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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

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A constituent asked me to post this video of a young man who attempted to burglarize a house in his neighborhood. The area is Desert Sunset in west Glendale, just north of 83rd Avenue and west of Heroes Park. If you recognize this young man, please call the Glendale Police Department at 623-930-3000. Thank you.

Update: Saturday, November 11, 2016. This may be the young person in the video of a possible attempted burglary suspect. I guess you could call him “a person of interest.” He was skateboarding on 83rd Avenue just south of Berridge Lane, Yucca district, Glendale. If you know who he is, please call the Glendale Police Department. Thank you.

possiblesuspectcropped

GAIN night

Posted by Joyce Clark on October 29, 2016
Posted in City issue and actionsCity of GlendaleGlendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , | 1 Comment

On Friday evening, October 28, 2016, Glendale celebrated its GAIN night (Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods) at Murphy Park in downtown Glendale. It was a wonderful event but it was not img_3921a GAIN night. It could be characterized as a police expo, children’s trick or treat and an entertainment event but it was not a GAIN night. There were a tremendous number of booths available to the public from AARP to Glendale’s Justice Center and everything in between. All were eager to share information with the public about the services they offer. The police department had their SWAT vehicle and Command Center vehicle open for the public to view and to learn about their equipment and responsibilities. A local dance academy provided entertainment for the public. All of the kids were fantastic from the youngest dancers shaking their “tail feathers” to the older children performing hip hop. But none of this was GAIN night.

This is undoubtedly an event that has earned the right to become an annual event. But it was notimg_3940 GAIN night and should not take its place. GAIN night was designed to emphasize the importance of police-community partnerships and to encourage citizen involvement in fighting crime. In fact, some of the event visitors I met were from Surprise, Phoenix, etc.

During my time on city council up until I left at the end of 2012, neighborhoods, large and small, were encouraged to host a get together that brought neighbors together. The registered neighborhood could be as small as one street of 20 neighbors or as large as an HOA led subdivision of a 100 neighbors or better. Typically, neighbors would host a pot luck with activities for the neighborhood children. Everyone would sit around, eat and drink, and talk to one another.

img_3929Neighborhoods would be visited by police officers, often the very officers charged with patrolling their neighborhoods. They would meet face-to-face and neighbors would share their “atta boys/girls” and their concerns. They would also be visited by the nearest fire station and the kids had the opportunity to see those fire trucks, up close and personally. Councilmembers, when requested to do so by a neighborhood, would donate $50 out of their council budget, to help defray the cost of refreshments and they would stop by and visit as many neighborhoods as physically possible. While on council I looked forward to GAIN night as a way to reconnect with some neighborhoods and tried to visit as many GAIN neighborhood gatherings as humanly possible. Typically, I was usually able to stop by at least a dozen of them. The good thing about it was there were always more events than a person could visit.

We all know Arizona is a very transient state. People move in and out continually. People also change neighborhoods in an effort to upsize or downsize their homes or for any number of other reasons. Neighborhoods are in a continual flux. Often neighbors may know who lives on either side or across the street from their home but no one else.

One of the benefits of GAIN is that at least once a year it brought new and old neighbors together. It provided a venue to get to know one another. It provided an opportunity for neighbors to bondimg_3944 and to make new friendships – often long lasting.  It encouraged them to discover who was a part of their neighborhood so that strangers in a neighborhood could be more easily identified.

Another benefit was that it provided neighborhoods the chance to meet and to develop relationships with the very police officers that served their neighborhood. Councilmembers used this event to reconnect with some of their neighborhoods and to learn what was going well and what needed attention. GAIN in that format did exactly what it was designed to do.

img_3941Glendale should continue to promote the police expo. It, too, serves a purpose but it should be considered as an adjunct to the traditional (at least 15 year old) GAIN night. Let’s get back to building neighborhoods by building relationships within them.

