Central Point, Ore. — Central Point Police Department Union representatives say a lawsuit filed against the City, Police Chief Kristine Allison, and other law enforcement officials won’t affect the services the department offers to the community.
“We support our police department, we support our City, and of course, more so than anybody, we support our citizens,” Union representative Josh Abbott said, in response to the litigation.
The two million dollar lawsuit was filed in May by Josh Moulin, a former Central Point Police lieutenant, and head of the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force. In the lawsuit, Moulin claims an unfounded criminal case, which was ultimately dropped, impacted his career, reputation, and his finances.
Abbott says while it’s ongoing, the lawsuit is not affecting their presence on the street.
“To my knowledge, no, none of our officers are involved in any way,” Abbott said.
The lawsuit stems from Moulin’s work in the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force, his resignation as a lieutenant at the department, and a criminal investigation into his work.
“Moulin worked with the high tech crimes task force upstairs, which we in the patrol, have very little do with other than just forwarding reports to them and then asking for help,” Abbott said.
Abbott says because Moulin was a lieutenant, he wouldn’t have been covered by the police union at all.
“They have their own representation and stuff through the city,” Abbott said.
Despite the new litigation, Abbott says the Central Point Police Department will continue to serve the city, and it’s residents.
“We’re just trying to, you know, not let this be a distraction of any kind, because we’re not involved in it at our level,” Abbott said. “We’re just going to go out there and work our cases, and do the best job we can.”
NBC5 News reached out to Chief Allison, and received an email response from her, forwarding
a statement from her attorney, Steve Kraemer.
“The City will be filing a response to the allegations in federal court in the next month or so. Among other defenses that will be raised, the city will be denying the allegations being made against it and its employees.”
Late Thursday afternoon, Kramer released a new statement. According to Kramer, before the lawsuit was filed, Moulin’s attorney asked a judge to seal all court records relating to the criminal investigation involving Moulin, meaning the defendants and their representatives are banned from talking about the case.
The order doesn’t apply to Moulin or his attorney. According to the email, Central Point’s City Attorney did ask Moulin’s lawyers to ask the court to unseal the records. They turned down the request.
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