Dover Police Chief’s Conduct Deemed ‘Troubling’ but Legal
The City of Dover has officially released the findings of a third-party investigation into a yearlong conflict involving Police Chief Thomas Johnson, Mayor Robin Christiansen, and the local police union. The 37-page report, authored by the Washington D.C.-based consulting firm 21st Century Policing Solutions, concludes that while certain actions taken by city leadership were “nasty” and “troubling,” they did not cross the threshold into illegality.
The release comes after a public records battle, with Spotlight Delaware successfully challenging the city’s initial denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Following a ruling by the Delaware Department of Justice, the city was compelled to turn over the document, shedding light on a controversy that has dominated Dover’s political landscape for over a year.
The Institutional Failure Behind the Conflict
At the center of the investigation were allegations that Chief Johnson utilized his city-owned police vehicle for personal travel, including family vacations, and maintained a second job as an instructor at Pennsylvania State University during standard working hours. While the report confirms these activities violated the city’s personnel handbook, investigators ultimately “exonerated” the chief of “bad faith or ethical misconduct.” The reasoning centers on the fact that these arrangements were authorized by Mayor Christiansen, the chief’s direct supervisor.
The report characterizes the situation not as a failure of individual integrity, but as an “institutional failure.” Investigators noted that the fundamental issue was the absence of clear, written expectations regarding the chief’s use of city property and secondary employment. This lack of formal policy created a vacuum of ambiguity that fueled distrust among rank-and-file officers, who were held to stricter standards than their department head.
Officers Dispute Mayor over Flexible Schedule Terms
The investigation relied on interviews with Johnson, Christiansen, and five members of the Dover Police Department, though the provided version of the report includes redactions that obscure the identities of the officers involved. According to the findings, Johnson and Christiansen operated under a verbal agreement that permitted a “flexible” schedule and broader vehicle use than is standard for other municipal employees.
While the mayor defended these terms as a fair trade for the chief’s experience and extended hours, other police department employees painted a different picture. Some staff reported arriving at the station to find the chief unavailable due to his teaching commitments, and others raised concerns regarding his timekeeping and lack of calendar transparency. The investigators observed that the discrepancies surrounding the chief’s secondary employment were “somewhat more troubling” than the disputes over vehicle usage.
The fundamental problem is not Chief Johnson’s conduct, but the absence of clear, written, and enforceable expectations for the Chief’s use of City property and secondary employment — an institutional failure that created ambiguity, fueled distrust, and allowed a problematic situation to persist without resolution.
The Road Ahead for Dover
The report offers several recommendations to prevent a recurrence of this controversy, including prohibiting meetings between elected officials and Dover police personnel while the personnel are on duty, establishing more thorough take-home vehicle and second job policies, and creating “uniform and transparent” timekeeping requirements for command officers. City Councilman David Anderson, who previously introduced a set of recommendations similar to those in the report, intends to bring these measures back to the council for a vote before the end of the year. City Council President Fred Neil has signaled support for these changes, emphasizing that the city should not ignore the advice of the organization it paid to investigate the matter.
Despite the resolution of the administrative inquiry, some observers argue that the focus on these internal disputes has overshadowed more pressing municipal concerns. James Nolan, a West Virginia University professor who studies police reform, noted that the scandal has consumed a year of the city’s political bandwidth—time that could have been dedicated to addressing the city’s ongoing challenges with crime and developing new, sustainable policing strategies.
Mayor Christiansen maintains that he and the chief were simply doing their jobs, describing the entire ordeal as a “sad state of affairs” for the city.
