Mayor, police chief cleared in officer's suspension

OGDEN — The Weber County Attorney's Office has cleared Mayor Matthew Godfrey and Police Chief Jon Greiner of any wrongdoing in suspending an officer whose wife was seen driving a moving van with signs critical of Godfrey.

But County Attorney Mark DeCaria said the situation could have been handled better or even ignored.

"They could have said, 'Leave it alone. Things will die down and it will go away,'" DeCaria said.

The incident in question happened July 27 when the wife of officer Matt Jones was seen driving a moving van with signs on it saying "Welcome to Ogden City. Home of Godfrey's ticket quota."

It was in reference to complaints from the Ogden Police Benefit Association, Ogden firefighters, their families and residents about a sliding evaluation scale, which included the number of tickets issued.

The sliding scale was rescinded by the City Council in August.

An investigation into Greiner's putting Jones on administrative leave with pay was requested by Godfrey, and the findings were released Thursday. The police chief said his decision was to look into citizen complaints unrelated to the van incident.

The report also looks at Godfrey's decision to give Greiner the license plate number of Jones' car.

According to the findings, Godfrey did nothing illegal in following the van, recording the license plate and conveying it to Greiner.

"Following a private vehicle is not a criminal violation under these circumstances," the report states. "Additionally, license plate information as displayed on a vehicle is public information and can be seen, recorded and conveyed by any individual."

DeCaria said he does not believe his office could have made a definitive finding on Greiner because the law does not adequately address the situation.

Because Greiner accessed the license plate information through dispatch, the Motor Vehicle Division records are subject to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation standards.

Those standards state that the information can be used only for "criminal justice and criminal justice employment purposes."

While "criminal justice purposes" is defined in the Utah Code, "criminal justice employment purposes" is not.

"There is not an adequate definition," DeCaria said.

Greiner contends he was within his rights to ask for the license plate information.