HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-05-03 Special Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE
AGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 3, 1976 AT 7: 30 P. M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS � 413 MAIN
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. INVOCATION: Councilman David Florence
III. Consideration of the Council Committee report
evaluating the Police Department.
IV. Reconsideration of Council action to form a citizen' s
committee relative to the City Manager' s termination
of the Chief of Police.
V. Consideration of the City Manager' s decision to remove
the Chief of Police from office pursuant ta the City
Charter.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 6252-17 V.A.T.C.S. AS AMENDED
BY CHAPTER 227, ACTS OF THE 61ST LEGISLATURE, REGULAR
SESSION, THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA WAS PREPARED
AND POSTED ON THIS THE 30TH DAY OF APRIL, 1976 AT 10:45
A.M.
Ci Sec t y
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STATE OF TEXAS X
COUNTY OF TARRANT X
CITY OF GRAPEVINE X
The City Council of the City of Grapevine, Texas convened in
special session at 7:30 P.M. on this the 3rd day of May, 1976
with the following members present to-wit:
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William D. Tate Mayor �
> Doil Dalton Councilman
Thelma Conine Councilwoman
Larry Oliver Councilman
Willis Pirkle Councilman
David Florence Councilman
Charles Dunn Councilman
constituting a quorum with
Floy T. Ezell City Manager
Jim Hancock Assistant City Manager
Shirley Armstrong City Secretary
John Boyle City Attorney
Mayor Tate called the meeting to order.
The Invocation was given by Councilman David Florence.
The first order of business was consideration of the Council
Committee report evaluating the Police Department. Mayor
- Tate asked City Secretary, Shirley Armstrong, to read said �
report. (See Exhibit "A" attached hereto and made a part hereof i
to the minutes of the City Council meeting of May 3, 1976. )
Councilman Dunn asked Mayor Tate if Mr. Butcher and/or Mr.
Lilly had been given a copy of the report prior to it being read.
I�iayor Tate then asked the City Attorney if he had mailed Mr.
Butcher a copy of the report. The City Attorney answered that
he had not. Mayar Tate then commented that it was his under-
standing that Mr. Butcher would be provided a copy of the report
prior to the meeting.
Councilman Dunn referred to page four, item A-3, of the report
which reads as follows:
"The starting pay scale of the officers may have
lagged behind other departments a great deal of
the time, but the merit system for raises gives
an officer a greater potential and incentive to
do a better job. "
Councilman Dunn asked if "other departments" referred to other „
palice departments within our area or other departments within
the city. Mayor Tate answered that the referral was to area
police departments, not other departments within the city.
Mayor Tate then stated that it was his understanding from Mr.
Lilly that the City of Grapevine had dropped to about 16th on
the starting pay scales within the metroplex.
Mayor Tate stated that in all due respect to Mr. Lilly, he
was not, on the meetings of October 13 and November 4, enumerated
all of the findings of the committee. He continued by saying that
Mr. Lilly was told that there were several problems which
existed. He stated that Mr. Lilly was told that the committee
did not feel like, at the time, that it was in a position to
outline all of the findings of that department or all of the
problems of that department; but that the committee was con-
cerned as to the efficiency, attitudes, and other matters of
that department. The Mayor further stated that Mr. Lilly was
told that as the Chief of Police he was knowlegable, or should
,� be knowlegable, of administration in that department and that
he should make an effort to identify those problems and to correct
them. Mayor Tate continued by saying that the committee did not
ask Mr. Lilly to dismiss any employees, but that he, as the chief,
was being required to make some improvements in that department
and if he did not, he would be held personally responsible. The
Mayor continued by saying, that he could not say that the com-
mittee outlined all of the specifics at that time.
Councilman Pirkle stated that he felt the report was a very
good one and that he would like to commend the committee.
He continued by saying that the report bears out some of the
things that he had observed in the Police Department in prior
years.
