TEXAS COMMISSION ·oN

LAW ENFORCEMENT
Kim Vickers
Executive Director

July 15, 2020

Robert Chody
Sheriff, Williamson County Sheriffs Office
508 S. Rock Street
Georgetown, Texas 78626-5604

Re: TCOLE Investigations 20-05-1460 and 20-05-1525

Sheriff Robert Chody,

This letter is intended to inform you of the closing of the enforcement cases regarding several complaints
directed at the Williamson County Sheriffs Office, and Training Academy. The first complaint (TCOLE case#
20-05-1460) alleged your agency's training academy fraudulently reported an FTO training course that was
not properly taught by Williamson County Sheriffs Office Training Instructors. The second complaint (TCOLE
case# 20-06-1525) alleged Williamson County Lieutenant Gripentrog was asked to fraudulently report a Taser
course for Deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden, and also the Williamson County Sheriffs Office has
disregarded FSr's on ex-Austin Police Officers during background investigations.

As to the allegation regarding the FTO training course, Investigators found that Instructor Jason Johnston did
conduct the FTO training course with Deputy Trevone Johnson. While the course was conducted in a non-
traditional manner, Investigators found that Deputy Johnson did complete the FTO Certification course and
did retain the learning objectives from that training. Albeit, the TCOLE requirements for course instruction
were completed in a non-traditional manner, Investigators found that the current COVID-19 situation and
ambiguous orders by the executive staff of the Williamson County Sheriffs Office contributed to this course
being taken in an atypical fashion. This case been closed as "Unfounded".

As to the allegation Williamson County Lieutenant Gripentrog was asked to fraudulently report a Taser
course for Deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden. Investigators found that both Deputies Johnson and
Camden were certified for tasers while appointed at the Bastrop County Sheriffs office. Investigators found
Camden does not have any reported training on taser with Williamson County, and Johnson participated in a
taser update training on 11/12/19 (TCOLE roster 10880662) as an instructor. Investigators found nothing to
support the allegation in this complaint. This case has been closed as "Unfounded".

As to the allegations of the Williamson County Sheriffs Office disregarding FSr's on ex-Austin Police Officers.
Investigators found that FSr's were conducted on ex-Austin Police Officer as required. Investigator did find
that there were clear orders by Lt. Dutton via Commander Stephen Deaton to merely do the minimum checks
and that the background investigators' findings were not of concern because the officers were going to be
hired regardless. Hiring decisions are not in TCOLE's purview however, it is concerning that three (3)
background investigators stated the agency ignored past disciplinary issues of three (3) former Austin Police
Officers. No TCOLE violations were found. This case has been closed as "Unfounded".

Page 1 of 2

Phone : (512) 936-7700 Fax: (512) 9 36-7714 6330 E Highway 290 STE 200 Austin TX 78723-1035
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Kim Vickers
Executive Director

There were no TCOLE violations found in all three (3) allegations. This letter is intended to inform you of the
findings of our investigation and to provide a closing document to the enforcement case. No action will be
sought against your agency or your license.

, acerely, -1J4 r
o:fu ~aut, Captain
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
Enforcement Division

Page 2 of 2

Phone: (512) 936-7700 Fax: (5 l 2) 936-7714 6330 E Highway 290 STE 200 Austin TX 78723-1035
STATE OF TEXAS TCOLE Case Number: _20-05-1460_______
COUNTY OF _Williamson_________
AFFIDAVIT
Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared, Jason Michael Johnston, who after being duly
sworn, upon oath deposes and says: On 5/28/2020 I gave this statement to Sgt. David New and Sgt. Hillary Lyon. My date
of birth is and I live at My telephone number is . I am
employed with Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and my work address is 8160 Chandler RD, Hutto, TX.

I have been a police officer for approximately 11 years. Currently, I am employed by the Williamson County Sheriff’s
Office. I am an instructor at the Training Academy (DAWG). I have been a TCOLE certified instructor for 4 years and
obtained this when I worked at the Austin Police Department. I am certified with TCOLE as a firearms and driving
instructor. As an auxiliary duty I am also assigned to the SWAT team.

I am in charge of the Continuing Education for the Williamson County Sheriffs Office Training Division. In August of 2019
I took over the FTO program. I was tasked with rewriting the FTO policy or Standard Operating Procedure. I helped craft
what this program would look like moving forward. This turned into a designation of the FTO Training Coordinator.

I’ve taught two FTO classes since being assigned to this FTO training coordinator role. The first class I taught was in
November 2019 and it was a week-long FTO refresher course. The second a week-long course with Deputy Trevone
Johnson.

In the end of March, we were told that the training cadre was going to patrol to FTO an influx of new hires. Johnson
was the only one not certified as an FTO. On Thursday 4/23/20, Commander Bomer ordered us to certify Trevone
Johnson by the next Wednesday as an FTO because we were going back to the streets on that Wednesday. We explained
that this would be over a weekend and it was a one-student course and it would be difficult to accomplish. The order
stood.

I emailed Tre the power point for the course. We sat down with Deputy James Johnson and came up with a plan. Tre’s
COVID day was on Friday and mine was on Tuesday. We decided module 1 of the course would be on Friday and used
text and phone calls to communicate. Saturday would’ve been completing Module 1 and finishing Module 2. Sunday
Module 3 and Monday module 4. All communicating by phone and text. Tuesday we would complete the course.

