Former Duluth Lieutenant Files Suit Alleging Retaliation, Excessive Force, Data Manipulation

Former Duluth Police Department lieutenant David Drozdowski is suing the City of Duluth and naming Police Chief Mike Ceynowa and Mayor Roger Reinert in a 43-page complaint that alleges he was punished after raising concerns about officer conduct and department record-keeping. Multiple outlets reported the suit was filed March 1, while one reported March 2; WDIO said the city has 21 days to respond.

Drozdowski’s filing paints him as a longtime public-safety leader inside Duluth policing. The complaint and media accounts say he led the department’s Behavioral Health Unit, commanded the Crisis Negotiation Team, and began with Duluth Police in 2003 assigned to Downtown and Central Hillside patrol. Fox21 published Drozdowski’s own description of his service as “[leading] major public safety efforts, built community-policing programs, commanded the Behavioral Health Unit and Crisis Negotiation Team, coordinated large city events, and volunteered for more than twenty-five years with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Rescue Squad as a search-and-rescue canine handler.” Drozdowski told reporters he retired early to protect his pension and benefits; WDIO reported the suit says he was forced to retire early to maintain his pension.

The complaint alleges a range of wrongdoing inside the department: whistleblower retaliation, unchecked excessive use-of-force, manipulation or misreporting of department data, racist and sexist remarks by task-force members, mishandling of suicide calls, and illegal withholding of government data from a local journalist. WDIO quoted the complaint language describing “blatant discrimination, missing use-of-force records, apparent data manipulation, and other wrongdoing.” Fox21 reported the suit invokes the Minnesota Whistleblower Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

The complaint gives multiple specific examples. Star Tribune coverage recounts an incident in which an officer fired less-lethal projectiles twice into occupied vehicles; the department’s use-of-force coordinator described the actions as “excessive,” yet the officer received only a letter of reprimand. The suit also alleges members of the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force turned on a live camera feed of a man threatening to jump from a parking ramp, made jokes and “treated the situation as entertainment.” Another allegation says an officer not assigned to a suicide call photographed a dead body and shared it in a private group called “Operation Rip and Tear”; that officer also received a letter of reprimand, the complaint alleges.

Drozdowski’s filing further alleges he faced retaliatory personnel actions after making confidential reports: reassignment from leadership roles back to patrol, placement on administrative leave without warning, and an order to undergo a psychological fitness-for-duty exam the complaint describes as “intensive, humiliating, and rarely utilized.” WDIO reported the suit says the city hired an outside consultant to investigate his claims but that no finding or report was provided after the review.

City officials have declined detailed comment. A city spokeswoman told Star Tribune the city “does not comment on active litigation,” and WDIO reported Duluth Police referred inquiries to the city. The complaint’s allegations arrive amid broader local debate over Duluth police use-of-force and discipline; Hoodline and local reporting have cited earlier arbitration battles, disciplinary reversals, and a 2020 on-duty shooting that produced criminal charges, an acquittal and a separate settled civil claim.

The suit now moves into the courts with a 43-page complaint laying out allegations against Chief Mike Ceynowa, Mayor Roger Reinert and the City of Duluth; WDIO reported the city has 21 days to file a response as the litigation proceeds.