 

© Joyce Clark, 2016          

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It has been 18 years and 118 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

There were three major items on the city council workshop agenda of April 12, 2016: Assessment of the Glendale Police Department by Citygate Associates, LLC; Assessment of the Glendale Fire Department by Citygate Associates, LLC; and the Classification and Compensation Study by Segal Waters. All were major studies and links are provided to all.

Citygate performed a fair and unbiased study of the police department and fire department and staff is to be congratulated for having chosen them. These studies corroborate the fact that both departments, while they have specific needs, have performance and service records that are exceptional and meeting our community’s needs.

I have provided the Executive Summary of the police department analysis here: Citygate Associates Deployment and Performance Review .There are several comments that are worthy of note. On page 3 of the Executive Summary it states, “The Glendale City Council and this community have every reason to be proud of its Police Department. In Citygate’s opinion, as well as the opinion of many people interviewed for this report, the Police Chief and the Command staff were identified as a key strength. They are regarded as compassionate and caring individuals with a strong and unwavering commitment to the employees and the community. They were described as being ‘available’ to meet with community groups, actively listening to their concerns, and taking appropriate actions.”

On page 2 it was noted, “The recommendations in this study should be considered as a continuous quality improvement tune-up that can be applied in the year-to-year budget process.”

Also on page 2 City gate noted 5 major areas, “There are, however, five areas that draw particular attention to: (1) sufficient staffing to meet the deployment needs and response time standards for hot and emergency calls; (2) response times for second-in units (backup units); (3) restoring the professional (civilian) staff positions that provide support for key areas such as communications, patrol, and investigations; (4) 9-1-1 answering times in the Communications Center; and (5) appropriate staffing for non-emergency report calls.”

Citygate offered 50 findings and 41 recommendations at the conclusion of its report. Two thirds of its findings are positive and validate the department’s priorities and strategies. Its overall strategic finding #1 is, “Current budgeted vacancies throughout the organization are impacting service delivery, performance standards, and response times.” The overall strategic recommendation #1 is, “Fill the current budgeted vacancies and implement Community Service Officer additions as detailed in Section 1.8.”

Two recommendations are particularly noteworthy. On page 13 Citygate’s recommendation #6 states, “Establish a new CSO classification, capable of performing the recommended duties described above. Augument staffing in Patrol, Investigations and Call Back Unit (CBU) with these positions. Specific to Patrol, we recommend 6 CSOs be added to assist in call load distribution and reduce response times. (CSO staffing recommendations for Investigations and CBU are found in Section 4.”)

The second recommendation of note is the finding that the indirect costs of special events are not reimbursed under current contract agreements with the recommendation to, “examine alternative funding reimbursement mechanisms for special events, especially those conducted at the arena and stadium.”

What do these recommendations mean in English? A Community Service Officer (CSO) is a non-sworn position and would not require graduation from a police training academy. This position would still require some rigorous checks such as a background check, polygraph, psychological, etc. This position would certainly take the more mundane tasks away from sworn officers. They could assist at traffic accidents (which by their very nature are very time consuming for patrol officers). They could perform paperwork and report tasks for investigative officers (also very time consuming) and could handle Call Backs to citizens with regard to minor crimes. In other words this position would free up time for sworn officers to handle more serious tasks. It was recommended that 6 CSO positions be added to patrol and 4 CSO positions to investigations over two years and 2 CSO positions to the CBU. Obviously not all can be added in one year but it is incumbent upon city council to develop a schedule of adding these positions over the next several budget cycles.

The other recommendation of note is that the city does not recapture the costs involved in assisting special events at the arena and stadium. This has been well known by senior staff for years. One had simply to look at the police and fire costs to host the Super Bowl to know that the city has never received full compensation. It is an issue whose time has come. Up to now the police department has been absorbing the unpaid costs. The police department budget is part of the city’s General Fund which means you, the taxpayer, pays for the unrecompensed costs of special events.