On Friday 4/24/20, I talked to Trevone approximately 5-7 times and numerous text messages were exchanged.
Considering the history of this place and the unorthodox manner in which we had to train this course we knew that we
had to get the 8 hours of training each day. I trust Trevone and our calls and texts throughout the day illustrate the
amount of hours we worked on this course.

On Saturday 4/25/20, we talked on the phone and had him call me after he watched the videos and we discussed them
for two reasons. One was for the course itself and the other is because I wanted his input on the videos because he I

Time Concluded: 12:20 PM

I have been informed that under the penal code of the State of Texas, Section 37.02, a person commits the offense of perjury if,
with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning he or she makes a false statement under oath or swears to
the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath. I can
read, write and understand the English language. I have read this statement, consisting of ___2__ pages. It is true and correct to
the best of my knowledge and belief.

____________________________________________________ _________________________
Affiant Signature

___________________________________________________________________ PID #
Witnessed by a Peace Officer in and for the State of Texas
STATE OF TEXAS TCOLE Case Number: _20-05-1460_______
COUNTY OF _Williamson_________
respect his ability as an instructor.

Sunday 4/26/20 was handled the same way as the previous days. On Monday 4/27/20, we were back in the office
together. We completed the last slides of the presentation in my cubicle and in his. Additionally, we completed the
scenario-based portion of the course which consisted of discussions and reviewed Superion. We completed the full 8-
hours. On Tuesday 4/28/20, I was home and James Johnson ran through scenarios with Trevone Johnson because he
has been an FTO for a number of years. At the end of Tuesday, Tre was supposed to take the test on ClassMarker. He
could not log in. Trevone was able to take the test on 5/11/20. He passed.

I assume I completed the course paperwork and roster. I filled out my portion on Wednesday 4/29/20. I signed and
dated it on the day the class was completed. I assumed Trevone had taken the test on Class Marker and he hadn’t. On
5/11/20, I was going through Class Marker and saw that Trevone had not taken the test so I asked him to do it that
same day. We both knew we made a mistake and he hadn’t completed the test on the last day.

On 5/11/20 or 5/12/20, The Sheriff and Chief Deputy came out to the academy. They asked us about putting on an FTO
class for one person. They asked brief questions about how and why. This same Wednesday (5/13/20) we were
summoned to Chief Fikac’s Office and Chief Ryle was there. They told us there was a complaint and we had until Monday
to explain ourselves. We assumed it was about this specific course.

On Thursday 5/14 we were told that the interview with Chief Ryle would be on Friday 5/15. At this point I had no idea
where the complaint came from or why it was a big deal. We interviewed with Ryle and talked about the same thing
were talking about now.

The only reason we completed this course in this way was because of the tight time frame and our work schedules
having to work from home due to Covid.

Time Concluded: 12:20 PM

I have been informed that under the penal code of the State of Texas, Section 37.02, a person commits the offense of perjury if,
with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning he or she makes a false statement under oath or swears to
the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath. I can
read, write and understand the English language. I have read this statement, consisting of ___2__ pages. It is true and correct to
the best of my knowledge and belief.

____________________________________________________ _________________________
Affiant Signature

___________________________________________________________________ PID #
Witnessed by a Peace Officer in and for the State of Texas
STATE OF TEXAS TCOLE Case Number: _20-05-1460_______
COUNTY OF _Williamson_________
AFFIDAVIT
Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared, Trevone Johnson, who after being duly sworn,
upon oath deposes and says: On 5/28/2020 I gave this statement to Sgt. David New and Sgt. Hillary Lyon. My date of birth
is and I live at . My telephone number is I am employed
with Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and my work address is 8160 Chandler RD, Hutto, TX.

I have been a police officer for approximately 4 years. Currently, I am employed by the Williamson County Sheriff’s
Office. I am an instructor at the Training Academy (DAWG). I have been a TCOLE certified instructor for 8 months and
hold certifications as a firearm and driving instructor. As an auxiliary duty I am also assigned to the SWAT team.

In mid to late March all of us were in a meeting or group setting, Commander Bomer told us that we needed to become
certified FTO’s so we could assist patrol with FTO training. There were a lot of our personnel that were transferred to
CID and that left us with a void at FTO on patrol as well as Commander Bomer was expecting in influx of new hires and
at this point in time we are short on certified FTO’s. I volunteered to go through the training and I was the only one
who needed it inside the training academy. At the same time, they were trying to figure out how many on patrol wanted
to be FTO’s. Deputy Jason Johnston “Ginger” is very involved in the FTO program at WCSO. He developed the program
and policies. Deputy Jason Johnston also put together an email implementing a plan to get multiple FTO’s trained and
Certified, that was sent to Commander Bomer for further review.

I told Johnston I wanted to be in that class because I knew he was in charge of the program. About mid April I expressed
concerns to my chain of command about getting the class done because the Chain of command wanted us to speed up
and get the FTOs sooner. Sgt. Alafa and Lt. Luera received those directives and passed them to us. We were told in
another group setting on the 23rd of April that I needed to have this class and be done by the following Wednesday the
29th of April.

We asked Bomer how we were going to get this class done and she said we could do it sitting in the cubicles. It was only
going to be Johnston teaching me. COVID-19 quarantine was in place and nothing was going on and everything was on
hold. Johnston and I discussed how we would work from home and the weekend. That Friday the 24th of April was my
work from home day and Tuesday the 28th of April was his work from home day. The FTO class was a 4-module or Unit
of Objectives. We decided we would do each module on each day starting Friday. The last day would be Tuesday and
we would complete all that was needed.

