Kent Police Assistant Chief Derek Kammrzell is getting paid $15,508 a month while on paid administrative leave.
Kammerzell went on paid leave in January following Mayor Dana Ralph’s request for his resignation from the police union after public outcry over Kammerzell posting a Nazi insignia on his office door.
Kammerzell, a 27-year veteran of the force, receives an annual salary of $186,096, according to figures released by the city of Kent after a Public Records Act request by the Kent Reporter.
Negotiations among city officials, Kammerzell and the Kent Police Officers Association (union) are in their third month. If no settlement is reached by the end of March, Kammerzell will be paid $46,524 for the first three months of the year.
City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick said he does not have a time frame of when the city will reach a settlement with Kammerzell. Wayne Graff, president of the Kent Police Officers Association, has not responded to numerous emails from the Kent Reporter about the settlement process.
Ralph on Jan. 4 asked the Kent Police Officers Association for Kammerzell’s resignation. Padilla suspended Kammerzell for two weeks in July 2021 after he posted a Nazi insignia on his office door in September 2020, as reported by a co-worker, which led to an investigation by an outside law firm hired by the city.
After that investigation, Padilla suspended Kammerzell two weeks for violating city policy prohibiting harassment and discrimination and for unbecoming conduct in violation of police policy, according to city documents. He was suspended without pay, but given the option to use two weeks of vacation pay.
The incident and suspension didn’t become public until December 2021 when No Secret Police, a citizens watchdog group, received Padilla’s disciplinary report against Kammerzell from a Public Records Act request to the city of Kent and sent the documents to media outlets.
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