Evansville commission accepts three disciplinary actions; chief mandates sensitivity training for officer

The Evansville Police Merit Commission voted Dec. 9 to accept three disciplinary actions involving probationary officers, and Police Chief Philip Smith said the department will mandate sensitivity training for one officer.

Chief Philip Smith told the commission that Officer Zachary Veil was the subject of two incident reports (listed in the meeting as codes 24PD-11 and 24PD-12) and described Veil as having "some serious, maturity issues." Smith said Veil was remorseful and that department leadership has held one-on-one counseling with him and will add sensitivity training to the corrective measures.

Ken Paul Kirby moved to accept all three disciplines; the motion was seconded and the chair declared the motion carried after multiple "Aye" responses were recorded. The transcript records repeated un-attributed "Aye" votes; individual votes were not attributed by name in the record.

The commission also noted a separate discipline for Officer Tyler Wilson (listed as 24PD-13); the chair said Wilson had not submitted an appeal at the time of the meeting. Chief Smith said the goal is to provide corrective pathways in addition to discipline: "we're mandating that he has sensitivity training," Smith said, and department leaders have "pulled him in, had a one-on-one with him, myself and Assistant Chief Hassler" to explain expectations.

No additional details about the underlying allegations were read into the public minutes during the meeting. The commission's action accepted the disciplinary recommendations presented; the record does not show a roll-call vote with individual member names attached, only the chair's declaration that the motion carried.