A 10-year veteran Jeffersonville police officer has appealed his dismissal this month for conduct unbecoming a member of the police department.
Patrolman Shawn Kennedy, 37, who has been a detective for about two years, was fired Oct. 18. Todd Hollis, a department spokesman, said he could not provide details about Kennedy's conduct that led to the dismissal because an investigation is ongoing.
Attorney Bart Betteau, who represents Kennedy, said Tuesday he also couldn't provide details because he hasn't been notified by the police department about the reasons Kennedy was fired. However, after talking with his client, Betteau said, Kennedy "doesn't believe he's done anything wrong."
He said Kennedy wasn't available to comment on the dismissal.
By law, Kennedy's appeal submitted Friday to the Jeffersonville Police Merit Commission requires that a public hearing be held within 30 days. A date for the hearing has not been set, said commission lawyer Bob Bottorff.
The hearing would be the first disciplinary proceeding for the roughly year-old merit commission.
In his two years as a detective, Kennedy has been involved in several high-profile cases.
In September 2009 when he was off duty, Kennedy responded to a radio call about a bank robbery and pursued the suspect, Robert Grattan. Kennedy was involved in negotiations with Grattan during a police standoff after the suspect's pickup truck was stopped.
Grattan ultimately was fatally shot when he raised his .25-caliber handgun toward officers who surrounded him.
According to court documents, Kennedy also investigated local sales of Kentucky Derby tickets by Oldham County, Ky., Magistrate Scott Davis, which led to Davis being charged in June with attempted theft for allegedly failing to provide tickets to some customers who had paid for them.