Last week, Beyer said he was never interviewed by police or the law firm the village hired to conduct the internal investigations, even though he said he had requested an interview.
“The police department cannot investigate itself,” he said. “That is my firm belief. The investigations were pure retaliation.”
In another email sent Tuesday, Beyer said he is no longer being paid by the department and was not given “due process” by the department.
In April, Beyer publicly questioned the handling of a Feb. 28 call in which he said an off-duty civilian employee appeared to be unconscious behind the wheel of his car, which was in the drive-thru lane of McDonald’s restaurant in Niles.
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Beyer, who was not present for the call but said he learned details through a witness account and by watching police body camera footage, alleged that responding officers did not follow proper procedure on the call. Beyer said sobriety tests were not performed on the driver, an ambulance was not called, a detailed report documenting the incident was not completed, and the driver was given a ride to his home 40 miles away in a police vehicle.
Beyer also alleged that the department failed to maintain body camera footage of the call for the amount of time required under department policy.
Beyer said he was placed on paid administrative leave shortly after notifying Police Chief Luis Tigera and another police supervisor about the call and police response.
The village said Beyer was placed on leave for “insubordination.”
Niles Police Sgt. Nick Beyer. (Kevin Tanaka / Pioneer Press)
The village in its June 18 statement said Beyer provided “misleading public claims” about the Feb. 28 incident, attempted to “discredit the Niles Police Department and its leadership,” and made “disparaging remarks” about the department and the village to the media.
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According to the village, investigations into the Feb. 28 incident determined the call was “handled appropriately.”
The village has declined to share specifics of the March 21 and March 29 incidents referenced in its statement, but Beyer earlier told Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune that the March 21 crash involved a DUI arrest following a crash and a gun that was not immediately recovered by officers from the car, which was towed.
The village said policy violations stemming from this incident included unsatisfactory work performance and “neglect of duty.”
Niles Village Spokesman Mitch Johnson said the police department was investigating this incident prior to Beyer making his allegations about the Feb. 28 call.
The March 29 incident involved a battery to an employee at King Spa and Beyer said his supervisors questioned why he had not immediately contacted detectives.
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According to the village, the policy violation involved disobedience of a legal directive or order.
The Niles Police Department declined to release any reports related to the King Spa battery following a Freedom of Information Act request from Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune. A manager at the establishment said a 60-year-old employee was badly injured and unresponsive after he was pushed and struck his head on the pavement as a customer fled without paying a bill.
Beyer, a 22-year veteran of the department who had held the rank of commander, was reassigned to the lower rank of sergeant on June 4 by the authority of Police Chief Luis Tigera, Johnson said.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
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