Lorain officer settles grievance to rejoin department

LORAIN — An officer who was initially barred from rescinding his resignation will rejoin the department. Officer Zachary Ferenec, 40, will rejoin the Lorain Police Department in February — about a year after he filed grievances against Lorain police. Ferenec will be under a "last chance agreement" for two years, Police Chief Jim McCann confirmed Thursday. Ferenec resigned from the department in December 2018 to pursue other employment, the department said. He attempted to rescind his resignation in early 2019, after he was charged with operating a vehicle impaired after a crash in Elyria. Stemming from the crash, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless operation; along with disorderly conduct and failure to control. He is on probation for those charges through May. When he was not permitted to rescind his resignation, Ferenec filed two grievances against the department — one that he was discriminated against and the second for the city failing to allow him to revoke his resignation. McCann said the city won the first one — arbitration ruled no discrimination had occurred — but the second was still ongoing. McCann said the department has invested upward of $150,000 into Ferenec's training as an officer, and reaching the agreement could potentially save the city money if it would have lost arbitration — which would have caused the city to pay Ferenec back-wages for the past year. "I believe that we can bring Ferenec up to our standards and make him a productive member of our department for the city," he said. The agreement stipulates any conduct, on or off duty, that would normally lead to disciplinary action is grounds for termination. Ferenec's seniority will remain what it was before he tried to revoke his resignation. "It was my recommendation to the safety/service director that we settle this grievance and we bring Ferenec back without back pay, and we roll in the punishment with the DUI into a last chance agreement that lasts two years," McCann explained. "What that meant was we brought him back and now he's under a microscope, (he) can be fired for any policy violation within that two years." He will spend his first six months in the radio room, McCann explained, and will need additional training before he is back on the road as a patrolman. The agreement was signed Jan. 13. Lorain Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3. President Kyle Gelenius agreed with the settlement between the two. "I think cooler heads prevailed in this situation, at the benefit of the citizens," he said. "We are short staffed and we need another cop on the road, so it was a win-win for all parties involved." If the arbitration had ruled against Ferenec, Gelenius said the city could have faced civil lawsuits surrounding the issue. Ferenec was investigated but never charged for the 2014 arrest of Pele Smith, during which Ferenec slammed Smith into the windshield of a police cruiser, cracking the glass. A department review concluded Ferenec hadn't used excessive force in the incident, as the officer argued he and Smith stumbled, falling into the cruiser after Smith resisted arrest. A federal investigation declined to pursue charges. Smith filed a civil suit against Ferenec, other officers involved in his arrest, the department and city. It has since been dismissed. McCann said he has no concerns in bringing Ferenec back to the department. "I took over in December," McCann said. "All that stuff was done three years ago, before I even became chief. There's nothing in his file and nothing was done relative to that incident because he was cleared by the DOJ." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @CWoytach.