Former Glynn County, Georgia Police Chief Scott Ebner, now a finalist for the Honolulu chief job, has been under investigation for months over allegations of inappropriate behavior with a subordinate but apparently failed to mention that to a hiring consultant who recommended him as a top candidate for the Honolulu job.

When asked directly about the ongoing investigation last week by Civil Beat, Ebner professed not to know anything about it and denied he was under investigation.

“That’s not the case,” he said. 

Civil Beat confirmed a complaint was filed in early August against Ebner alleging inappropriate conduct between him and Stephanie Oliver, an assistant chief, who he had promoted. Civil Beat also confirmed an independent investigator was hired by Glynn County a month later and that both Ebner and Oliver were notified of the complaint and investigation, which is still open.

Ebner resigned as chief and public safety director in December, about four months after the complaint was filed and less than two years after he had taken the top role at the Glynn County Police Department. In a Dec. 22 press release, county officials said he was moving into a transitional role to “support continuity of operations and leadership planning” at the end of that month. He is set to leave that position on June 30.

Ebner has said he left the chief job simply because it was time to move on. He had his eye on the chief job in Honolulu by then and knew a search would be starting soon. During his interview with Civil Beat he pointed to a glowing letter of recommendation from the Glynn County Board of Commissioners and asked why the board would write such a letter if he had left under a cloud of suspicion.

Oliver did not respond to messages left seeking comment. An email sent to her police department email address bounced back.

The allegations were first made public in Georgia on a local news organization’s Facebook page in December.

However, Honolulu Police Commission Chair Laurie Foster said commission members did not know about the allegation against Ebner before selecting him as a finalist. Now that they are aware of it, she said they are investigating, adding that commissioners are doing deep background research on all three of the finalists. 

“We’re looking into all sorts of rumors, and they come up every day,” she said. “And we continue to investigate rumors and allegations that come up.” 

Screened By Consultant

Ebner, who was also a finalist for the chief position in 2022, was named as a finalist last week by the Police Commission, along with David Lazar, a retired assistant chief from San Francisco, and Mike Lambert, director of Hawaiʻi’s Department of Law Enforcement. 

Before advancing, Ebner was interviewed and screened by the executive search firm, Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc., which specializes in law enforcement executive hiring. The city is paying the company $121,900 to conduct the chief search.

When asked if she thought the consultant should have uncovered the allegation about Ebner’s investigation and warned the commission, Foster said she didn’t know yet.

“I’m not going to respond to that right now,” she said.

Starting with a pool of more than 40 candidates put forward by the consulting firm in April, the commission chose six semifinalists, who were interviewed by four panels of stakeholders, including top city and state officials, first responders and community organization leaders.

Based on the results of those interviews, commissioners then advanced Ebner, Lazar and Lambert, who have been making the rounds of media outlets for in-person interviews and were interviewed on a PBS program on Thursday evening.

They are scheduled to meet privately this week with Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who wants input into who becomes chief, followed by closed-door interviews with only two police commissioners at a time. If more than two commissioners participated in each interview, the meetings would have to be open to the public under Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law.

On Wednesday, the full commission is scheduled to hold a public session with each finalist, then decide later in the meeting who will get the job.

‘I’ve Never Been Disciplined’

The Glynn County Board of Commissioners did not mention an investigation or any allegations of misconduct when it announced Ebner was leaving the chief’s job in December. The press release contains quotes from commissioners praising Ebner’s leadership and his achievements as chief, including improving staffing levels by 25%, implementing salary increases for personnel and championing technological improvements in the department. 

“On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I want to thank Chief Ebner for his dedication to Glynn County,” commission Chairman Walter Rafolski said, according to the press release. “His work to elevate public safety standards and support the men and women who serve our community every day is sincerely appreciated.”

Rafolski did not respond to a call seeking comment. Other commissioners either declined to comment or did not respond. 

During his interview with Civil Beat, Ebner said if an investigation had been opened into him prior to his departure from Glynn County, he wasn’t aware of it.

“Unless something’s happened that I don’t know about, which is always possible,” Ebner said at the end of the interview.

Civil Beat confirmed that Ebner was notified of the complaint and investigation several months before he left the police department and that an outside investigator hired by the county had begun conducting interviews.

Asked specifically about the allegations that he was having an affair with a subordinate, Ebner replied: “You’re always going to have people that file allegations … And then, like I said, if I had done anything wrong, I don’t think they would have let me leave or continue to pay me until June.”

He pulled the letter of recommendation from the Glynn County Board of Commissioners and signed by Rafolski out of his briefcase and gave it to a reporter.

“That’s who I work for, directly,” he said. “That’s what they gave me when I left.” 

His recommendation letter also is from Rafolski and covers some of the same ground as the press release. It says the county saw improvements in public safety and emergency preparedness under Ebner’s leadership. 

“Mr. Ebner has raised public safety standards in Glynn County through his dedication, integrity and commitment to excellence,” Rafolski says in the letter. “I give my highest recommendation and I’m confident he will excel in future roles.” 

The letter says Ebner improved staffing, got strategic grants for the department, built public trust and prioritized transparency. The department also achieved state police certification, established an Office of Professional Standards and Accountability and acquired new technology and modern equipment under his leadership, it says. 

“I’ve never been disciplined, I’ve never been verbally counseled or written a reprimand, I never had to be retrained or go over a policy because I did something wrong,” Ebner told Civil Beat. “And that’s kind of an anomaly with almost 35 years of law enforcement. That’s how seriously I take my job.”

County spokeswoman Brittany Dozier did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.