Councilwoman Conine made a motion to accept and approve the
report of the Council Committee evaluating the Police Depart-
ment. The motion was seconded by Councilman Florence and
prevailed by the following vote:
Ayes : Tate, Conine, Florence, Oliver, Dalton,Pirkle, & Dunn
Nays : None
� The next order of business was reconsideration of Council
action to form a citizen' s committee relative to the City
Manager' s termination of the Chief of Police.
Mayor Tate stated that the City Attorney received today (May
, 3, 1976) at 9:25 A.M. a telegram from Mr. Lilly' s attorney,
Mr. Butcher, which read as follows:
; "As attorney for James Lilly you are hereby
advised that the two selected to represent
; Mr. Lilly on the citizen' s committee are
R. W. Shirley; 1358 Tipparary Drive; Grape-
vine, Texas 76051 and Denny Preissinger; 1901
Dove Loop; No. 1001; Grapevine, Texas 76051. "
Mayor Tate then asked Mr. Butcher if he or Mr. Lilly would
like to make a statement into the record as to the recon-
sideration of ths Council' s actiom m� the citizen' s committee.
Mr. Butcher acknowledged that he had no statement to make until
after the council made their statements.
Mayor Tate stated that initially he voted for the citizen' s
committee primarily because he felt like it could have been
a proper conduit for providing factual information to the
community as to the administration in the Police Department.
He continued by saying that his vote was made with the feeling
that the committee could, and would, act in a constructive
manner and would and could provide additional information� to
supplement the investigation made by the Council. He acknow-
ledged that based upon what had happened within the past four
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weeks, and based upon the fact that each mamber of the Council �
had an opportunity to consider that, and any other alternative e
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solution to the problem, that the item was placed back on the `
agenda for reconsideration. ;
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� Councilman Oliver stated that he had made the motion to form �
the committee and that he still did not disagree with what he �
had said previously. He continued by referring to page 86 of �
� the court report of the April 6 meeting in which Mr. Butcher f
had stated that; "No. 1 - This meeting be continued for 30 to �
40 days depending on the time element necessary; No. 2 - That �
I (Mr. Butcher) and Mr. Lilly appoint two disinterested �
citizens of the City of Grapevine and that the City Council '
appoint two disinterested citizens, " etc. Councilman Oliver �
:z then referred to page 79 of the same report at which point �
Mr. Shirley was quoted as saying that; "Standing outside the �
door listening over the speaker, frankly I was embarrassed for �
the Council and almost ashamed because it sounded like a �
kangaroo court you' re operating here. " Councilman Oliver �
continued by stating that his interpretation of the word �
� "disinterested" means lack of interest and not being biased �
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or prejudiced. He acknowledged that he did not feel Mr. �
Shirley was a disinterested citizen. ;
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Councilman Dunn commented that if he recalled the report �
correctly, the Council only allowed 30 to 40 days not only �
for the appointing of the committee, but for the completion �
of the report back to the Council. He acknowledged that �
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notification from Mr. Butcher of the two commettee members had 4
I� only been received recently. �
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The City Attorney stated that said telegram was received at �
�' 9:30 A.M. on Monday, May 3, 1976. He further commented that �
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; Mr. Butcher had told him Friday, (April 30) that the telegram =
' was being sent. He stated that the notice apparently came to �
� his office sometime late Friday afternoon. He acknowledged E
� that the telegram had been mailed Friday morning. �
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Mayor Tate asked City Manager, Floy Ezell if he had talked �
:; with the Criminal Justice Council and if they were in a `
position to come in and help the city assess the personal �
� physical needs of the police department. Mr. Ezell answered �
� that he had been advised that the Criminal Justice Council �
; would send a team up for a preliminary investigation. Mayor �
Tate asked what the plans were to proceed on the matter. Mr. �
Ezell stated that they hoped to proceed within two weeks. �
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; Councilman Oliver made a motion toXecend the prior action of {
the City Council concerning the formation of a citizens com- �
mittee. The motion was seconded by Cauncilman Pirkle. �
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i Mayor Tate then stated that he would vote in favor of that �
'' motion primarily because he did not feel that a citizen' s �
� committee would be in a position to obtain any additional in- �
� formation under the atmosphere that now exists. He continued �
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by saying that he had talked with several witnesses and that `
they had indicated that they are not willing to testify further °
i before a committee. He stated that he did not think it would �
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be fair to the Police Department in that they had already �
testified before the Council Committee. He continued by saying �
that the evaluation had been conducted over a period of several �
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months and that he did not feel that it would be fair to members
of that department to put them through an additional evaluation.
