Lexington police officer resigns amid misconduct investigation

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington police officer has resigned following an extensive internal investigation that uncovered numerous policy violations, including unauthorized trips to his residence while on duty, delayed response times, and repeated deactivation of his body-worn camera. Officer Ronald Sims, who had been with the department since 2020, faced allegations of misconduct that raised serious concerns about public safety and departmental integrity.

The investigation, conducted by the Lexington Police Department’s Public Integrity Unit (PIU), detailed several instances where Officer Sims left his assigned East Sector during shifts without supervisory approval. His unauthorized absences often left his patrol area without adequate police coverage, potentially endangering both his fellow officers and the public.

Chief Lawrence B. Weathers initiated the investigation after East Sector supervisors expressed concerns about Sims’ conduct in late January 2024. Supervisors observed that Sims frequently left his sector to go to his residence, failed to back up other officers on calls, took excessive time to respond to calls, and spent extended periods completing reports, according to the PIU investigative report.

The PIU’s investigation found that Sims had turned off his body-worn camera for more than an hour on 19 occasions since August 2023. In three instances, the camera was deactivated for over two or three hours. MDC data confirmed that during some of these periods, Sims was at his residence in West Sector. There were no technical issues reported with the camera, and Sims did not notify supervisors of the deactivations as required by department policy.

In one notable instance, on January 30, 2024, Sims’ body-worn camera was off for over two hours. On January 31, 2024, it was deactivated for more than three hours. MDC data indicated he was at home during these times. Additionally, on December 6, 2023, his camera was turned off for over three hours, according to the PIU investigative report.

Sims also faced scrutiny for his delayed response times. On August 17, 2023, it took him over an hour to arrive at a collision on I-75, by which time the vehicle involved had left. On January 12, 2024, Sims spent two hours and 28 minutes on a missing person call, significantly longer than necessary, according to the PIU investigative report.

Moreover, Sims was documented spending excessive time on calls without justification. On January 24, 2024, he spent over three hours on a disorder call that was quickly resolved. On January 3, 2024, he spent over two hours on a robbery call without completing any paperwork, according to the PIU investigative report. On December 28, 2023, he took over three hours to respond to a collision at Nicholasville Road and Wilhite Drive, despite another officer completing the report.

Sims admitted to using his meal breaks to go home and occasionally finish reports in his driveway. He claimed his body-worn camera deactivations were due to misunderstandings of policy and poor judgment rather than intentional deception, according to the PIU investigative report.

The investigation concluded that Sims’ actions violated several key policies, including proper use of body-worn cameras, adherence to patrol operational orders, and general misconduct rules. His actions were determined to have undermined the integrity and efficiency of the Lexington Police Department Police Chief Lawrence B Weathers recommended termination based on the investigation’s results.

In light of the findings, Sims resigned from the department effective June 24, 2024.