CLEA President Babeu responds to Precinct 134 (part 2 of 2)
President of Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA) Paul Babeu sent me a reply today with the remaining responses to my interview questions (see Part 1 of 2). He also forwarded to me the text of the CLEA letter which was given to the City Council last week. That letter appears to be substantially the same text as posted on The Jake Files, to which I linked earlier. I will include the text as a comment on this thread.
Thank you, again, Officer Babeu, for your time and consideration in sharing these thoughts with us at Precinct 134.
Questions in italics:
Thank you, again, Officer Babeu, for your time and consideration in sharing these thoughts with us at Precinct 134.
Questions in italics:
6. What might be the impact, if any, of the recall of one or both of the Councilmen in question upon law enforcement in Chandler? Are there particular initiatives or effectiveness that might be compromised if either Councilman Sepulveda and/or Councilman Orlando are removed from office? Are there possible benefits to law enforcement to be gained from their ouster from the Council?
Council members Sepulveda and Orlando have been strong supporters of Law Enforcement in Chandler. Both leaders have long and distinguished careers in out military and have a keen understanding of Public Safety and our Department's needs. Both have been very accessible to speak with our chain of command and our Patrol Officers Union.
We strongly support their progressive leadership and appreciate their strong support of Chandler Police. Many elected officials always say "I am a strong support of Police," but it is is words only. I have been very pleased by Council member Orlando and Sepulveda's follow through and leadership when it
comes to providing our Police dept with needed equipment, support staff and sworn Officers. No one really ever knows what a new elected official brings
to the table, until they establish such a track record.
7. What has been your impression, if any, of the general rapport between the City Council and law enforcement in Chandler? What about the leadership of the Mayor's leadership in dealing with the needs and concerns of CLEA's members?
CLEA is very grateful for the support we have received from our entire City Council. Certain leaders, namely Phill Westbrooks, has helped bring focus and attention to our low staffing and poor response times compared to neighboring communities. Westbrooks has done this not to hurt our Police Dept., but to show how we must accurately reflect on our benchmarks of service, in order to have meaningful improvement.
No one has opposed increases to our Department, but Phill Westbrooks, Donna Wallace, Matt Orlando, Martin Sepulveda have championed needed increases. Mayor Dunn and Council Members Caccammo and Huggins voted for recent budget increases for needed staff and we are very appreciative for their support as well.
8. What other thoughts do you have on either the separation of City Manager Pentz, the recall effort, the concerns or needs of CLEA or the possible impact of any of this on the future of law enforcement in Chandler? Are there any other thoughts you'd like to share with our readers?
We have seen rapid population growth, business development, job creation and continued housing boom. All this is very positive, yet our Police Dept has not kept pace and has actually fallen seriously behind. Chandler PD's response time to Priority 1 calls (highest emergency, when immediate threat to life or property, or crime in progress), is 6 min and 10 seconds, while our neighbors in Tempe boast the best time of 4.36 minutes and Scottsdale under 5.0 minutes. Chandler's publicly stated goal remains at 5 minutes, yet sadly remains a lofty goal that can't be achieved with current resources.
Chandler families and businesses deserve better. Meaningful improvement in Police service and quicker response times can be gained by adding more Police Officers.
The number of Chandler Police Officers per 1,000 citizens is the lowest of our peers and clearly impacts the level of service we can provide. If Chandler leaders were as committed as Tempe in Staffing, we would boast 507 Police Officers, rather than our current 320. We need 30 new Officers added immediately and at least 30 more next year. The entire hiring process can take longer that one year before a new Police Officer is ready to Patrol on their own. We must act immediately to be ready to properly staff our new precincts and improve our emergency response times.
These statistics and diminished services are not acceptable to the Police Officers in the trenches, the Officers who patrol your neighborhoods, investigate your crimes, respond to your emergencies and assist you when you ask for help. We are asking our citizens for help, in order to improve our Police Dept. Our Police department consistently recruits and graduates the top recruits from Arizona Law Enforcement Academy, but we need more to properly do our jobs. We take great pride in our jobs, love the city of Chandler and believe we have the makings to be among the finest Police Departments in Arizona. Thank you for listening and for your support.
Paul R. Babeu, President
Chandler Law Enforcement Association
P.O. Box 238, Chandler, AZ 85225
posted by Geo at 12:11 PM
1 Comments:
This is Officer Babeu's email to me outlining the text of the letter the CLEA gave to the City Council last week.
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George,
Thanks for your thoughtful questions and concerns on these issues. I cut and paste our CLEA letter. I will answer the remaining question tomorrow.
Best, Paul
Mayor and Council Members,
The Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA)is compelled to speak publicly about many Law Enforcement issues and concerns. Our poor Police response times compared to neighboring East Valley agencies, where Chandler's Priority 1 (highest emergency) is 6 minutes and 10 seconds, while Tempe is under 5 minutes. We spoke about the need to immediately hire more Police Officers, since we do not have enough to realistically improve our response time and to improve our presence in Chandler. Additionally, we spoke about Officer safety - the fact that we continue to be outfitted with inadequate radio communication, where officers in critical incidents may not be able to communicate for help, provide a description of a suspect to other responding Officers or request medical assistance for a citizen.