He further stated that he felt the City was primarily talking
about administrative reasons and that the Council, the City
Manager and the City Staff are in a better position to observe,
perceive, and understand the relationship that has existed
between Mr. Lilly and the governing body and what has actually
transpired. Mayor Tate further stated that he felt it would be
very difficult for a citizens committee to obtain that type of
perception and understan ding. He continued by saying that he
felt there were adequate reasons in the report to support the
action of the City Manager. He stated that Mr. McLain was the
acting chief and had done various things without prompting
or instructions from the City Manager to help alleviate some
of the problems that exist. He further stated that this has
lead him to believe that Mr. McLain had the insight to observe
these things himself. Mayor Tate further stated that he felt
the evidence, that there was no control over the evidence that
was taken from prisoners; no attempt to maintain control over
stolen property that was recovered, was a serious breakdown in
the procedure in the department. He continued by saying that
Mr. McLain has instituted an evidence receipt program along with
an evidence log, a custodian of evidence has been appointed,
and a training officer has been appointed. Mayor Tate stated
also that another major problem in the department was that many
of the citizens complaints and many of the problems and attitudes
that exist in that department have been because the department
did not have an adequate training program. He continued by
saying that evne with the money budgeted in that department, the
city has not availed itself of various seminars. He stated that
he felt any professional person had to continue to update infor-
mation, to discuss proper procedures, and the way of handling
various things. He continued by saying that Mr. McLain had
appointed a training officer and that each officer would
receive at least fifty minutes of in-service training per week.
Mayor Tate further stated that a Career Development Committee
has been appointed to direct the training of each officer to-
ward the goal that he has set for himself in his police career.
He further stated that a firearms training committee has been
formulated for the purpose of formulating a firearms training
program. He continued by saying that he felt that it was very
important for the protection of each patrolman as well as others,
that the officer be required to practice regularly with his fire-
arms so that he will build confidence in himself and the weapon.
Mayar Tate further stated that new policies had also been installed
, for preliminary investigation by the patrolman. He continued to
say that he felt there had been a tremendous increase in the
attitudes and the efficiency in that department. He further
commented that Mr. McLain is continuing to improve the efficiency
of the Police Department. He also stated that he felt the in-
, formation the city w ill receive from the Criminal Justice Council
will aid Grapevine to actually determine the needs of the Police
Department and to insure to the public that the City is actually
providing praper and adequate police protection to the community.
Councilman Dalton commented that he agreed with those remarks in
as much as he could see that it would be of absolutely no service
or value to the citizens of Grapevine to continue the investiga-
tion after seven months and about 35 hours that the committee
had put into the matter.
the community have had an oppurtunity to hear what the Council
Committee had to say and they are having an opportunity to hear
what the Council has to say. He further stated that based on
the committee report and what he had been able to observe, there
are problems that exist in the Police Department, that the
police chief was made aware of the problems, and that changes
were not made. Councilman Dunn concluded by stating that it
was his opinion that the Council has no alternative but to
� approve the actions of the City Manager with regard to the Police
Chief. Councilman Dunn then made a motion that the Council
approve the actions of Mr. Ezell in the termination of Mr.
Lilly. The motion was seconded by Councilman Pirkle.
Councilman Florence stated that he felt like even though he
was new on the Council, that he had been able to remain
impartial and as fair as possible throughout the entire
matter. He commented that he felt it was in the best interest
of the City to approve the action of the City Manager.
