Iowa law enforcement trainer accused of inappropriate comments

UPDATE: An Iowa Law Enforcement Academy administrator and trainer was barred from teaching Violence Against Women classes after complaints he made inappropriate comments to female students in 2012.

Mike Quinn, assistant director of the Johnston-based academy, asked three female students whether penis size mattered, according to Jessalyn McKeon, a Dubuque County Sheriff's deputy who was a student in Quinn's class last summer.

“I was so uncomfortable, especially being asked that in a room full of 38 other men that I finally said ‘sure' just so we could move on and have the focus shift from me,” McKeon wrote in a complaint about the June 2012 incident.

The question came as part of a sex crimes investigations class. Quinn, 70, told the women he was trying to show how uncomfortable victims would feel during questioning, she said.

“I feel that his actions are downright disrespectful, disgusting and very unprofessional,” McKeon wrote.

Nancy Brady, a then-trainer with the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), reported the allegations to the state's Crime Victims Assistance Division, which has authority over the grant-funded Violence Against Women Act training.

Division Director Janelle Melohn wrote Brady a letter May 23 telling her Quinn had been removed from the program because of the allegations.

“Director Ciechanowski did confirm that inappropriate conduct was found to have occurred in the classroom and action was taken by ILEA against the VAWA supervisor,” Melohn wrote, describing her communication with ILEA Director Arlen Ciechanowski.

“The offending individual was removed from the VAWA grant-funded program, both as an instructor and a supervisor,” Melohn wrote.

The agency also required the ILEA to maintain training logs identifying instructors and make it clearer to students how they may file grievances.

“The conduct alleged is contrary to the expectations of any employee of any funded program, let alone the Supervisor of the Violence Against Women training at the statewide law enforcement academy,” Melohn wrote.

While ILEA leaders acknowledged the problem, Quinn kept his $91,000-a-year job.

“This entire issue is surrounded by personnel issues and dealt with and cannot be commented on any more than it has been,” Quinn wrote to The Gazette Thursday.

Quinn served with the Waterloo, Newton and Webster City police departments before joining the ILEA in 2000.

The academy, which has a mission of “professionalism through training,” offers classes that include accident investigation, child abduction response, firearms, high-speed pursuit, internal affairs, court security and 911 communications. Officers from most Iowa police departments and sheriff's offices are trained at the ILEA.

Brady, who trained dispatchers at the ILEA for 14 years, said she was terminated in January because she complained about Quinn's conduct to the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.