OACP Fires Its Executive Director

The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, which made no secret of its opposition to concealed carry legislation before the Ohio General Assembly, and more recently made headlines over allegations that it improperly received millions of dollars in Homeland Security grants, has fired its executive director.

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting Todd Wurschmidt didn't tell his board about a mounting financial crisis and wrongly included federal Homeland Security grants in its budget. The 12-member board voted Friday to fire Wurschmidt and reduce the pay of remaining staff members by at least 21 percent to remain solvent. Wurschmidt, who was paid $476,000 in 2006, had a contract through 2015.

It gets worse.

The Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) has said that the association misspent at least $180,000 in terrorism money in 2005 on lawn care, window washing, pest control and other expenses at the association's Riverside Drive offices in suburban Dublin. Others, including Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, have questioned whether the association could legally receive the federal money because it is not a government agency. Altogether, OACP has received $21 million in Homeland Security monies. An unfinished computer system under development by the association has now been taken over by the Ohio AG's office.

This is the latest news in an investigation that began last year.

As long as OACP is busy getting its house in order, perhaps it will quit interfering with the passage of future citizen safety legislation. It has a real credibility problem.