Councilman Dalton commented that he would like to emphasize
the fact that it is not always popular to be a member of a
policy making body and that it is always easier to follow the
line of least resistance. He stated that he takes his job
as a City Councilman very seriously and that he feels like he
was elected to help manage the off ice of this City and to
act in a manner to protect and safeguard the rights of all
citizens. He further commented that he feels that it is
his responsibility as a member of the Council to be conser-
vative and to spend every tax dollar or every revenue dollar
as wisely as possible. He stated that to do this, we must
have efficiency in every department and continued to a�y t�at
he had just as much pride in one department as another. He
stated that he had always felt that he was a close friend of
Chief Lilly and his wife as well, and that it had hurt him to
. be a part of this; but continued to say that he still felt
that he would not be doing his job, or what the people of the
City elected him to do if he did not do what he thought was
best for the Police Department as well as the other departments
in the City. He concluded by saying that, therefore, he was
in concurrance with tnE recommendation of the Gity Manager and
would be in favor of the motion that had been made.
Mayor Tate then stated that it was obvious to everyone concerned
that the money being spent in the Police Department is a large
portion of the City budget and the tax dollar that each indivi-
dual citizen is paying. He commented that he feels there is an
emphasis this day and time on effeciency in city government and
that there is a requirement that city government be responsive
and efficient. He stated that he feels that the City of Grape-
vine has been very fortunate the last couple of years to have
more money than ever before. He commented that he feels it
`° behoves the Council to have the opportunity to evaluate, not
only this department, but other departments from time to time.
He stated that he thought what was at issue was whether a City
Council has the right to evaluate any department, question their
efficiency, and demand improvements in that department, and
whether the City Manager has a right to dismiss a city employee
if he is not doing the job that he was hired to do. He stated
that he did not think that any member of the Council questiones
that Mr. Lilly is a good man or a good police officer, but
rather if he is a good administrator. The Mayor further stated
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that he feels if there are other people in the department who �:
can do a better job that they should not be held back but �
rather have an opportunity to advance in that department. �
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He stated that he has the interest of the people of the �
community and the members of the Police Department at heart and
that he would continue to do whatever he could to save and spend �
the tax dollar efficiently and to make the members who work for �
this city government happy, adequately paid, and properly �
equiped. He further commented that he knows that being efficient �
and taking drastic action is not a popular move, but if he can k
not do what he feels is right, and if he feels that he could be �
intimidated or act for other reasons, then he would not be �
fulfilling his job. He concluded by stating that he felt like �:
he had no choice but to support the City Manager in his decision. �
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Councilman Pirkle stated that he had been associated with this :
city government for many years and that he had tried to do his �
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best to see that it is run as efficiently as possible. Be- �
cause of this, he commented, he would have to support the City �
Manager in this decision. �
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Councilman Oliver stated that he had not been associated with �
the City for very many years but because of the information z
� made available to him he had no choice but to also go along �
; with the City Manager' s recommendation. �
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Councilwoman Conine stated that the Council was elected by the �
" people of the City to uphold the law. She added that they in �
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� turn hired Mr. Ezell to do the job and if he didn' t, then the �
Council could dismiss him. Mrs. Conine then stated that she �
� would have to go along w ith Mr. Ezell in the firing of the
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Police Chief.
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� Mayor Tate then reminded the Council that a motion had been
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; made and seconded. He then called for a vote and the motion �
� prevailed by the following vote: �
� Ayes: Tate, Conine, Florence, Oliver, Dalton, Pirkle, & Dunn �
£ Nays : None �
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Mr. Butcher, attorney for Mr. Lilly then asked to make a state- �
ment. He commented that to answer Mr. Dunn' s question, the �
� handling of the committee report was the same procedure used �
� to handle the previous meeting. He stated that to answer Mr. �
Oliver' s question, he (Mr. Butcher) had the right to select �
two citizens, and that he did not back up on it, but that he �
selected two citizens . He further commented that he was ;
appalled at the City Council. He stated that the. Council �
members had their minds made up last month, but that they didn' t �
have the courage to vote. Mr. Butcher further commented that �
� Mr. Lilly had nothing to say to the Council at this time, that he �
� (Mr. Butcher) had only Mr. Lilly' s interest in mind. �
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; There was no further discussion. �
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: There being no further business, Councilman Pirkle made a �
' motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by �
Councilman Dalton and all present voted aye. �
� PASSED AND APPROVED this the �� day of � , 1976 �
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REPORT '•
OR
COUNCIL COMMITTEE
EVALUATING GR.APEVINE POLICE DEPT.