On Day one 4/23/20, Johnston sent me the power point. I reviewed the power point Thursday evening and Friday
4/24/20 I sat in my home office and went the power point, Module one. We discussed the power point through
telephone calls. There were less than 10 phone calls and more than 2. I remember the first module being about teaching
methodology and was there all day, a full 8 hours.

Time Concluded: 10:50 AM

I have been informed that under the penal code of the State of Texas, Section 37.02, a person commits the offense of perjury if,
with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning he or she makes a false statement under oath or swears to
the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath. I can
read, write and understand the English language. I have read this statement, consisting of ___1__ pages. It is true and correct to
the best of my knowledge and belief.

____________________________________________________ _________________________
Affiant Signature Date

___________________________________________________________________ PID
Witnessed by a Peace Officer in and for the State of Texas
STATE OF TEXAS TCOLE Case Number: _20-05-1460_______
COUNTY OF _Williamson_________
On Saturday 4/25/20, I reviewed some of module one and completed module 2. This module was about counseling and
how it was not a drill-sergeant type of training. The only method of contact on Saturday was the same as Friday. There
were about 5 or 6 telephone calls. I took this training for a full 8 hours. He called my personal cell phone from his
personal cell phone.

On Sunday 4/26/20, was the same as the other days. It was also a full 8 hours on the documentation of the FTO program.
We discussed the different programs we use for documentation as well as reality-based training while in the FTO
program.

On Monday 4/27/20, we were both in the office at the training academy. We started going over the last module and
the days modules. We started in his cubicle and moved to mine after. We probably started around 8:30 and ended at
5:00pm. He showed my what Superian. Superian is how we document trainees by phase. Deputy James Johnson and
Sgt. Alafa was also here and saw us.

On Tuesday 4/28/20, was Jason Johnston’s COVID protocol work from home day. I completed a review of all the
material. Deputy James Johnson came into my cubicle and discussed scenarios I might encounter while being an FTO.
He discussed some of his experience as an FTO. This was also a full 8-hour day of training. I talked to Deputy Johnston
3 or 4 times this day by telephone. I was here at 8:30 to 5:00pm. I went to take the final test on ClassMarker but couldn’t
log in due to technical issues. James Johnson and Jason Johnston could not figure out how to get the system to work. I
ended up taking the test on Monday 5/11/20.

Either Monday 4/27/20 or Wednesday 4/29/20 Deputy Jason Johnston gave me a roster to complete. The course and
hours were filled out and I filled in my name, dob, and email address. I initialed my initials for each training day all at
once on one of those days. His information was not on the roster at that time and there were no signatures at the
bottom.

I heard through the grapevine that someone complained about this class and that together we “pencil whipped” the
course. There was an investigation done by my agency two weeks ago. Chief Fikac and Chief Ryle did an investigation.
On Friday 5/15/20, both Fikac and Ryle talked to me and asked the same questions youre asking now. I believe it was
in the morning before lunch.

I would like to add that because of COVID restrictions and the deadline to complete this course being accelerated, we
would have taught this class in a classroom and this wouldn’t even be an issue.

Time Concluded: 10:50 AM

I have been informed that under the penal code of the State of Texas, Section 37.02, a person commits the offense of perjury if,
with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning he or she makes a false statement under oath or swears to
the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath. I can
read, write and understand the English language. I have read this statement, consisting of ___1__ pages. It is true and correct to
the best of my knowledge and belief.

____________________________________________________ _________________________
Affiant Signature Date

___________________________________________________________________ PID #
Witnessed by a Peace Officer in and for the State of Texas
STATE OF TEXAS TCOLE Case Number: _20-05-1460_______
COUNTY OF _Williamson_________

Time Concluded: 10:50 AM

I have been informed that under the penal code of the State of Texas, Section 37.02, a person commits the offense of perjury if,
with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning he or she makes a false statement under oath or swears to
the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath. I can
read, write and understand the English language. I have read this statement, consisting of ___1__ pages. It is true and correct to
the best of my knowledge and belief.

____________________________________________________ _________________________
Affiant Signature Date

___________________________________________________________________ PID # _____________

Witnessed by a Peace Officer in and for the State of Texas
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
CASE INFORMATION

Case Number: 20-05-1460

Investigator: Sgt. David New

Offense: Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Rule, Title 37 Texas Administrative Code, and
§218.1 Continuing Education,

§218.1 Continuing Education Credit for Licensees.

and;

Chapter 1701 Texas Occupations Code Subchapter K. Disciplinary Procedures

§1701.501 Disciplinary Action

Licensee: Jason M. Johnston PID# (Deputy, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office), Trevone
M. Johnson PID# (Deputy, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office)

SUMMARY:

TCOLE received a complaint from a Williamson County Sheriffs Office Deputy that two deputies had
committed training fraud at the Deputy A.W. Grimes Training Academy between 4/24 - 4/28/20.
Investigation revealed no violations of TCOLE rule.

INVESTIGATION:

On 5/7/20, TCOLE ACE Malcolm Jackson received a phone call from a deputy at the WCSO stating he
thought two other deputies committed training fraud specifically, submitting a training roster for TCOLE
course #3702 – Field Training Officer (FTO). The instructor for this class reportedly had a day off on
Tuesday and weekends off normally. These dates fell on a weekend and the last day being on a Tuesday.
The complainant was later identified as Keith Wenzel (WCSO Deputy, commission date 2/21/20).