These most important Public Safety concerns should be the function of our Police Command and the responsibility of the City Manager. Mr. Mark Pentz has allowed these concerns to go unresolved and two years ago directed Chief Kiyler to cut her budget by 2%, underscoring his lack of support for our Police Department. CLEA felt compelled to speak publicly to bring public attention and focus to these important issues.
What was the city managers response to this plea for help by Chandler Police Officers? He went after our elected leader and threatened him....Shut up, or you will not get your raise. CLEA President and Chandler Police Officer Paul Babeu came before your body to express his distrust in Mark Pentz and to publicly report Mr. Pentz's threat made on February 22, 2006 during a meeting in his office. Mr. Pentz threatened Officer Babeu, while acting in his capacity as President of CLEA, to deny a proposed salary increase for Police Officers. Mr. Pentz said while pointing to the $3.5 million figure in the budget, "we do not have to give this to you, I can simply say No, so be careful what you say publicly and how you refer to me."
Where is the City Council's outcry for justice here? Was it acceptable, for the highest city employee of Chandler to threaten our leader, who by City Charter represents all Chandler Police Officers? Mr. Pentz's response should have been focused on solving the problem and addressing issues which Officers raised, not a direct attempt to silence the messenger with a threat. Mr. Pentz should have said, 'I understand your concern over our slow emergency response times....what can we do to improve Police Service, what can we do to get better communication equipment, how are we lacking compared to our neighboring cities and how can we better serve Chandler residents?' Sadly, however, Mr. Pentz forgot his purpose as our City Manager and did not provide one word of appropriate concern for Police Services! Furthermore, Officer Babeu reported Mr. Pentz's threat to Police Chief Sherry Kiyler within the hour of the occurrence. Chief Kiyler confronted her boss (Mr. Pentz) about this and Mr. Pentz said he 'did in fact mention the raise, but had a different perspective than Paul.'
At your council meeting, Mr. Pentz admitted that he made such statements and acknowledged that he was aware that Officer Babeu perceived his statements as a direct threat and perceived him to be hostile towards Officer Babeu, but Mr. Pentz never made any attempt to dissuade Officer Babeu or CLEA from this perception.
Allow us to share the responsibilities of a city managers conduct, as written in our City Charter. Chandler City Charter 2-8.2. "Conduct. In the discharge of the duties of City Manager, the person holding such position shall endeavor at all times to exercise the highest degree of tact, patience and courtesy in contacts with the public and with all City Boards, Departments and Employees and shall endeavor to establish and maintain a harmonious relationship between all personnel employed in the government of the City to the end that the highest possible standards of public service shall be continuously maintained."
So, Mayor and Council Members, We ask you again. Is this acceptable behavior from the City Manager? Was it acceptable in your view, that Mr. Pentz threatened Officer Babeu and 240 Police Officers, by direct verbal threat to withhold our pay raise, if we continued to speak publicly about Police service to our citizens. Where is your sense of right and fairness here? Why do some insist that this man be considered for re-hire when there is so much baggage and he has chosen a very public and hostile means to leave employment?
When Police Officer John Carboun was wrongly fired by Chief Harris - where was your outcry for his mistreatment? Chandler has already paid over $200,000 fighting Officer Carboun's wrongful termination and civil rights violations suit, yet still not a word has been spoken by Council Members about the waste of city finances. Where was the City Council's outcry for fairness for Officer Carboun, when he was wrongly fired for publicly speaking about Officer Safety concerns? When a Police Officer or any city employee is terminated - we are simply shown the door, with little or no public outcry, and certainly without any generous severance package.
Mark Pentz is fired and it's like he hit the Powerball. Truly, Mr. Pentz understands the meaning of Golden Parachute, when you pay an employee over $250,000 in salary and benefits, after he is terminated. Where was the outcry when former Manager Donna Dreska was separated in the same manner, with $150,000 in separation package and $50,0000 for a new
search.
Mr. Pentz even said his average rating of performance by the City Council was acceptable to him. Will you and our citizens accept average performance by our Police Officers and Fire Fighters? Do you believe that is what our citizens - the citizens we are sworn to serve expect when they dial 911? If our fellow Police Officers accept mediocrity - it may mean our very life, or the life of our citizens. This would compromise the high level of Public Safety we provide the citizens of Chandler. Our City has achieved a 98% high approval rating for the past 13 years, due to our great work because we meet every challenge with enthusiasm and our sincere desire to best serve our citizens, not some luke warm desire to be average! We expect and demand leaders who lead! We and the Police Officers we represent will not tolerate a Supervisor, City Manager or elected official who deliberately threatens or intimidates us
in our attempt to speak publicly about law enforcement Issues.
We respectfully ask that our leaders move forward and select a new manager, a leader who is free of political agenda and controversy. A new City Manager who can unite our divided community and City Council. Our City should be focused on the real issues of build out, economic development, education, Public Safety and the quality of life in Chandler. The discontent and continued animosity on our City Council needs to end. We ask that you work together and move our City forward and address the needs of our
City.
Respectfully Submitted,
Paul Babeu, President
Cassandra Cockings, Vice-President
Joseph McAuliffe, Treasurer
Patrick Omerod, Secretary
Christopher Emmons, Publisher
Larry Roe, Legal Chairman
Lombardo Robles, Recruiting Chairman
Jason Mow, Sergeant AT Arms
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