CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — A state and federal investigation have been launched into the Circleville Police Department after concerns have risen that certain officers have abused their power. At the center of the investigation is the department’s newly-promoted deputy chief.
The second-in-command, Doug Davis, was bumped to the job earlier this year after the ousting of then-deputy chief Phil Roar during a harassment and assault investigation that ultimately led to Roar’s retirement. Davis assumed the position of deputy chief but was only on the job for two months before he was placed on leave; leave that has spawned a criminal probe into allegations of civil rights violations.
Who is Doug Davis?
Doug Davis has made a career at the Circleville Police Department. First hired in 2013 he has risen through the ranks from patrolman, sergeant, captain, and then, deputy chief, where he kept the title of detective. Given the recent announcement last month of current Police Chief Shawn Baer’s intent to retire later this summer, Davis was heir-apparent to be promoted to Chief of Police. That promotion, however, is on hold, as Davis faces the potential for criminal charges.
Arresting people because they are black.
Placed on paid administrative leave in April after complaints came about, Davis has been accused of racially profiling suspects, conducting illegal anal cavity searches, and manufacturing reasons to arrest people. All of those claims and more have caught the attention of Ohio’s BCI and the United States Department of Justice.
In April, Police Chief Shawn Baer was ordered by then-Safety Director Tomi Dorris to contact Ohio BCI and request the state’s top agency look into allegations that Davis was targeting suspects because of the pigmentation of their skin. The order from Dorris came after she received numerous complaints from officers, prosecutors, and defense lawyers that claimed Davis might be a racist and abusing his position.
“…. information had been provided from various officers that [Doug Davis] racially profiled suspects on traffic stops ….” wrote Dorris in an email to Mayor Don McIlroy.
The Guardian obtained emails between several police officers and Dorris, where officers listed concerns about Davis’ interactions with black people. In one instance, an officer said they were instructed to not use their body camera unless advised when on traffic stops because “Doug Davis will freak out when he sees a black guy.” The officer continued in his email by sharing his first-hand experiences of witnessing alleged discriminatory behavior by the deputy chief.
In one of the first-hand experiences, while Davis was off-duty in his personal vehicle, Davis had his handheld police-issued radio with him and made a racial remark over the radio that caused several officers to become uncomfortable, according to emails.
“This is going to be a good one; there is a black guy leaned back in the passenger seat,” Davis is quoted as saying over the radio as he passed a motorist. Four other officers within the department who were working that day overheard the remark on the radio, and they too wrote complaints.
“…. [Doug Davis] [is] making questionable stops and searches, as well as racially profiling his police work,” wrote a second officer to Dorris. “It is of concern to me that I have heard from multiple officers that [Davis] will stop a vehicle or order a vehicle to be stopped due to the driver or occupant being black. On several occasions, this has been an issue.”
The second officer went on in his email to detail several instances that he felt were racially motivated.
“[Davis told other officers] to make a stop on a vehicle, stating something of the sort that the passenger was black and that it was going to be a good stop. This brings up another issue of questionable probable cause that anytime [Doug] wants a vehicle stopped he always has a probable cause at the ready for the vehicle. A second stop that I was made aware of was [another officer] was ordered to make a stop on a vehicle by [Doug] that contained four black males.”
The Guardian requested a copy of the recorded radio traffic from the incidents in question, but the police department’s record clerk said that the conversations for the private tactical channel used were not kept. Despite the lack of audio recordings, the concerns continued to flow from officers. One patrolman wrote that the alleged racial profiling by Davis happens on an almost daily basis.
“It is of concern to most officers that [traffic stops are] ordered due to the occupants being black. [In a different traffic stop] upon my arrival I found the driver to be an older black man in his 50s-60s and it made me nervous as to why we were ordered [by Doug Davis] to stop the subject …. I never asked for the reason for the stop but from what I’ve heard from other officers and what I have heard said on a private radio channel it pains me to assume that more than likely [Doug Davis] ordered the stop due to the male being black.”
A third officer wrote in a complaint that Davis allegedly told him, “[I don’t] mind black people from Circleville, but black people from other cities [don’t] belong here.”
The emails from officers, along with numerous other concerns from the law enforcement community, led the safety director to request the chief to launch a criminal inquiry into the allegations; the chief was ordered to contact BCI.
“Chief Baer did tell me [via text message] that if BCI determined the allegations about [Doug Davis] were substantiated on the racial claims BCI may send it to DOJ,” Dorris wrote to the mayor.
The Guardian reached out to BCI for comment on this story. A spokesman said that the agency does not “confirm or deny the existence of criminal investigations.” However, the Guardian was able to independently confirm through three law enforcement sources and a state official that BCI is, in fact, investigating claims that the deputy chief targeted black people and that BCI has requested the assistance of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist in the probe. The sources spoke under conditions of anonymity to protect their jobs and not to obstruct justice.
Manufacturing probable cause for traffic stops.