I pulled TCOLE training roster #10995438 from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. The course was
titled “Field Training Officer” and it was listed as a 40-hour course with a start date of 4/24/20 and an
end date of 4/28/20. Two students were listed:

• Jason M. Johnston PID

• Trevone M. Johnson PID

Page 1 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
On 5/21/20, at approximately 9:00am, Sgt Shane Norie and I met with Wenzel at the TCOLE offices. In
his recorded interview:

Wenzel stated he had been a police officer for approximately 42 years. He worked in the
Training Division at the Dallas Police Department and has taught all over the country with a
company called Caliber Press. He also has his own training company. Chief Doyer at WCSO called
him and asked him if he would come work for the WCSO at the academy. He interviewed with
Chief Fikac, Commander Bomer and Sgt Alafa. He was offered the job and accepted the position
in February 2020.

His chain of command at the Academy was Chief Fikac, Commander Bomer, Lt Luera, and his
direct supervisor, Sgt. Alafa. In mid-April, he overheard Commander Bomer telling the academy
staff that there was a good chance they would have to go back to patrol to train new hires and
act as an FTO and whoever needed the class to become an FTO should take the class and the
instructors needed to put one on. He said he went to Jason Johnston and told him that he used
to teach a class on how to be an FTO. After several weeks went by on May 1, 2020, he asked
another instructor named Gavin why they hadn’t put on the FTO class like the commander had
asked. Gauvin smiled and got up from his cubicle and walked over to Trevone Johnson’s cubicle
and says, “Let me find the certificate.” Although he couldn’t find the certificate on Trevone’s
desk, he said Jason Johnston nicknamed “Ginger,” passed out certificates. He wasn’t sure how
many certificates were passed out. Due to Gauvin’s behavior, Wenzel thought something was
wrong with the course. Wenzel explained that one day a week everyone works from home and
he knew that Ginger and he were working from home on Tuesdays. Their remaining work
schedule is a normal Monday through Friday with weekends off.

Wenzel was upset that he was not asked to help with teaching this course and wondered how
the course was taken considering the work from home days and the schedule. Out of curiosity
Wenzel waited a week and called FSA Jim Clifton with TCOLE and Clifton forwarded him to
Malcolm Jackson to check on this FTO course. Jackson told Wenzel to file a complaint with the
Enforcement Division of TCOLE.

We showed him a roster of the course we found dated 4/24 – 4/28/20. Jason Johnston was the
instructor and he was listed as receiving the 40-hours of training. We explained that by TCOLE
rule it was acceptable for an instructor to put himself on a roster of a course he/she teaches
once a training unit. He looked at the roster and saw the dates matched to 5 days. He explained
that “Ginger” would have been home on Tuesday and that there was no way he could’ve taught
the class from home. Wenzel was at work on Friday 4/24 and Monday 4/27 and did not see
them (Johnston and Johnson) having the class. This combined with Gauvin’s behavior was
suspicious to him.

The first person he went to with his concerns about the training was Chief Doyer on 5/11/20,
because of their past relationship. He did not trust his chain of command and had to cover
himself and had to tell someone. Doyer said he had to tell Sheriff Chody. Later, he got a call back
from Doyer. Within an hour of this return call, the Sheriff came to the academy and walked past
Wenzel and went to Lt. Luera’s office. Wenzel said he knew then that Lt. Luera knows from the
Sheriff that there was a problem.

Page 2 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
On Wednesday 5/13/20, a meeting was held at the training academy with the training staff. The
subject of this meeting was to discuss any issues and the proper way to handle issues by going
to your chain of command first. Lt. Luera went around the room asking if anyone had any
problems they wanted to bring forward. At some point, the Corrections Instructors were
dismissed with only the LE instructors remaining in the room. Jason “Ginger” Johnston looked
over at Wenzel and said, “we need to clear the air and asked why everyone felt they couldn’t
talk to you?” That caused them to openly discuss how they felt about each other and the office
environment. It was a productive meeting.

On Friday 5/15/20, Lt. Luera, Jason Johnston, and Trevone Johnson left the academy for a few
hours and when they returned seemed like they were in good spirits.

Wenzel stated on Monday 5/18/20, Wenzel was told he was being transferred to patrol to be
trained by an FTO. The two that were involved in the suspicious training were still working as
instructors at the academy. Later that day, he emailed Chief Fikac. Fikac transferred him to Chief
Ryle. Wenzel met with Ryle that same afternoon for approximately 2 hours. Ryle asked Wenzel
questions and took notes about his concerns and complaint that this course would be difficult to
complete remotely. Wenzel also made it clear in this meeting that he hoped his impending
transfer was not because of this complaint and Ryle became upset and demanded Wenzel not
question the integrity of the Sheriff’s office.

Wenzel referred to him being fired over this complaint. He explained that he knew there would
be repercussions for “doing the right thing” and was concerned about his professional well-
being. Interview ended at 10:35am.

Towards the end of his interview, I asked Wenzel to email me a copy of his journal and on 5/22/20, I
received a copy of Wenzel’s journal of events over the past few weeks. The journal matched his prior
statement except for the date that he met with Ryle.

