NORTH OGDEN, Utah — After being on administrative leave for over a month, the chief of the North Ogden Police Department is back on the job, and city officials are finally revealing what happened.
Chief Brian Eynon was placed on leave on Feb. 12 for an independent third-party investigation into a potential "Police Policy Violation."
The city announced that Eynon was reinstated on Tuesday.
The reason for the investigation was an incident at a DUI training session, according to Wednesday's press release.
City officials said Eynon was participating in a "wet lab" training — an exercise that involves volunteers consuming alcohol to reach specific blood alcohol concentration levels, and then officers conduct field sobriety tests. It's intended to help officers "assess intoxication levels accurately and improve DUI enforcement."
The investigation revealed that Eynon volunteered to become intoxicated for the training. The review concluded that the chief "exhibited a lapse in judgment" by doing so, but that "his intent was good."
The review also concluded that the department did not have the "proper level of oversight" to conduct the training.
"While the incident underscored the need for improved oversight in training procedures, it was found that Chief Eynon has taken full responsibility for his actions and is committed to implementing necessary reforms," the city's announcement read.
North Ogden officials also pointed out that no crimes were committed in connection with the incident, and the city's funds were not used to pay for alcohol.
Going forward, Eynon will implement "revised policies" for future training exercises. The city said this is in addition to "discipline," although they did not specify what that entailed.