Several of Doug Davis’ cases have been called into question due to a lack of “probable cause.” In fact, one case involving a notorious drug user was recently dismissed. The defendant was facing more than 20 years in prison, but the case was tossed last month over misconduct allegedly by Davis.
Probable cause is required by police in order to legally stop or detain someone; in other words, law enforcement must see someone break the law or have reason to believe they are committing a crime.
The recent case dismissed last month involved a local man named Clifford Browning. Court paperwork shows that last year he was pulled over for a “stop bar violation.” A stop bar violation means a police officer saw the driver’s bumper or tires cross the white line at a traffic light or stop sign before coming to a complete stop. Despite this being the cited reason for the stop, Davis and another officer told the Court during pretrial hearings that they did not see the violation. In fact, the second officer said he had no idea why the stop happened and that it was ordered by Davis.
The Browning case is not the only situation where Davis’ allegations of illegal traffic stops have been questioned.
In one case, Davis ordered officers to illegally block in a woman at a local grocery store, but officers said they refused, recognizing that the “boxing in” would have been an illegal detainment without cause. Despite that, Davis stopped the woman anyway on his own with the help of probation officers, searched her for drugs and weapons, and arrested her. On the way to the jail, officers told her they had no idea why she was being arrested and that they were ordered to do so by Davis; those charges were later tossed, as well.
In a third instance, Davis ordered officers to stop a car for allegedly not using a turn signal. The stop occurred as ordered, but the uniformed officer who made the stop in a marked patrol car at the behest of the deputy chief later admitted to fellow officers that the car did, indeed use its turn signal and that the reason was manufactured in order to detain the man and search him for drugs. The outcome of that case was not immediately uncovered by the Guardian.
Illegal body cavity searches by Davis.
As if the racial profiling and illegal traffic stops were not enough to catch the eye of state and federal investigators, Davis is under a microscope for allegedly conducting illegal body cavity searches. In simpler terms, he is accused of making suspects get naked during traffic stops while he invasively made entry into their private areas to search for drugs or weapons.
The situation of illegal body cavity searches arose after an allegation that warrants were not being properly filed with the court and perhaps, they were even forged and manufactured with a fake signature from a judge. It would later be cleared up that some warrants had been properly issued, but the concerns opened the door into a dark room of questionable searches, nonetheless.
Because of the claim, Dorris launched her own administrative investigation into the use of search warrants by the deputy chief, specifically, those of body cavities.
“I told Chief Baer allegations had been made that [Doug Davis] routinely conducted [illegal] body cavity searches on suspects,” Dorris wrote in an email. “When I asked Chief Baer how many body cavity searches had been completed by officers in his department this year he replied, ‘none.'”
If Dorris is telling the truth that Baer told her that zero body cavity search warrants had been issued, the Guardian has discovered that claim by Baer to be a lie. In fact, in a public records request, three search warrants were provided to the Guardian by the chambers of Judge Elisa Peters, who is the city’s municipal court judge. Judge Peters had signed three warrants authorizing body cavity searches in the first few months of 2022, and denied a fourth; contrary to what Baer allegedly told Dorris.
The body cavity issue spiraled down a second rabbit hole after officers filed complaints with Dorris that the deputy chief was forcing — and coercing — suspects into consenting to have their private areas examined on the side of the road.
Davis is heard on body camera during a traffic stop with four men, telling one of them, “[You] know [your friends talk], and that what happened to them [is] going to happen to [you],” referring to searching the man’s anal cavity. Another officer at the scene said he personally became upset when Davis told the suspect, “It was going to be uncomfortable” if the man did not consent to an anal search. Ultimately, according to reports, the man gave consent, arguably under duress, another officer wrote.
“Davis always seems to get a search warrant for suspects, even for things like a gum wrapper or very small piece of foil …. It is a fear of mine that Davis may be forcing suspects to consent to a search through fear or coercion. Davis always seems to have all of his suspects searched one way or another,” one officer wrote in a complaint.
Where things stand today.
The claims of racial profiling, according to the law enforcement sources, will be presented to a special federal grand jury in the coming weeks. BCI and DOJ continue to look into the claims of illegal body searches and lack of probable cause.
Safety Director Tomi Dorris, who is also an attorney, resigned from her job effective last week amid the controversies. She had only been there two months. She said in her resignation letter that she felt hogtied and unable to do her job with an administration that could not follow the law.
Police Chief Shawn Baer has announced his intent to retire next month after several years of service with the city. The resignation came right at the time of his dealings with Dorris where she was pushing for Davis to be investigated. Some within the city said they expect Baer to rescind his notice now that Dorris, herself, is gone.
Four police officers within the department have quit amid the corruption scandal. Each of them said they could not work under such circumstances and felt targeted for bringing to light the issues that have spawned the state and federal investigation. They said they, themselves, became targets of internal affairs investigations for speaking out about Davis’ alleged behavior.
Doug Davis remains on paid administrative leave. He did not return a request to the Guardian for comment on this story. The union that represents him also did not reply to a request for an interview.
Mayor Don McIllory told the Guardian that he could not speak publicly about the investigation and referred the Guardian to his attorney.