By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – A former Bloomington police officer fired for writing fake tickets that were never actually issued to anyone is trying to get his job back.
Brenton VanHoveln wrote the fake tickets to meet a ticket quota. He told the Bloomington City Council Monday night that he had a clean record for 19 years prior to his dismissal in May 2014.
“Under our contract with the City of Bloomington, the collective bargaining contract, there is a series of progressive discipline,” VanHoveln said. “I have never been disciplined in my entire career. I have an impeccable service record and I went immediately from no discipline to the death sentence of being fired.”
The state legislature has since passed a law that bans departments from using quotas to judge an officer’s performance.
Police Chief Brendan Heffner said he intends to defend VanHoveln’s dismissal when it goes to arbitration.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