Later, on 5/21/20, I met with Administrative Assistant Virginia Johnson at the WCSO training academy.
She provided me with the original roster dated 4/24/20 – 4/28/20 titled “Field Training Officer.” The two
students listed on the roster were Jason Johnston and Trevone Johnson. Both initialed for each day of
class in the morning and afternoon. It was signed by the instructor Jason Johnston (4/28/20) and the
Training Coordinator Mark Luera (5/6/20). Virginia Johnson submitted the roster to TCOLE on 5/6/20.
This was noted with an ink stamp and the roster number given by TCOLE: 10995438. She stated that she
stamps each roster with the date submitted to TCOLE and the she was the one who entered the roster
into TCLEDDS. She provided me with another roster where Jason Johnston taught a TASER course from
this time frame and the rosters format were the same. Signatures, student initials, and date stamp. I
took the originals and provided her with a Property and Evidence receipt which we both signed.

Virginia Johnson was also able to access the WCSO computer records and provided me with Deputy
Jason Johnston and Trevone Johnson’s timesheets for the time frame of 4/17/20 – 4/30/20. Both
Johnston and Johnson appeared to have weekends off and worked Monday thru Friday. I asked her to
provide me a list of when deputies worked from home and she said she did not have that list but knew
that Jason Johnston worked from home on Tuesdays. She was able to get a list from Lt. Luera and later
emailed it to me.

Page 3 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
A check of the dates listed for the course in question (Field Training Officer – 40 hours) showed:

4/24/20 – Friday: Trevone Johnson (student) work from home

4/25/20 – Saturday: Both off
4/26/20 – Sunday: Both off
4/27/20 – Monday: BOTH IN OFFICE
4/28/20 – Tuesday: Jason Johnston (instructor) work from home

On 5/22/20, I received a telephone call from Lt. Luera. He said that Chief Ryle had already done an
investigation into this issue and there was a summary sent to Sheriff Chody. I asked if I could have a
copy of this summary and he later emailed it to me.

In Chief Ryle’s audit dated 5/18/20, of course 3702-Field Training Officer taught by Deputy Jason
Johnston, Ryle stated he interviewed Lt. Luera, Sgt. Alafa, Dep. Jason Johnston, Dep. T. Johnson,
and Dep. J. Johnson. Ryle did not list that he spoke to Wenzel and Wenzel claimed there was a
“2-hour” interview with Ryle on this same day that Ryle wrote the summary of his audit. Ryle did
not state why he conducted the investigation. Presumably, he conducted the investigation
because of Wenzel’s complaint. Ryle’s summary stated the deputies were given a deadline and
because of the adjusted work schedules and COVID-19 protocols the deputies developed a plan
to work portions of the course remotely.

Chief Ryle listed areas of improvement and noted that deputies needed to be more
comprehensive in reporting their work/training hours because they tended to UNDER-REPORT
their hours and their dedication should be lauded but could be problematic for work rules and
wages. The other issues dealt with their testing software Class Marker and the issuance of a
certificate prior to completing the test.

Ryle’s summary conflicted with Wenzel’s complaint. Wenzel complained that the class did not exist
while Ryle stated the Deputies tended to under-report their hours. Due to the subject of his “audit,” this
statement by Ryle suggested they completed more than 40 hours of training.

On 5/28/20, Sgt. Lyon and I met with Deputy Trevone Johnson (Student) at the Williamson County
Training Academy. The following is a summary of his sworn statement:

Johnson said he is an instructor at the DAWG and an auxiliary SWAT team member. In mid-April
Commander Bomer had a meeting and told the training staff they would be going back to patrol
to act as FTO’s and that everyone needed to be certified FTOs. He (Trevone) was the only one
that wasn’t certified, and he asked Deputy Jason “Ginger” Johnston to be in that class.

Suddenly, on April 23rd, 2020, they were told by Bomer, Luera, and Alafa that he (Trevone)
needed to have the training and certification by the following Wednesday April 29th, 2020.
Bomer told them they could complete the training in their cubicles. Trevone and Johnston tried
to figure out a way to complete the training over a weekend and their work at home COVID
protocols. They decided that Deputy James Johnson would assist Johnston and they would
provide Trevone Johnston a copy of the power point and he would go through each
section/module each day and they would speak on the phone after to discuss the lesson.

Page 4 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
Trevone explained what he did each day and could recall from memory the learning objectives
from each day (reciting learning objectives in order). Trevone said Day 2 (Saturday) was also a
full 8-hour day and there were between 5-6 phone calls to discuss the training. The calls were
made from his personal cell phone and Jason Johnston’s personal cell phone. Day 3 (Sunday)
was much the same as the other days and a full 8 hours. On Monday, Day 4 (4/27/20), they were
both in the office together and they discussed the previous days training and reviewed Superian,
their documentation software. Deputy James Johnson and Sgt. Alafa witnessed them moving
back and forth between their two cubicles. They trained from 8:30am to 5:00pm. On Tuesday
(final day), Deputy James Johnson assisted Trevone Johnson by discussing scenarios. At the end
of the day he attempted to log on to WCSO testing software and could not for some technical
reasons. Deputy Johnston and James Johnson also attempted to log on but couldn’t.

On either Monday 4/27/20 or Wednesday 4/29/20 they completed a class roster and he filled in
his name and initialed next to each day for morning and afternoon attendance. The roster was
blank when he received and filled it out. There were no signatures at the bottom of the roster.

On 5/11/20, Trevone Johnson logged into WCSO testing software and completed the final exam
for the 40-hour FTO course.

