City manager upholds police officer’s firing

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 1, 2013

SALISBURY — Salisbury City Manager Doug Paris found former police officer Kenny Lane was appropriately dismissed from the department following disciplinary actions in 2011 and 2012.
Lane said he was fired after voicing concerns about safety during a Taser training session last August. The 22-year police veteran filed a grievance against the city earlier this year.
In a letter addressed to Lane and released Friday, Paris said Lane was insubordinate during the mandatory Taser training and was asked to leave. He also said co-workers of Lane told investigators the former officer called one of his superiors a “stupid b****.”
“Your attempt to frame your termination publicly as resulting from you expressing safety concerns is not accurate or truthful,” Paris wrote in the decision.
“ … I find your recent violations warrant the action taken.”
Lane told the Post in January his firing came after months of tense relations between him and his superiors.
He declined to comment Friday.

In June 2011, Lane was suspended by then-supervisor Steve Whitley after a disciplinary action report said he “made comments that were disrespectful and unbecoming of your position when referring to the chief of police.”
Lane told the Post in January he was unaware of such comments.
Also in the letter, Paris said Lane lied about retired District Attorney Bill Kenerly notifying the department of potential excessive force used previously by the Taser training supervisor.
Lane told the Post in January he had knowledge that Kenerly contacted supervisors at the department to warn them of the risks they were facing.
But Paris said Kenerly made no such notification.
“We have contacted Mr. Kenerly twice, and his response has been that he did not produce any documents or make such statements about said instructor using excessive force,” Paris wrote.