Many of the recommendations about further data analysis, the records unit, etc. are being done or have been completed internally.  Other recommendations are under additional evaluation such as the criteria for Priority 2 calls, and the restoration of Detention staffing. Other recommendations will be adopted immediately such as filling current, budgeted vacancies and certifying an investigator for forensic computer analysis.

In summary, the report identified that the Glendale police department’s service delivery is meeting the mark but if we expect it to continue, it cannot be done without recognizing that there are certain staffing areas within the department that will need resources over the next few budget cycles.

On to the Citygate analysis of the Glendale Fire Department provided here Fire HQ Assessment – Volume 1 of 3. Remember last year and the entire dustup about the city’s purchase of a fire engine and the fire union’s assertion that the city was in dire straits because response times were deteriorating? Does the union realize that if it keeps crying wolf at some point the public will no longer believe them. Citygate definitively stated that our fire department’s response times meet the National Fire Protection Association (NPFA) advisory, best practices standard of 7 minutes and recommended its formal adoption.

 Once again, I recognize that the individual firefighters, men and women, are outstanding and deliver caring and efficient service to our community. I thank them for their exceptional service. My only concern has been that the fire union, for too long, has run the department and worked diligently to realize its agenda. That agenda has not always been in the best interests of our community. With the hiring of the new Fire Chief Terry Garrison it appears that his only agenda is to deliver the best service possible to Glendale’s residents. After 5 months on the job he has already proven that he is indeed in charge of Glendale’s fire department. He is to be commended based upon his performance to date.

Citygate says on page 1 of its Executive Summary, “Citygate finds a best practices based agency, with very committed and caring employees, some of the best we have ever met. They take pride in what they do, how they do it, and in taking care of the expensive equipment the City has to provide.”

Just as in Citygate’s analysis of the police department it offered findings and recommendations for the fire department as well.

On page 7 of the Executive Summary recommendation #2 states in part, “Funding should be provided, as soon as possible, to make a two-person low acuity team permanent.” In recommendation #3 on the same page it states, “The Department should work with its Medical Director and the ambulance provider to send only basic (Emergency Medical Technician [EMT], non-paramedic) ambulances to the low acuity incidents. Doing so will further control costs and retain more paramedic-level ambulances for the most serious patient emergencies.”

What does this mean? If you recall I questioned the use of big fire trucks and ladder trucks with a full crew of 4 firefighters responding to medical calls. The wear and tear on the equipment, the cost of use, and the removal of 4 firefighters from service is impractical and costly to the city. I asked that we follow the City of Mesa’s lead and develop a pilot project using a smaller vehicle with a two man team. Thanks to Interim Fire Chief (now back to his position as Assistant Chief) Chris DeChant the implementation of that pilot project began immediately. Apparently it has proven itself and in Fiscal Year 16-17 there will be a request for an additional unit. Kudos to Assistant Chief DeChant.

Another Citygate recommendation is that Fire Prevention develop and implement “an in-depth cost recovery policy,” as well as, “a permit and inspection fee schedule.”

Two critical findings found on page 9 of the Executive Summary identify the need to replace the department’s Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), to replace paramedic cardiac monitor defibrillator units, and to acquire a second set of personal protective equipment for each firefighter. These findings are critical to the health and safety of every firefighter and to the patients they serve. It appears that funding requests for SCBA and protective equipment will be in the Fiscal Year 16-17 budget.

There were two findings that are also critical and must be addressed. One is the department must create a fire apparatus replacement program. The other is the department and the city does not have a capital facilities replacement fund to support capital repairs, replace fire stations or to add new fire stations. These issues must be addressed by senior management.

Another recommendation was the city’s pursuit of a Certificate of Necessity (CON) for city provided ambulance service. I don’t think the city is there yet.  Investigation of the requirements and steps to achieve such are appropriate but it has not proven necessary to acquire a CON yet. City provision of ambulance service is extremely costly despite staff assertions that costs will be covered by those using the city provided service. It never quite comes out that way and will become another major annual cost to taxpayers. Obtaining a CON must be proven to be essential and critical to the city.