On Friday, 5/15/20, Chief Ryle and Chief Fikac interviewed him in reference to this class because
there was a complaint that they “pencil-whipped” the training. They asked similar questions to
what we (TCOLE) were asking now.

Johnston stated at the end of the interview because of COVID restrictions and the deadline to
complete this course being accelerated, they would have taught this class in a classroom and
this wouldn’t even be an issue.

On 5/28/20, Sgt. Lyon and I met with Deputy Jason Johnston (Instructor) at the Williamson County
Training Academy. The following is a summary of his sworn statement:

Jason “Ginger” Johnston is an instructor at the Williamson County Training Academy (DAWG).
He is a TCOLE certified instructor and an auxiliary member of the SWAT team. He is also in
charge of the continuing education component of the academy and the FTO program and has
been designated as the “FTO training coordinator.” He has taught two FTO courses, one being a
refresher course for incumbent FTO’s and the course in question today, the week-long course
with Trevone Johnson.

He recalled the end of March when his commander (Bomer) told the training cadre they would
be going back to patrol to FTO new hires. Deputy Trevone Johnson was not certified and needed
to be. On Thursday 4/23/20, they were told by Bomer to get Trevone certified as an FTO by
Wednesday of next week (4/29/20). He stated they informed the chain of command that there
was a weekend in between and that the one student class would be difficult to accomplish
however the order stood. He said he and Deputy James Johnson came up with a plan to teach
Trevone Johnston the course with the COVID protocols in place. They decided to complete one
module per day.

Page 5 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION

On day 1, Tuesday 4/24/20 they spoke 5-7 times through phone calls and texts and completed 8
hours of training. On Saturday 4/25/20, Johnston had Trevone call him after each of the videos
he watched to discuss the material. Sunday continued the same way. On Monday, they
(Johnston and Johnson) were in the office together and they reviewed videos, the previous days,
and the reporting software and they worked a full 8 hours. On Tuesday, Deputy James Johnson
and Trevone worked through scenarios. Trevone attempted to login into their testing software
and was unable to log in. On May 11, 2020 he logged in and took the test and passed.

Jason Johnston said he filled out a class roster for this course on 4/29/20 but dated it on the last
day of the course. Johnston said he assumed Trevone had completed the test and looked
through ClassMarker (testing software) on 5/11/20 and realized that Trevone had not
completed the course. He said he asked Trevone to take the test that day and both knew they
had made a mistake.

On 5/11 or 5/12/20, the sheriff and Chief Deputy came out to the academy and asked them
about this course. On 5/15/20, they met with Chief Ryle again and discussed this one-person
course. He assumed there was a complaint but didn’t know where it came from or why it was a
big deal.

He also stated the only reason we completed this course in this way was because of the tight
time frame and our work schedules having to work from home due to Covid.

At the end of his interview, I asked Johnston what was the emergency that caused this course to be
taught in this way. He said he didn’t know and that this decision was above his rank. He also said he
went to Sgt. Alafa and Lt. Luera with his concerns about training one student in this manner and that a
one-person class was not optimal for this very reason and that he didn’t like having to do this training.
Johnston said he would never do it again in the future. I asked why he wasn’t on patrol currently acting
as an FTO with the emergency of getting Trevone trained and certified. He said he could not answer that
either and was visibly frustrated as if he wanted to know the answer to that question as well. Despite his
objections as the FTO Coordinator and then having to be questioned and then ultimately not going to
patrol as an FTO when that was the reason given to him for the rush training.

On 6/3/20 at approximately 8:20am, I called Lt. Luera and asked him for the numbers of Commander
Bomer, Chief Fikac, and to ask Deputies Jason Johnston and Trevone Johnson if they would provide their
cell phone call logs for the month of April in order to coo berate their statements of their time training
remotely. He said he would email me the contact information and ask the Deputies if they would
provide their phone logs. Later this same day, Luera called back and said he spoke to Deputies Johnston
and Johnson and they agreed they would provide the call logs for the month of April 2020 however, they
used their personal phones for the conversations and wanted to redact any personal numbers. I agreed
this would be acceptable and that I merely wanted to corroborate their sworn statements that they
made calls to each other and discussed the training.

Page 6 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
On 6/4/20, I received a telephone call from Captain Skolaut stating the two deputies had hired an
attorney and that she (Nadia Stewart) called TCOLE HQ wanting to speak to me reference this
investigation.

On 6/10/20, I spoke to Jason Johnston and Trevone Johnson’s attorney, Nadia Stewart. We discussed
the reason for my asking for the phone logs and she said she would speak to her clients and provide the
redacted logs to corroborate the training in question.

On 6/11/20, Sgt. Lyon and I interviewed Commander Kelli Bomer. She is the commander over training
and was assigned to that position in September of 2019:

Bomer stated a cadet class at the academy started in March of 2020. She said several cadets had
a fever and the decision to suspend the cadet class was made by the Sheriff due to concerns
over the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a meeting with executive staff about the issue on
March 18, 2020.

On April 6, 2020, her direct supervisor Chief Fikac asked her about the instructors at the
academy and wanted to know if they were certified Field Training Officers (FTO’s). The thinking
was that if they weren’t teaching because the academy was shut down that they could act as
FTO’s on patrol for new hires. Apparently, patrol had been complaining they were short FTO’s
and needed help. She was tasked to ensure the training academy instructors were certified as
FTO’s to assist.