I .
PURPOSE
' Last August the City Council authorized the appointment
of a three-member committee to evaluate the attitudes , responsi-
bilities and performance of the Grapevine Police Department based
upon four general factors :
A. First , approximately 52a of the City� s tax dollar s
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for the 1974-75 fiscal year was being spent for
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police protection. In terms of total dollars spent
the budget increased by 175%, or from $147,000 in
1970-71 to $404,823 in 1974-75 at a time when our
population increased by only an estimated 1 ,387
people. It is self evident that the Council must
rely and does rely a great deal on the expertise of
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its department heads and their recommendations in
budgeting for the physical needs of the community. In
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� the fall of 1973 , Chief Lilly requested some 18 addi-
tional employees for a total of 38, as a result of
the projected increased traffic coming to and from
D�FW Airport and the nearby annexed Lake area. The
Council, after considering this request, authorized
three additional employees , for a total of 23. In
the middle of that fiscal year, Chief Lilly re-
quested an additional four more employees and was given
an additional two men for a total af 25 employees.
It is true that a portion of the Lake was annexed and
the D�FW Airport opened during this period, but we do ��
not have primary responsibility for patroling the Air-
, port , in that they have their own security force, and
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we did not annex the La.ke area to assume full responsibi-
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lity for policing the area, but to have jurisdic-
tion to assist other law enforcement agencies.
Several members of the Council began to question
the reliability of the recommendations of the Chief
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of Police and the benefits received f rom the in-
creased spending, and felt the Council had a pro-
prietary right to question the efficiency of that
department.
B. Secondly, the City received a grant in 1973 for a
survey of the Police Department, which survey was
" compiled by the Field Operation Division of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The survey pointed out many areas of strengths and
� . weaknesses as they existed in the Police Department
� at that time. For example, the survey revealed that
� major crime in the City of Grapevine had increased at
a slower rate than at the national and state levels,
but at the same time revealed that the percentage
of crimes cleared by arrest by our department was
considerably less than the national and state levels.
The survey made numerous recommendations and we were
interested to know if the survey had been beneficial
to the department.
C. Thirdly, there were growing signs of increasing
contempt by the Police Department against the City
government and the refusal of the Chief to cooperate
with the City Manager and other department heads in
policies established by the Council or the City staff.
D. Fourthly, complaints f rom citizens of police abuse
• had greatly increased, as well as requested explana-
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tions for why multiple squad cars were needed to be
involved in routine traffic matters and accident
investigations.
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II.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION
The Committee was chaired by the Mayor and included
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Mayor Pro-Tem Dalton and Councilman Oliver.
Several members of the department were interviewed
during the investigation, including the Chief, Assistant
Chief, Detective, Sergeants, several patrolmen, dispatchers,
Public Accountants, and other department heads. The members
of the Committee met for over thirty hours in joint sessions
and made additional inquiries in accordance with each
member�s interest and personal schedule. We found most
members of the department to appear uneasy by our inquiry
. and tivere reluctant to be critical of the policies and pro-
cedures of the department. The department, from the start,
seemed resentful of the Council�s efforts to make such an
� evaluation.
The Committee met with Chief Lilly on two different
occasions. The first on October 13th and the second on
November 4, 1975. During these meetings with the Chief, he
seemed to be unknowledgeable of many of the problems which
the Committee made him aware existed in the department and
which he agreed to resolve. In addition he was unresponsive
to any suggested reduction in the number of patrolmen and
indicated that actually he needed more; and that he knew no
way to be more efficient in his department. It was made clear
to him that he would be held responsible if improvement in
his department was not made.