Lastly, a recommendation to rehabilitate the city’s pre-emptive traffic control devices is a welcome step. These devices allow public safety to change a red light to green at intersections but will only minimally affect travel time to a scene. It will make intersections safer for public safety personnel as well as citizens. As Citygate observed as Glendale continues to become more urbanized its response times will increase due to the sheer volume of traffic as well as the city’s street grid system.

In summary Citygate did a thorough job of evaluating service delivery to the residents of Glendale. It found that service delivery of both departments is exceptional and their representatives offered that these two departments perform well above other municipal departments. The Citygate representatives were truly impressed with our departments.

Every Glendale resident should be impressed and proud of our police and fire departments. I think many residents do appreciate their service although it is not often expressed unless you happen to be a victim of a crime or a medical emergency. I think it is only then that many people come to realize how truly committed and caring our police and fire employees are. So, for the silent majority…thank you from grateful community.

I offered a great deal of information so I will discuss the Classification and Compensation Study in a separate blog.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

It has been 17 years and 208 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

Please note: It seems that when one takes a short vacation all hell breaks loose. Glendale and IceArizona have resolved their differences for now. I will be posting a future blog on that event. In the meantime, I noted that the Glendale Star reported that it had attempted to contact me for a comment for their story. Thank goodness for digital phones. Having checked all calls for the past several weeks I can confirm that I received no phone call from the Glendale Star.

On July 22, 2015 the Glendale Police Department issued a press release confirming that Commander Andre Anderson has been hired as Ferguson, Missouri’s Interim Police Chief. In my blog entitled Beasley may have company in Ferguson dated June 25, 2015 I announced that it was possible that he would take the job as well as issues that both Beasley (hired as Interim City Manager) and Anderson could face.

Several nagging questions remain. I had heard that Anderson was reluctant to take the job because of the pay disparity between Glendale and Ferguson. Ferguson is a much smaller community, about 1/10 the size of Glendale. I had also heard that that Glendale might make up the disparity in pay between Anderson’s current salary and what he was offered in Ferguson. Would Glendale do such a thing? The rational answer is ‘no’ but we have certainly seen Glendale do other irrational acts. It doesn’t seem that it would be legal. So…the question for Glendale officials is this…is Glendale subsidizing Anderson’s pay while he works for Ferguson? It is a question that deserves a public answer from Glendale because Ferguson isn’t telling.

Anderson is on a six month loan from Glendale. He will be using up all of his vacation time and when that runs out, he will be on unpaid leave from Glendale. However, that explanation doesn’t answer the question of whether Glendale is subsidizing Anderson’s pay.

Another question…what is the city’s reasoning in allowing Anderson to serve as a paid administrator in Ferguson? Was it a favor to Glendale’s former City Manager Ed Beasley? It’s eerily similar to Beasley’s allowing Alma Carmicle, Glendale’s former HR Director, to telecommute from Mississippi.

The Glendale Police Department has, in a fashion, loaned personnel to various state task forces. They remain on the Glendale payroll and their salaries are not subsidized. Although it may have happened I do not recollect in Glendale’s history a Commander taking leave to serve as a Police Chief or in the administration of another municipality. More answers should be provided by the city than has been offered to date. Come on Glendale, come clean.

© Joyce Clark, 2015

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

It has been 17 years and 174 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

Andre Anderson Courtesy CBS 5 News

Andre Anderson, Courtesy of CBS 5 News

Andre Anderson, a Glendale police department commander, may soon be heading to Ferguson, Missouri to join Ferguson’s new Interim City Manager Ed Beasley. He would become Interim Police Chief at the request of Beasley.