Bomer claimed she contacted Lt. Luera in early April and told him of the plan to send the
instructors back to patrol and act as FTO’s however, all had to be certified first and that whoever
needed the certification needed to complete that course in order to be ready for the Chief’s
order to send the instructors back. She said she followed up with Luera a “couple of weeks
later” and he notified her that all are certified but Trevone Johnson. She claims she told him to
get it done. Luera agreed but was also out sick with some medical issues off and on for a month.

She said she didn’t think Luera didn’t relay the information to the guys because she was out at
the academy some time after and brought up the FTO certification course. She told the guys
that it needed to get done because it was still going to happen. She said the next week she
checked with Luera again because he was back at work and asked if it was done. Luera said it
hasn’t been done yet. She was frustrated because she asked him several times. She went back
to the academy a few days later with a list of tasks for them to complete and this FTO
certification was one of them. She told Luera and Sgt. Alafa the Chief was asking why this hasn’t
been done. Alafa explained to her it had been completed and Luera didn’t know that they had
completed the class. Presumably because Luera was off for extended periods of time due to the
medical issues.

Bomer said she didn’t even think about how the class was completed because it was a
Wednesday and just figured they would complete the class during the weekdays. She knew that
TCOLE only required 24 hours and not 40 hours and her intention was for them to get certified
and just complete the task. She knew that Tre Johnson was the only one who needed the
certification and they could hold the class in their cubicles because it was just the two of them.

Page 7 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
We asked her what the emergency was to complete the class so quickly and she said she started
telling Luera a month before to get this done and that the emergency was not on her end, that it
was on Luera’s end. Meaning that she thought Luera had not done what she asked, and she
asked him to get it done three different times. When the Chief asked her about the status one
final time, she was frustrated and wanted it done. Then she gave them a deadline of a week to
do a 24-hour course.

Commander Bomer said this was a miscommunication and they probably thought it was an
emergency. She also said that she did not hear about Jason Johnston’s concern of teaching a
one-person course.

At the end of the interview and after the recording was stopped, she said she did not know that
the class was done remotely until afterwards when she heard there was a complaint.

On 6/11/20 at 10:30am, Sgt. Lyon and I interviewed Chief Roy Fikac. Fikac is the Chief over training:

We explained the complaint and Bomer’s recollection of events. He explained the number of
FTO’s he was allotted and the influx of new hires. He ordered Bomer to have all the instructors
certified as FTO’s to go back to patrol and assist because of the staffing shortage and that they
weren’t training at the academy because of the COVID-19 concerns. He said he wasn’t sure who
all needed the certification just that he wanted this done to utilize the resource to assist patrol.

He said he followed up with Bomer several times about this and learned they had not completed
the task. He felt that Bomer did not vocalize the importance of the order. In other words, this
was more important and urgent to him than it was to her. He said he did not know if seven
people needed this certification and from his perspective it needed to get done. He thought that
Bomer was being subversive and wondered why it wasn’t being completed. In turn, Bomer
applied pressure to the training staff. There was no deadline given but this discussion and order
had been going on for 6 weeks.

Fikac felt that the reason this was an emergency was because they were in “trouble” with
Bomer and the reason it wasn’t done when asked the first time was because only one person
needed the certification course. He said he believed that the training happened and questioned
if they got permission to complete the course outside of the classroom. Their reply was that
Commander Bomer told them she didn’t care how it got done, just to get it done.

He said after their (Chief Ryle and Chief Fikac) investigation into this course, he wrote a memo
referencing areas of improvement. He did not know that the training was completed remotely.

On 6/11/20 at 1:00pm, Sgt. Lyon and I met Lt. Mark Luera at the Williamson County Training Academy
(DAWG):

Luera is the TCOLE Training Coordinator for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. We showed
Luera a calendar and he told us he was off most of April with medical issues. The first he heard
about having to put on the FTO class and get his instructors certified was on April 15, 2020. He
heard from Commander Bomer they (instructors) would be going to patrol to be FTO’s. He

Page 8 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
clarified that he received an email from Sgt. Alafa per Commander Bomer. He spoke to Bomer
and told her that the only person who hadn’t been certified as an FTO is Trevone Johnson. He
told her that they couldn’t get to it right away because they had something going on but that
they would do it the next week. At some point between this time (4/15) and the (4/24) class,
Sgt. Alafa said that the course wasn’t needed and that they would be on “stand-by.” Luera said
he understood that Commander Bomer relayed this to Alafa. Trevone Johnson told Luera that
Bomer told him he wouldn’t have to do the FTO certification after all. They didn’t worry about it
because everyone else was already certified. On 4/22, Sgt. Alafa told Luera the class was back on
and they had to get it done by the middle of the next week. Luera remembered asking Alafa
what did Bomer suggest about the weekend and she said just get it done and it doesn’t matter
how you get it done.

According to Luera, they thought it was on, off and then suddenly back on again. Luera didn’t
know the course was done remotely until he got back into the office. He said in retrospect this
was not a concern and that his only concern was that Bomer wanted them to do a 24-hour class
for Trevone and that Jason Johnston wanted to do a full 40-hour class per policy. He recalled
recommending to Bomer that Trevone stay back because he was not a certified FTO and they
did not have enough time to complete the course as they wanted. Bomer said she wanted
everyone certified. He also remembered Jason Johnston coming to him saying he was
uncomfortable with teaching a one-person class and that he told Bomer about this concern.

