23 police officers disciplined by state

SANDY — The body responsible for policing Utah's police voted Tuesday to discipline 23 officers for offenses ranging from forcible sex abuse to lying on a police-academy application.

The state's Peace Officer Standards and Training Council listened for more than an hour during its quarterly meeting as investigators provided a brief synopsis for each case, and the council then meted out sanctions.

The council voted unanimously to revoke the certification of Cory D. Frampton, a former Nephi police narcotics officer. Frampton, according to a POST case summary, engaged in a sexual relationship with an informant while he was on duty. He also told the woman on two occasions that she was the target of a police investigation, the summary said.

The council revoked Michelle L. Johnson's certification, as well. Johnson, a former officer with the Springdale/Zion Canyon Department of Public Safety, is facing charges of felony drug possession and misdemeanor theft. Investigators said she failed to put methamphetamine, seized from an arrested suspect, in the department's evidence locker, using the drug instead.

Utah corrections officer Mark E. Nentwich also had his certification revoked because of his conviction for sexual battery. Nentwich had initially been charged with forcible sex abuse, a second-degree felony, for assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 2006. POST investigators said Nentwich never admitted to the crime when they interviewed him; however, he did plead guilty to a reduced charge as part of an agreement with Sevier County prosecutors.

All three officers agreed to accept the revocations in consent letters signed before the hearing.

Twenty other officers agreed to have their certifications revoked or suspended, as well, for engaging in sexual activity with inmates or probationers; driving under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs; theft; harassment; or on-duty or off-duty sexual misconduct.

Lt. Steve Winward has headed POST's Investigations Division for the past 31/2 years. Winward said the cases presented Tuesday are representative of the most common forms of misconduct his investigators look into.

" 'SADD' is our term for it — sex, alcohol, drugs and domestics," he said.

"We've had several officers that are just a couple years from retiring … and then they do something that is basically career suicide because they're not thinking. The power's gone to their head, and they think they can get away with it," Winward said. "Just seeing that, that's the toughest part of the job."

Winward said the council's June 2007 adoption of disciplinary guidelines has made the sanctions handed down more consistent.