An arbitrator has ruled in favor of a former Youngstown police officer accused of dereliction of duty.

Former Lieutenant and Officer In Charge of YPD's Family Investigative Unit Brian Flynn was terminated in December of 2022 after being accused of not investigating over a dozen cases of child sexual abuse or child pornography.

Dereliction of duty charges against him were dismissed in June of 2023.

According to the ruling, Flynn's termination was not justified because there was no written policy or agreement in place between YPD and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to investigate email tips.

The arbitrator goes on to state that those email tips went to Flynn's junk email folder and as such were considered to be a threat to the citywide computer system and that Flynn thought the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) and the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force were supposed to handle the investigation.

Additionally, the arbitrator states that other officers did not get disciplined despite also not responding to these emails and that YPD did not have the necessary equipment and space required by the ICAC operations manual to investigate those cases.

The City of Youngstown felt the firing was justified because Flynn “was aware of these Rules and as a senior ranking officer was also responsible for enforcing them with his subordinates.” The city also states during an internal investigation they found that others who worked with Flynn “... were directed by [Flynn] not to follow up on the tips.”

The arbitrator partially agreed with the city stating Flynn's actions are not justified and “he clearly made incorrect assumptions and his reliance on those assumptions resulted in his violation of the cited YPD rules.” However, the arbitrator demanded that Flynn be rehired by YPD with his seniority and benefits intact and award him all backpay with interest minus any payment he had received from any jobs following his termination.

Flynn began his employment with the Poland Village Police Department in September of 2023.

The City of Youngstown will be appealing this ruling.

You can read more about Flynn's termination and him being acquitted of all criminal charges against him in our related coverage below.

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