Police officer forced to quit after domestic abuse arrest, failed psychological test

A Sioux Center police officer who was forced to resign after a domestic abuse arrest — a charge that was later dismissed — and a failed psychological test is entitled to unemployment benefits, a judge has ruled.

According to state records, Steve S. Topete began working for the City of Sioux Center as a full-time police offer in June 2023. When he was hired, he was required to take and pass the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test, which is a 600-question survey designed to measure an individual’s integrity, character and suitability as a law enforcement officer, with the answers reviewed by a psychologist. All certified law enforcement officers in Iowa are required to take the test.

State records indicate Topete’s test results were inconclusive, and so he sat for the test a second time in July 2023 and passed.

On Dec. 7, 2024, Sioux Center Human Resources and Safety Manager Josh Mork met with officials at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to seek a resolution to a personnel matter of some kind that involved Topete. The ILEA then ordered Topete to undergo another psychological test to determine whether he was fit for duty.

According to state records, Topete failed the test, which meant that he was no longer qualified to work as a certified police officer in Iowa. The city then gave Topete the choice of resigning or being fired, after which Topete submitted a letter of resignation.

He subsequently collected unemployment benefits in the amount of $3,570. The city appealed the decision to pay unemployment, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson.

At the hearing, Mork conceded that he had told Topete he’d be discharged if he did not resign. Johnson noted that when an employee quits under those circumstances their departure cannot be considered voluntary.

As for whether Topete had committed the sort of willful workplace misconduct that would disqualify him from collecting unemployment, Johnson ruled that while passing the psychological test might be considered a requirement of the job, failing the test does not suggest willful misconduct.

“This is not the type of exam someone can study or prepare for,” Johnson stated in her ruling. “The examinee either has the necessary attributes at the time of the exam or they don’t.”

Topete was ruled eligible for unemployment benefits.

Court records indicate that several weeks before he was forced to resign, on Oct. 1, 2023, Topete was arrested on a charge of domestic abuse assault. Police alleged he assaulted a juvenile female by grabbing her wrist, causing minor, visible injuries, and pushing her up a set of stairs, causing her to fall forward, resulting in additional minor injuries. Topete was also accused of kicking the girl in the knee.

Jason D. Bring, an assistant county attorney in Plymouth County, was named special prosecutor in case on Oct. 6, 2023. Twelve days later, Bring filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing a lack of evidence. District Associate Judge Jessica Knoll issued the dismissal order the same day.