By mid-March, it became apparent to the Committee that
improvements were not being made and that a further inquiry .
should be made. Because of Councilman Oliver�s schedule, he
, was only able to meet with the Committee after 3:00 o �clock
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in the afternoon, which had caused some difficulties in
scheduling during the previous hearings . After discussion with
Councilman Oliver, it was decided that he would be replaced on
the Committee by Councilman Pirkle and that he would file his
written report to the Committee.
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Upon rechecking, we found that the attitudes in the
department had deteriorated rather than improved because the
feeling in the department was that the committee had been
unable to find anything wrong in the department. Based upon fi
this information, the original Committee met and felt that
it should make its report to the Council at that time, be-
cause a further investigation would not serve any further
purpose, since we had failed by our inquiries to gain the
attention of the Chief in improving our law �enforcement program.
Councilman Pirkle, as a member of the Council and as former
Mayor, has personal knowledge of some of the problems that
exist in that department. The evaluation was ended without
further investigation however, and therefore, he is not a
signer to this report.
III .
FINDINGS
The Committee is of the opinion that the following
factors exist in the Police Department:
A. Favorable Factors:
l. The crime rate has remained behind the
state and national averages for many years.
2. The house check program is an excellent
community service and should be continued.
3. The starting pay scale of the officers may
� have lagged behind other departments a great
deal of the time, but the merit system for
raises gives an officer a greater potential
and incentive to do a better job.
4. We have many good officers who form the
nucleus for an excellent department, and
have received many compliments on their.
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courtesies in dealing with the general public.
5. The new microfilming equipment, INCOTERN
System will themselves greatly increase the
effectiveness of lacv enforcement in our
community.
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B. Unfavorable Factors:
1. That there were approximately 1 ,000 citations
that had not been properly prepared by the
Police Department for prosecution in the
Municipal Court.
2. There had not been sincere attempts made to
collect outstanding warrants and the Chief
had not availed himself of all available
means of providing lists of outstanding
warrants to other law enforcement agencies.
3. That the number of officers and personnel and
the money budgeted in the department far ex-
ceeded the average of cities of comparable
size in our area.
4. That items of evidence and other personal
property taken from suspects and recovered
stolen merchandise are not properly in-
. , ventoried or accounted for.
5. That there are basically no in-service train-
ing programs within the department.
6. That there are no requirements that the
officers practice regularly with their fire
arms, and no records maintained of their -
skill of proficiency.
7. That the day shift had three supervisors on
duty at the same time, including the Chief,
Assistant Chief and Detective, leaving only
one Sergeant on duty to supervise each addi-
tional shift.
8. The percentage of personnel are not assigned
in accordance with workload needs. For
example, during the summer months when
traffic is at its highest level, we had
difficulty keeping more than 2 of our 5
patrol cars on the street, because of the
scheduling of vacations and days off.
9. The Chief did not willingly seek the advise
of the City Attorney.
10. There was generally no set procedure for prop-
erly explaining new city ordinances and
how they should be enforced, except posting
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a copy on the bulletin board.
11. We questioned whether the written policies
of the department are updated on a regular basis.
12. Competition among Sergeants became embittered
which affected the morale and effectiveness
:; of the patrolmen.
13. There appeared to be an inconsistency in
charges filed against individual defendants.
14. Officers were setting non-established fines
without approval of the D7unicipal Judge.
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15. The Chief failed to cooperate with Depart-
ment of Revenue in setting up new procedures
on tickets and warrants. For example, The
City Director of Revenue spent 3 days in
Dallas investigating their processing of
tickets and warrants. He then developed a
proposal for a new system in Grapevine.
When this proposal was submitted to the
Chief, he stated that he did not have time
to fool with the matter.
