ThisWeek CW 09/05/2013
Two Madison Township police officers who have held interim leadership posts since June are now assigned to those positions permanently.
Michael Ratliff and Ken Braden were sworn in Aug. 21 as chief and captain, respectively.
They had been serving in an interim capacity since former chief Greg Ryan resigned and Capt. James Glasure was put on administrative leave after a nearly six-month internal investigation over allegations made by two officers under their command. The allegations included potential abuse of power issues.
Glasure has since been reinstated as a patrolman.
Township officials have said nothing specific about why he was placed on leave. Township Administrator Susan Brobst said the decision to return him to duty at a lower rank was “a mutual agreement” between the township and Glasure in response to the findings of the internal investigation.
Ratliff’s base salary as chief is $80,000 annually; his probationary period ends in December, according to Brobst.
As captain, Braden will be paid $35.88 per hour, which Hall said is 8 percent above the highest salary for a sergeant.
Both also receive a family insurance benefit package valued at approximately $1,520 a month, Brobst said.
Ratliff has been on the Madison Township police force for 33 years as a full-time officer and spent four years prior to that as a part-time officer for the township.
He said he looks forward to building a strong working relationship with residents and being an approachable figure in the department.
“We want to be proactive with citizen engagement, being accessible and reachable for the community in general,” Ratliff said. “I won’t just be in the office, I’ll be a working chief who is accessible to the residents.”
Besides the promotions of Ratliff and Braden, officers James Dean and Victor Boyd were promoted to the rank of sergeant and officers Keith Mallory and Nate Schiffel have been named to the township’s detective bureau.
Brobst said township officials have begun talking with potential officers who have previously submitted applications and she expects a decision about filling the patrolman positions will be made in the next two months.