MINOT, ND (KXNET) — Documents pertaining to the investigation of Minot Police Chief John Klug have just been released to the public. The City of Minot has released a redacted investigative report, along with a list of attachments pertaining to the case. Klug has been on administrative leave since September due to allegations of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment, inconsistent discipline, and more. International Law Firm Clark Hill was hired to conduct the investigation. The report looked into each of the allegations made against Klug, and discussed the conclusions reached about each of them. No actions have been taken at the moment. The report reads: There is a minority of current and former officers who disagree with Chief Klug’s decisions. The majority of officers have not voiced complaints against Chief Klug or his Administration. There are issues to address and improvements to be made to improve leadership in the Police Department such as timely decision-making. Again, no one contested their disciplinary decisions or promotion decisions through the City’s complaint or grievance procedures. No one raised these concerns to the City Manager. These complaints were raised outside the City’s process through Council Member Fuller. Sidestepping the City’s processes undermines the integrity and effectiveness of the City’s process and the City’s professional staff as well as the organization as a whole. Chief Klug, however, cannot expect members of the department to follow through on their duties if he does not follow through on his duties, including communicating with the Department, communicating with the City Manager, completing one-on-one meetings, resolving the uniform/beard issue, issuing 2023 performance evaluations, and establishing and maintaining relationships with patrol especially members of the midnight shift. These are the “soft-skills” that keep an organization together, moving forward, and following its leader. This investigation cannot conclude that there is a failure of leadership as Chief Klug can perform his job duties as set forth in his Job Description and City Ordinance. However, if Chief Klug cannot or will change his leadership style to address these issues, the Department will continue to have these issues with leadership and morale. The investigation looked into the numbers of how many people left the department since Klug became Chief in February 2020, and found that, though the number of total resignations is about the same in the four years prior as it is in the four years he's been Chief, there have been 17 more resignations in dispatch since Klug became Chief. Gov. Burgum back in North Dakota after Donald Trump cabinet announcement Regarding a hostile work environment, the investigation says that there was no evidence to support this allegation based on a protected category, such as race, age, or gender. From interviews, they gathered that many people did not like the way members of the command administration communicated with the department. The newly released document says "The investigation does not find the existence of a hostile work environment, there is a core group of current and former employees in the Police Department and dispatch who do not agree with the decisions made by Chief Klug and Haugen and therefore are unhappy with their work environment." The investigation also did not find evidence of inconsistent discipline, saying that the Chief had to take the circumstances of each situation into account when making each decision. The document said, "Based on my interviews and file review, this investigation did not uncover inconsistent discipline but rather individuals who do not agree with the discipline issued. Discipline is issued based upon a variety of factors including conduct in question, disciplinary history and context of the violation. There is also discretion by the supervisor, Chief’s Job Description, and City ordinances which place the responsibility of discipline within the Chief’s discretion." A specific case was brought up in which Council Member Rob Fuller, who had been talking to people in the department about morale problems, received information about a case in which one of Klug's officers, Dan Batteiger, allegedly slept with a domestic violence victim and had lost 15.7 grams of heroin from a canine drug training kit. That information made its way to Klug, who said that he allowed Batteiger to continue working as an officer because these mistakes happened at a time in which he was going through a lot in his personal life. This investigation came to the conclusion that Batteiger's actions were careless rather than intentional, and found that "He [Klug] exercised his discretion based on his determination that he did not have any evidence that Batteiger stole the heroin but was careless and did not follow policy. Chief Klug had full authority to exercise his discretion in making the disciplinary decision. He did not, however, consult with the City Manager which would have been a prudent course of action and an issue that should be addressed." People have also raised concerns about the way Chief Klug handled the return to duty of certain members of his team who substance abuse or mental health issues, but the report found "no issues with how Chief Klug handled those individuals and their subsequent return to duty." Fort Totten man gets 30 years for sexually abusing children The investigation did find one of the reasons for the decline in morale was Klug not following through on his promise to meet with every officer one-on-one. The investigation revealed that "Chief Klug failed to complete the one-on-one meetings with his officers. This was one of the first promises he made to the department, and he did not complete it. It had a significant impact on some officers who felt disregarded or ignored. While these took a back seat to COVID and his personal issues, that is not the appropriate priority for a Chief." It goes on to say "He cannot expect members of the Department to fulfill their job responsibilities if he does not fulfill his job duties or promises to the Department members." The report sighted the uniform policy regarding beards and piercings as something that Klug did not address, even though the officers spent hours researching and drafting it. Some individuals also said they were concerned about retaliation for participating in the investigation, but the City Manager made it a point to say that any retaliation will not be tolerated. Based on these findings, Clark Hill created a list of 28 recommendations for the chief of police. This includes addressing the "rumors, gossip, and misinformation" affecting the morale in the department, creating a process through which personnel issues are brought to the City Manager, and many other policy changes. You can find the full report, as well as all the transcripts of all the interviews that were conducted as a part of the investigation, at https://minotnd.gov/855/Minot-Police-Department-Investigation-Li. No decisions have been made regarding further action concerning the chief. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News SIGN UP NOW