Blair police chief back on the job

After a nearly two-month suspension, Blair Chief of Police Kent Johnson returned to work in late March after a complaint that was filed against him was withdrawn, but it isn’t business as usual.

Johnson was suspended Jan. 24 by Mayor John Rawson after city police officer Kimberlee Potts filed a complaint against him. In March, however, Potts chose to withdraw the complaint and Johnson returned to work on March 22. While he is back on duty, Johnson told the city council on Monday that the atmosphere has changed. 

When he returned, Johnson said that city attorney Mark Radcliffe ordered that clerk Susan Frederixon would maintain a key to his office, which Johnson said violates security protocols established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“One thing I need to bring up, and this is quite important, is that we’ve lost the integrity of our police department,” Johnson said. 

The office contains the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) on Johnson’s computer, which only he is allowed access to. CJIS allows him to perform background checks among other duties. Johnson said he has twice requested that he be given that key, the first time Radcliffe responded asking if Johnson was refusing to come back to work. He asked again on Monday and still did not receive the key.

Johnson said he has been in contact with authorities at the state level, who advised him to change the locks to the department. He also indicated the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office has expressed concern about the situation. 

Johnson said the computers will have to be encrypted and that his department is going to have to add large, secure filing cabinets. In order to do background checks and look up other information, he will have to go through the sheriff’s department. 

“We may be ineffective with out computers for a little while until some of this gets figured out,” Johnson said. “I’m not sure how quickly it takes to act on this. These are not my rules, these are not the state’s rules, these are the FBI’s rules.”

The complaint was withdrawn weeks before an evidentiary hearing, which would’ve given more details about the accusation, was to be held on April 6.

While he wasn’t working, Johnson was being paid while suspended. The city was mandated by law to hire an interim chief, Randy Jensen, while Johnson was suspended. Potts is still employed by the city and Johnson said he doesn’t know if that will be the case.

“I have no idea what Kim’s status is. If she’s coming back or not,” Johnson said. “All I’ve heard is rumors, so I don’t know what to expect there.”

He said the city’s other officer, Connor Kokott, has been picking up hours and Jensen has been filling in on a part-time basis. 

Since returning, Johnson said he has been busy trying to catch up because there was a lot of work that was not completed while he was gone.