Luera said he told Johnston to complete the full 40-hour class based upon his recommendation.
He first learned of the complaint shortly after the course was completed and he was still off sick.
Chief Ryle completed an investigation of this specific course and he later read Ryle’s summary.
He did not know Fikac wrote a summary as well.

He remembered when he got back Bomer asked him if the class had been done and he said he
didn’t believe it had. Alafa corrected him and said that the class had indeed been completed and
they started the class the next day after she said it had to be done (4/22) by the following
Wednesday (4/29).

Prior to all of this, the academy staff was already working on an FTO class with Commander Nick
Wright. Wright also works for Fikac. The reason it wasn’t completed then was because of lack of
interest and qualification. Bomer wanted the academy staff to be FTO’s while at the same time,
they were trying to get a class together for the certification of FTO’s with the patrol commander.

Luera said there was a lack of communication between the executive staff and the instructors.
He cited the indoctrination (“INDOC”) class for new hires. He explained that they needed to put
an Indoc course on for the new hires and the decision was made to forego that training, put
them on the streets, and then they could come back for the Indoc training at a later date. He
was asked later why someone hadn’t been taser certified and he had to tell them that they
rushed people through, and the new hires didn’t have to train. He was frustrated at the “rush”
mentality. Training hours are cut or just outright skipped.

Luera could not understand the rush to get Trevone certified as an FTO. He said he contacted a
patrol Sergeant and they spoke about FTOs. The patrol Sergeant said he didn’t understand

Page 9 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
either because they had enough FTO’s on the street. He said currently the only one of his staff
that is on patrol acting as an FTO is Deputy James Johnson and the only reason he is out there is
because they wanted someone out there because of this complaint.

In March, after the academy was suspended Luera called TCOLE ACE Malcolm Jackson and asked
how they could continue the academy virtually. He spoke to Jackson on March 16, 2020. Jackson
told him how they could accomplish this task by use of Microsoft TEAMS. I asked why his
instructors didn’t use TEAMS to complete the FTO training and he said he believed they didn’t
even think about it at the time.

Luera thought their biggest issue was that they did not have a member of executive staff (I.e.
Commander) imbedded with them at the academy to explain the needs of executive staff and
the capabilities of the academy.

On 6/11/20 at approximately 2:00pm, Sgt. Lyon and I interviewed Sgt. Roel Alafa:

Alafa became Sergeant of the training academy in January 2020. We explained the reason for
our interview. We asked if he remembered the first mention of the instructors at the academy
becoming FTO’s and not having an FTO class for patrol officers. He said he first heard about this
sometime in March from Commander Bomer in a meeting at the DAWG. He thought it was
around the time of the cadet class that began on March 16, 2020. In April, she asked again about
the class. He remembered telling her about their schedule and she said that she wanted it done
by the next week because they were supposed to go out to patrol. He said he called Luera and
told him of the urgent training. Luera said he didn’t know what he was talking about. Alafa
remembered Bomer saying that he would be Sergeant to his guys on patrol and they would
report to him and not the patrol sergeant. He also recalled her saying that they had to get the
training done by the next week because they were all going to patrol on Wednesday (4/29).

Alafa did explain to Bomer that this course would only be one person, Tre Johnson. Bomer
replied, I don’t care if you guys sit there and do it right there in the cubicle, just get it done.
Alafa remembered seeing them in the cubicle working on this course on Monday (4/27).

Alafa said the reason for the rush was because Bomer said they were short FTO’s on patrol. He
said they suggested having an “INDOC” class at the academy thus freeing up some FTO’s. He did
not elaborate on her response.

We discussed why they didn’t do the training in March when she first brought it up in the
meeting at the DAWG. He said Bomer wasn’t very clear in March, but she was very clear in April.

On 6/11/20, I was able to review Jason Johnston’s cell phone records. He said the majority of their
communications for this course was done by the use of 3-way calling and that Deputy James Johnson
initiated these calls. On 6/17/20, I met with Trevone Johnson and reviewed his cell phone records.

Page 10 of 11
 TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
There were 12 phone calls made from James Johnson to Jason Johnston during these days with no
communication on Sunday 4/26/20 and Tuesday 4/29. There were 13 phone calls made to and from
Trevone Johnson to James Johnson during the dates of Thursday 4/23, Saturday 4/25, Sunday 4/26, and
Monday 4/27.

CONCLUSION:

The Field Training Officer certification course on 4/24 - 4/28/20, roster # 10995438 was taken by Deputy
Trevone Johnson and Deputy Jason Johnston assisted in the administration of the course. Trevone
Johnson was able to recite the learning objectives and his cell phone records, combined with Jason
Johnston’s cell phone records support their sworn statements given on 5/28/20. Jason Johnston is a
TCOLE certified instructor and is allowed, by rule, to earn credit for courses taught once per training
unit.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of this complaint and an internal investigation
was completed by Chief Ryle and Chief Fikac. Both noted there were areas the training academy staff
could improve on however, neither mentioned the unconventional method of instruction. Commander
Bomer’s order to complete the course in the short time frame stood despite Deputy Jason Johnston’s
stated concern that this was not the optimal way in which he would normally administer/teach the
course.

Albeit, the TCOLE requirements for course instruction were completed in a non-traditional manner,
Deputy T. Johnson completed the FTO Certification course. The executive staff of the Williamson County
Sheriff’s Office ambiguous orders contributed to this course being taken in an atypical fashion.

Investigation Completed/ UNFOUNDED…DBN

Page 11 of 11