INDIANAPOLIS (April 16, 2014) — The administrator of Indianapolis Animal Care and Control is in trouble again, less than two months after serving a two-day suspension for tipping off local animal rescues and businesses of a multi-agency sweep.
The Department of Public Safety tells FOX59 Dan Shackle was suspended in mid-March because of an internal personnel issue. We also found out two top IACC investigators were let go shortly after Shackle’s first suspension in January.
Public safety officials say Deputy Chief Marcus Brown and Tony Laucevicius, a field investigator, were both fired because of a similar issue.
City documents show Laucevicius was terminated for his aggressive behavior. Employees filed a complaint over one incident where he threw a coffee mug across a supervisor’s office.
“[It was] just an argument or disagreement with an employee and [he] maybe threw a coffee cup,” said Valerie Washington, Indianapolis public safety deputy director. “[The incident] was what we would have considered an aggravated assault. It was behavior that was not tolerated.”
Laucevicius told FOX59 that was not the case at all. He blames other employees for creating a hostile work environment. It’s a culture, he said, that needs to change.
Washington was unable to go into details citing human resources policy. However, She tells FOX59 tensions between personnel at IACC are behind disciplinary actions against several employees.
“It was a little bit difficult to deal with but I think, as an administration, we are just being a lot more aggressive and handing down corrective actions,” said Washington. “You’re probably going to see a lot more discipline coming from IACC and IMPD. We just take it more seriously.”
Washington said officials are in the process of finding replacements for the two positions. Personnel have filled-in in the meantime.
