Purcellville Police Officer of the Year given ultimatum following town council win

By Valerie Cury

On Nov. 19 after congratulating Purcellville Police Officer of the Year, Ben Nett, on his successful election to Town Council, senior management of the Town of Purcellville notified him that he has two choices—either resign his position as a town police officer or resign from Town Council.

Based on the revised Town of Purcellville Employee Handbook, Section 10.3.B.1, “No employee shall continue in their position with the Town after election to any public office in the Town.” 

This newly created policy was inserted into the July 2024 revision of the Town of Purcellville Employee Handbook, which had not been updated since 2005. Prior to this revision, no reference to the new policy existed in the handbook. By this time Nett had met all criteria to run for election.

The updated handbook was distributed in July 2024 without prior notice to employees and was made available on the employee section of the town’s website for their access. However, despite its availability, no effort was made to specifically inform Nett about the policy, which directly pertains to his election to Town Council.

It wasn’t until the end of November that Nett was notified that it was his responsibility to read the updated handbook. This raises concerns about why such an important update was communicated so poorly—and why it was introduced at this time.

Also, during his campaign and while on duty, and at the same time this new policy targeting Nett was implemented, he was taken into the police suspect interview room at police headquarters, disarmed, and questioned at length regarding an alleged complaint from another candidate running for Town Council. 

Nett was also asked about his employment plans after the election, and who else he has spoken with on Town Council. That complaint was found to be unsustained, and to date the alleged complaint has been withheld from him. 

According to a source familiar with the Purcellville Police Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, an officer under formal Internal Affairs investigation is entitled to receive a copy of the complaint filed against them.          

Regarding the issue of disarming a uniformed officer, such action would only occur if the officer were to be immediately terminated or relieved of duty.                       

The source also stated that Officer Nett has been the subject of targeted actions over the past several months, citing examples such as unofficial reprimands for publicly highlighting the department’s lack of sustained 24/7 police coverage and for criticizing management over the practice of assigning officers to work 12-hour overnight shifts alone.

The source referenced an Oct. 31 email in which Nett was reprimanded for passing out Junior Purcellville Police Officer stickers to children at the October Tag Sale, claiming he was using the stickers to benefit his campaign—only to be countered by the fact that Nett had been provided the stickers, for distribution at the Tag Sale, by a supervisor as part of a community outreach effort. 

Also, on Nov. 4, election eve, Nett received notice from the Deputy Chief that he was “randomly” selected for drug screening.

Nett’s candidacy for Town Council has been approved by the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council, which cites VA Code 15.2-1512.2, outlining the rights of First Responders to engage in political activity. 

This includes Nett’s right to run for and hold public office while maintaining his employment with the Police Department. He would have to recuse himself from matters dealing exclusively with the Police Department.   

As of press time LaDonna Snellbaker, Director of Human Resources, has given Nett until Dec. 3 to resign his position with the police department.