This is not the first time Anderson has sought the job of Police Chief. In February of 2013 he was one of two finalists for the position in Casa Grande, Arizona. Here is the link: http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/city-cuts-police-chief-fieldto/article_d157e5ea-80f1-11e2-8cda-001a4bcf887a.html .

To say that both face challenges would be an understatement. While the racial makeup of the town is 67% black only 3 police officers (6%) serving the city are black. The racial imbalance is stark. Here is the link: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/aug/17/andrea-mitchell/ferguson-police-department-has-50-white-officers-t/ .  If Anderson joins his pal, Beasley, both will have to exhibit a level of sensitivity and maturity that neither may possess. Are they up to the task of restoring confidence among the officers who serve and protect that community?

Ferguson’s police department has been investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice that resulted in a long list of changes to be made. These changes will be costly. There are also a plethora of lawsuits to be settled. Ferguson’s 2015 annual budget issued in July, 2014 is $20,238,000 with a General Fund budget of $13,518,250. Here is the link: http://www.fergusoncity.com/DocumentCenter/View/1701 .

In the past Fiscal Year of 2014-15 the city’s Fund Balance dropped by $4,086,700 from approximately $15M to $11M. What will their Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget look like (beginning in July of 2015) in the light of the riots that occurred earlier this year? I suspect the city is insured to a certain extent. Some costs will be covered but it appears that new revenue streams will be needed. Let’s hope Beasley has learned his lesson and will not “rob Peter to pay Paul” as he did in Glendale to cover the annual $25M in extortion required by the NHL to keep the Coyotes in Glendale.

© Joyce Clark, 2015

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The City of Glendale offers a wonderful service. It provides several dates on which to get your annual flu shot. Today was one of those days held at the downtown site of the Police Department. While I was there to get my shot I ran into several police personnel and had a chance to renew acquaintances and catch up on all kinds of news.

Everyone is pleased and proud that Glendale was one of only 7 recipient cities in Arizona to receive a 2013 Department of Justice COPS hiring grant in the amount of $1.2 M. The grant is good for three years. In the first year the city receives 75% of the costs associated with hiring 10 new officers. In the second year the city receives 50% and in the third year receives 25%. By year 4 the city is expected to cover all costs associated with the 10 new hires. This is one of those actions that does NOT put a strain on Glendale’s financial situation or its General Fund. The funding not covered by this grant and to be picked up by the city comes from the Public Safety Sales Tax Fund which has a healthy balance. It’s a win-win all the way around.

When you read the newspaper do you ever check the crime reports, especially for your zip code? If you noticed, the Glendale zip code that always has the highest amount of crime is zip code 85301. For years, this area of city has had the most person and property crime stats. Yet the former mayor insisted that police resources be used equally throughout the city. It was at best, a dumb idea. The good news is that the 10 new hires provided by the COPS grant will beef up patrols and offer more proactive policing in zip code 85301. The GPD is also adding investigative officers to go after those who illegally possess guns and those who traffic in guns. Now it’s up to the other city departments to attract positive retail opportunities ( certainly not pawn shops, liquor stores and loan shops) and housing that is not comparable to existent housing but is actually better.

Remember Glendale resident Jerice Hunter? I don’t think anyone can forget her. She is accused of murdering her 5 year old daughter, Jhessye Shockley, and then tossing her body in the garbage. She was arrested per a Grand Jury on charges of first degree murder and child abuse. Hunter’s case was on hold because she had not paid her attorney Scott Maasen. She now has a court-appointed attorney and is scheduled to stand trial in August of 2014. There’s a special place in hell for people who abuse and murder children.

A recent innovation of the GPD is its use of Twitter to share information with the general public. It performed a test project by following a cop on his shift who tweeted when he was able to do so. They have also used it sporadically to alert the public to traffic accidents to avoid. Here is the link to get the application: http://www.glendaleaz.com/police/MyPD-App.cfm . This has the potential of becoming a wonderful communications tool for the GPD. The public is their ally and by letting citizens know what is happening in their city they will gather more and more support (and perhaps useful crime information).  Now that they have it up and running, come on guys, start using it on a daily basis.