16. The Chief�s failure to abide by the personnel
policies in hiring new officers. For example,
Rather than following the procedure set up by
the Personnel Director and City Manager, to
review all applicants, the Chief often would
send an applicant to the Personnel Director
with a written recommendation for hiring and
the understanding on the part of the applicant
that he had in fact been hired.
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17. The Chief did not encourage his men to attend
_ . Municipal Court hearings in which they were
involved and did not appear himself to observe
their performance.
18. Too much of the investigative work was being
passed on to the Detective, that could and
should be done by other officers.
19. Many reports were not being properly filled out.
20. There was some information that the radio log
and other records had been altered.
21. The Chief was not frank when written reports
were requested by the City Manager, and it
appeared that the Chief was too defensive.
22. The Chief and a majority of the men in his
department feels that the City government
has no proprietary interest in the department.
That the City Council should run the City Hall
and he should run the police station.
- 23. The right of arrest is an extreme power and
though we did not attempt to investigate the
merits of individual complaints there was a
distinct impression that too many people were
being arrested unnecessarily, when a ticket
would have sufficed. We believe that police
powers were being used excessively, such as
repeated driver�s license checks of youthful
citizens , and out of town visitors and that
" some officers were too rough in their handling ,.
of prisoners.
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IV
RECOD'tMENDAT I ONS
69e agree that politics sbould stay out of the Police
Department , but by the same token that department, as well as
�"; any other, must have checks and balances f rqm other branches
of City Government. This is a basic, fundemental principal
of any democratic form of government. The findings of the
Committee are a direct reflection of what happens when the
check and balances have been restricted.
A. Under the Charter, the Mayor is the Municipal
Judge in the absence of the City Judge and the
Mayor Pro-Tem in the absence of both the Judge
and the Mayor. Both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem
have been called upon many times within the last
twelve months to act as Municipal Judge in the
arraignment of prisoners. This procedure un-
- � doubtedly has been confusing to some members of
. that department and given cause for speculation
as to the interest of these public officials in
various cases . The Committee questioned that
practice and recommends to the Council that
alternative arrangements be made to assist our
Municipal Judge so that it would not be necessary
for the D4ayor or Mayor Pro-Tem to act in that �
capacity, except in extreme emergencies.
B. We also recommend that the policy of the Council
to allow members of the Council, as well as
ministers ride with patrolmen as observers be
restricted so that the policy does not interfere
with the functions of the Police Department and
serves as orientation only of the operation of
the department for Council members.
C. We recommend that the City Manager discuss with
Mr. Pittma,n and Mr. Harris of the CPA firm of
Pittman and Harris, whether they feel a need to
make any further investigation in the audit of
citations in the Police Department and Municipal
� Court and request that they file their report
including the determination of whether they found
any tickets dismissed by any public official or
city employee other than the Municipal Judge.
D. We recommend that further investigation of that
department be made through the Tarrant County
District Attorney� s Office , or other state or
`� federal agencies.
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E. We recommend that fihe City seek the assistance
of the Criminal Justice Council in determining
the phy�ical and persannel needs of the Police
Department, to ensure that the City is adequately
protected wa.th maximum efficiency.
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V.
CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of thi� report has been ta make the
metnbers of the City Cauncil and the City Manager aware
of the areas of prob].ems and concern which were found to
be present in the Police Department. There has been na
attempt to detail all of the specific information, as
this wouid be an impossible and unreasanable task far
the ccrmmittee to attersipt. 3t is impartant for the Council
to knaw that a sincere effort was made to conduc-t �Ghe in-
ve�tigatian on as fai.r and i.mpartial basis as possib3e.
In conver�ation with the Chi.ef af Police areas of concern
� were made kno�vn ta him along with the understanding that
so].utions should be arrived at a� qui.ckly and efficient].y
a
as possib].e.
In conclusian the undersigned members of this Palice
Investigation con�cur that this repart reflects the unanimaus
findings, recommendations and conciusions of the Garnmittee
members.
EXECUTELl THIS THE �Z._ DAY OF „� _,�, 1976.
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