WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Former West Valley City Police Department officer Shaun Cowley has filed an appeal in response to his firing from the department.
Cowley was officially fired Tuesday; The Salt Lake County District Attorney said Cowley shot and killed Danielle Willard during a drug investigation last November, and the DA recently ruled the shooting was not justified.
The formal letter of appeal claims that Cowley is being made into a scapegoat for larger cases of misconduct at the department. The letter further asserts that Cowley was not given proper training when he was moved to the narcotics unit in 2010.
In a statement, Cowley’s attorney, Lindsay Jarvis, said, “At the time Detective Cowley was reassigned, the West Valley City Police Department failed to provide Detective Cowley with any sort of formal training related to undercover investigations, which is significantly different than patrol work.”
The Civil Service Commission will likely hold a hearing regarding the appeal.