City Manager Brenda Fischer has hired the new Finance Director. He is Tom Duening (my apology if I misspelled the name). He has over 20 years of experience, the majority of which was with Tempe. He’s also a CPA. Looks like a good choice and we welcome him to Glendale.

For those who would like more information about Glendale’s flu shot program, there are 3 more opportunities to get your flu shot: There are 2 dates open to the public. One is Wednesday, October 16th from 11am to 1:30om in the lunch room at Glendale City Hall. The other is on Tuesday, October 29th from 9am to 1pm at the very same location in City Hall. One date is open to Glendale employees and their families on Monday, October 21st from 2:30pm to 4pm at Field Operations Bldg P, Breakroom.

©Joyce Clark, 2013

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Lawwho have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For m.ore information go to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Dominguez 2

Commander Greg Dominguez
Glendale Police Department

Recently former Glendale Assistant Police Chief Greg Dominguez has been in and on the media…a lot. The internal Glendale police department’s investigation of his situation is sealed so the media does not know exactly and specifically what happened and can only report on it in a general sense. They do not have anything other than a non-specific Peoria complaint. We do know it was a situation in which no charges were filed.

What happened? We know a broad and general outline. Allegedly Assistant Police Chief Greg Dominguez on two separate occasions threatened a clerk at a Peoria smoke shop and told him to stop selling spice to his then drug impaired son. Dominguez claims he does not remember what he said to the clerk but the clerk, in his Peoria police report, alleges that Dominguez threatened to burn the place down and to kill the clerk. True? Not true? We can’t know because we are not privy to the results of the internal investigation.

As a result of that investigation Dominguez has been demoted from Assistant Chief to Commander and suspended for a week. The Arizona Republic, never willing to let what facts it reports stand in the way of stirring up more controversy, ran an article questioning the appropriateness of the punishment meted out to Dominguez.

Everyone will have an opinion. Was the punishment too severe? Just right? Too lenient? The union supports Dominguez’ belief that the punishment was too severe. I assume they have retained an attorney on his behalf to appeal the decision.

Before I go any further let me say that I, personally, like Greg Dominguez and his wife. They are not only both fine officers but good people and parents. Commander Dominguez was always very responsive to my questions, concerns and requests made as a councilmember on behalf of my constituents. He did his job and did it well.

But he was the Assistant Chief of the Glendale Police Department and as such is held to a higher standard than you or I. Is that fair? Probably not but life is not always fair. Throughout history police officers have always been held to a higher standard because they symbolize adherence to law for all of us. When they ignore or bend the law it is an action that betrays and erodes that supreme trust. There is also the issue of perception. If, as an Assistant Chief, he did not receive this level of sanction, you can be sure the rank and file as well as ordinary citizens would be saying he received lenient treatment because of his position. Quite frankly, newly promoted Chief Black was damned if she did, and doubly damned if she didn’t.

If anything, I was very surprised to learn of Commander Dominguez’ actions. If he were angry enough to threaten someone in that situation could he become angry enough to use similar threats in other situations? I suspect upon reflection, Commander Dominguez not only realizes that he made a dumb mistake but now realizes that there were other ways he could have handled the situation. As a civilian, I can think of a couple of things that could have been done. I can remember times when my kids were teenagers and they were in situations that had me nervous, down-right crazy or scared. I never once considered the threat of bodily harm as an option.

Black

Chief Debra Black
Glendale Police Department

Was the punishment appropriate? Yes. Chief Black had a very difficult decision to make and as a former Glendale councilmember I support her decision. She needed to send a message not just to every officer but to every Glendale resident that the actions taken by the second highest officer in the department would not be tolerated and that there is a strong ethic of responsibility for one’s actions.

 

 

 

 

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