Randoph police chief gets the axe
RANDOLPH – Randolph’s police chief has been fired.
Mayor Dwayne “BoBo” Schutt confirmed that Kannesha Nept is no longer employed with the City of Randolph as of Monday.
She had been hired in March to become a certified police officer and then take the necessary steps to become chief of police. Nearly six months later and at the time of her employment termination, she still had not completed the Nebraska Law Enforcement Officer Reciprocity Certification to become a certified officer in Nebraska. She had previously been employed with law enforcement agencies in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee and South Dakota.
Reciprocity exams are given every month at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center (NLETC).
Schutt would not give a specific reason why Nept was fired.
“There’s a lot of things that could’ve been better, like a better background check,” Schutt said.
He also would not confirm or deny he knew about an incident in which a Cedar County sheriff’s deputy was called to Nept’s home for a domestic dispute Aug. 12.
Nept and her domestic partner also filed for protection orders against each other Aug. 12. A court hearing was set for Thursday but later cancelled after both protection orders were rescinded 10 days later.
Nept was hired at an annual salary of $63,000. Even though she was not certified and not working, she was still drawing a full-time salary with benefits.
Several residents took issue with Nept filming videos from the police office and posting them to social media.
Schutt said the position of police chief will be re-posted and the process will start over with interviews of applicants. If the applicant hired is not a certified officer in Nebraska, he or she must go through the reciprocity process or complete NLETC basic academy.
Cedar County Sheriff Larry Koranda has been notified of Nept’s termination, Schutt said. The sheriff’s office and Nebraska State Patrol will continue to respond to calls in Randolph but won’t be able to enforce any city ordinances.