'Many cases' dismissed after West Lafayette officer resigns for inappropriate behavior
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A West Lafayette police officer has resigned, the department's chief said on Friday, because the officer "misrepresented, embellished, and put words in people's mouths."
The officer, Jake Forgey, was questioned by the department after a routine bodycam footage audit showed instances that did not meet the department's standards and violated policy, Lafayette Police Chief Troy Harris said. Forgey resigned after the questioning, Harris said.
All cases involving Forgey that were sent to the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's Office would be dismissed, Harris said.
Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said he did not have a firm number on how many cases in total involving Forgey would be dismissed, but the cases were a mix of felonies and misdemeanors.
"The process of reviewing (Forgey's) cases has been thorough and time consuming. The result is many cases have been dismissed, both felony and misdemeanor," Harrington said in an email. "As Chief Harris stated, he asked us to review body camera video; and we reviewed several of the officer’s cases. Based upon our review, we have dismissed this officer’s cases where he was actively involved in the case investigation. We advised (West Lafayette police) of our decision. I thanked Chief Harris for his leadership and his department’s high standards."
Harris said the attention surrounding Forgey's resignation is embarrassing for the department, but he knows the department must be transparent.
"This is simply not the behavior our community expects. We can't hide behind mistakes like this," Harris said. "We don't enjoy our department having to go through this."
Harris said at this time the department has no plan to submit a case filing involving Forgey to the prosecutor's office.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached by email at jellison@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ellison_writes.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Felony and misdemeanor cases dismissed after West Lafayette officer resigns
