Inver Grove Heights police chief under investigation, put on leave

The police chief of an east metro suburb is on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate allegations against him.

Inver Grove Heights city officials are tight-lipped about the nature of the allegations against Police Chief Larry Stanger.

They first handed the case to Dakota County prosecutors for review. But Dakota County is planning to transfer the case to a different county to avoid a conflict of interest.

Joe Lynch, Inver Grove Heights' city administrator, said a separate, outside agency was initially conducting an investigation into the allegations.

Lynch declined to say whether it was a police department or a different type of agency. He learned about the allegations in February.

It's not yet known whether Chief Stanger is under a criminal or a civil investigation.

"We were not the agency responsible for any of the investigation," Lynch said. "We had to wait for those to be completed and a determination needed to be made as to where it needed to go."

Citing personnel privacy laws, Lynch said he couldn't disclose any more details while the case is under review. He said he doesn't know how long the investigation will take.

City officials also cited open meetings law when they decided to make their decision behind closed doors. State law allows public bodies to close meetings for preliminary consideration of allegations or charges against employees who report to them.

Joe Tamburino, a Minneapolis criminal defense attorney, said even top ranking officials are protected under the data practices act.

"A police chief or even someone who is a person who reads parking meters that's employed by the city, they're still an employee," he said.

Stanger has been with the department for 27 years and the chief for four years. He could not be reached for comment.