This isn't the first problems the New Vienna PD has had problems either. A very bad track record to say the least.
By Michael D. Clark, Post staff reporter
NEW VIENNA, Ohio - Residents in this peaceful Clinton County village are hungry for a little law to go with their order.
Their top law enforcement official, police Chief Diana Peck, spent the weekend in jail accused of obstructing justice during a bank robbery.
She is the village's third police chief in about two years. Both predecessors left office under a cloud.
In 1996 the town had remove of a police chief who forgot to mention a prior felony conviction on his record. The conviction meant he could not carry a gun.
And earlier that year, the previous New Vienna police chief was arrested for stealing government property. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of probation prior to resigning from office.
Chief Peck, in office for a little more than a year, was indicted and arrested last week after being charged with two counts of obstructing justice and one count of dereliction of duty.
The charges arise from her handling of a Jan. 20 armed robbery of the National Bank and Trust Co. branch in the village of 932.
''I'm tired of it all,'' said village resident Kathy Scheiding. ''We're the laughing stock of the whole county. I've never seen anything like this before. I'd like to get her out of here and get a good police chief.''
Chief Peck is on 60 days paid leave from her job as the village's top cop as she awaits her trial.
''She is just getting away with a paid vacation,'' complained Ms. Scheiding.
Chief Peck, who was unavailable to comment, made her $5,000 bond earlier this week and was released.
The village council split 4-3 when it backed Chief Peck in a vote of confidence. New Vienna Mayor Ed Brown cast the tie breaker.
Brown was instrumental in hiring Chief Peck and the two previous village police chiefs. He did not return calls for comment.
Ralph Milburn, owner of Ralph's Pizza at the main intersection of the small village more than an hour's drive northeast of Cincinnati, said the police chief is getting what she deserved.
''She is not a good police officer. She is sloppy in her work,'' said Milburn, a long-time resident and business owner.
Clinton County sheriff officials, who are investigating Chief Peck's handling of the Jan. 20 bank robbery - the first in New Vienna in 66 years - called her ''arrogant.''
''She feels like she is the chief and doesn't need any assistance from county deputies,'' said a county sheriff official who requested anonymity.
''We've tried to get her to cooperate with us,'' said the police official.
Chief Peck is accused of hindering the arrest and prosecution of Dan Edward Marcum, 49, of Hillsboro, who has been charged in connection with the bank robbery.
County sheriff officials said Chief Peck refused to call in county deputies for assistance during the robbery and afterwards, gave false information regarding the robbery. She reportedly spoke to Marcum at the New Vienna Police Station minutes before the crime. She had evidence that the suspect was going to rob the village bank branch but didn't act on it, said police officials.
Another resident, who declined to be named because she feared harassment from village police, said ''there are a lot of negative feelings for her (Chief Peck) in this town.''
''I'd say half the town wants her out and the other half support her. But people are getting tired of this,'' she said.
Acting New Vienna Officer in Charge Scott Flynn said there has been no increase in crime in the village since Chief Peck's arrest, but he declined to discuss current police staffing.
Publication date: 03-04-98 in the Cincinnati Post.
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