The Curious Case of Officer Justin Taylor, The Quitter Who Didn’t Really Quit

Welcome to another episode of “Superior’s Most Questionable Hires,” featuring Officer Justin Taylor — the man, the myth, the liability… who walked out of one taxpayer-funded uniform only to walk right into another.

Let’s break this down with all the blunt force of a baton to the public trust.

Wait… He Quit, Right?

Yep. According to Justin Taylor’s own deposition, he resigned from the Superior Police Department. This came after he’d been hit with a Performance Improvement Plan, a growing stack of use-of-force concerns, and a lawsuit dragging the city into federal court.

In fact, Exhibit 3 of that deposition is literally titled:
“Taylor Resignation Letter.”
Mic drop, end of story… right?

Wrong.

Guess Who’s Back? Back Again?

Despite the resignation, Taylor was almost immediately employed by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office — working the jail, still on the taxpayer’s dime.

So let’s recap:

• Leaves SPD under fire, with legal baggage strapped to his tactical belt.

• Slides into a new public job, no interruption in income.

• Still being deposed in an active federal lawsuit, with both the City and County now potentially liable.

Superior dumped the hot potato. Douglas County grabbed it with both hands.

So Did The City Lie ?

Here’s where it gets murky — and murky smells like cover-up soup.

In email correspondence obtained from city officials, including Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt, statements made to citizens paint the use-of-force incident as “by the book” and “within training parameters”. But behind closed doors, the city was scrambling to find outside DAAT (Defense and Arrest Tactics) experts to review Taylor’s actions because they didn’t trust their own in-house guy to do it.

And not just “scrambling,” — begging other departments for someone, anyone, who’d back them up on paper.

That’s like setting your kitchen on fire and then asking your neighbor to tell the insurance company you just made toast.

So while the public was told “everything’s fine,” internally, the city was panicking about optics, liability, and finding experts who wouldn’t publicly contradict their narrative.

Did They Disclose His Legal Baggage?

Hell no.

Nowhere in public-facing statements or job transition records does it show that either the City of Superior or Douglas County issued a heads-up to the public that:

1. Taylor was the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit.

2. He had already resigned under performance scrutiny.

3. He left behind a trail of incident reports, citizen concern emails, and a literal stack of bodycam footage.

Instead, both city and county officials played Hot Potato with a walking PR disaster — all while the public kept footing the bill.

Did This Cost You, the Taxpayer?

You bet your sweet, pothole-riddled roads it did.

• Legal costs for defending the city: On you.

• Taylor’s resignation pay: On you.

• His new salary at the jail: Still on you.

• Future settlements as the city loses in court: All aboard the You Pay Express.

Final Blow

The City of Superior didn’t technically lie — they just gaslit their residents with a smile.

They let Taylor walk out the door without ever owning up to the risk he posed. And Douglas County? Either deliberately ignored the red flags or didn’t ask enough questions before giving him a shiny new badge (minus the gun this time).

So did they lie? Maybe not on paper.
But they damn well misled, and you, dear taxpayer, are a chump at the bottom of the punchline.

Sources :

Douglas County Sheriffs Department

Superior Police Department

Cuypers v. Taylor Deposition Scheduling Email (August 28, 2025)

Superior Police Use of Force Expert Witness Emails

Superior Police Chief Explains Taser Use to City Council Member Citizen (April 2024)

Superior Police Chief Meets Reporter on Feb. 28 Traffic Stop (March 2024)