Elkhart hearing reviews suspension of Captain Dustin Flagg after station camera went offline
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Summary
A hearing before the Fire Mayor Commission reviewed Chief Rodney Dale—s 24-hour suspension of Captain Dustin Flagg after an apparatus-bay camera at Fire Station 4 went offline on May 1, 2025. City investigators say evidence and a reenactment make accidental failure unlikely; the union argues missing technical records and an unstable connector leave room for reasonable doubt.
The Fire Mayor Commission in Elkhart heard testimony Wednesday about Chief Rodney Dale—s decision to suspend Captain Dustin Flagg for 24 hours after an apparatus-bay camera at Fire Station 4 went offline on May 1, 2025.
City counsel and witnesses told the commission that IT monitoring showed the camera went from a steady online state to a full outage at about 10:25 a.m. on May 1. Matthew Riggs, the city—s IT public-safety administrator, described the monitoring software (Uptime Kuma) that pings each camera about once per minute and produced logs the city said indicate a clean loss of signal. Division Chief William Sullivan testified he used a scissor lift to inspect the camera and photographed a partially disconnected network connector before reseating it and restoring the feed. Wayne Bilak, the city—s human-resources director and lead investigator, described interviews, a May 23 reenactment and a final finding that it was "more likely than not" Captain Flagg disconnected the cable.
The union and the captain disputed that conclusion. Attorney for the union said Captain Flagg had been performing routine station maintenance that morning and had documented the work with photos and messages to Division Chief Noah Lace. Captain Flagg testified he was measuring and repairing soffit, inspecting a ventilation unit and identifying a place to run shore-power conduit for apparatus; he said he did not unplug the camera.
Experts called by both sides disagreed on whether the connector shown in photos could have failed without human intervention. Dr. Daniel Ford, an information-assurance specialist called by the union, said the installed cable lacked strain relief and showed a snagless RJ45 boot tucked under the plastic tab rather than over it, a condition that can let metal contacts make momentary contact without the clip fully engaging and that can lead to disconnection from vibration, tension or an intermittent fault. He recommended controlled testing and certification to reproduce the failure modes.
Patrick Stokes, the city—s assistant IT director, said the vendor that installed the system met industry practice and local code requirements; he noted the camera had functioned for nearly two months without repeated problems and said the city—s onsite inspection showed the connection appeared to be unplugged and reseated by a person.
The commission also heard that an earlier outage at Station 4 on April 19, 2025 had left cables unplugged at the patch panel; the city linked that event and the May 1 outage as a pattern. The union responded that April 19 had been investigated separately and that the May 1 inference should not supplant missing technical records for May 1.
Chief Dale kept discipline short of the other disciplinary options available to him: he issued a 24-hour unpaid suspension in July, citing city rules on tampering with public records and departmental policy. The captain pursued an appeal to the commission. Union counsel argued the investigation omitted or failed to produce transcripts of key early interviews with IT staff and relied on a reenactment whose setup the union said was not documented and did not adjust for differences in witness height or camera fisheye distortion.
At the hearing—s close, commissioners requested short legal briefs from both sides on the standard of review the commission should apply when considering the chief—s discipline (whether to apply de novo review or review for abuse of discretion). The commission recessed and set a follow-up meeting date to consider the briefs. The hearing record contains admitted exhibits including IT uptime logs, photos of the connector, interview transcripts that were produced, the investigator—s report, and the disciplinary notice issued July 10, 2025.
The commission has not yet issued a ruling. Parties were ordered to submit two-page legal briefs limited to the standard of review and its application to the evidence; the commission will reconvene to rule once those briefs are received.
