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| NEWS > 29 August 2006 |
Other related articles:
Appeals court tosses $42 milli
LOS ANGELES – A $42 million racial discrimination suit won by 500 members of the Los Angeles County Police was tossed by an appellate panel that ruled race didn't bar them from seeking higher-paying jobs.
A jury decided in 2003 that race was a factor in low pay and benefits received by the officers – 70 percent of them minority – compared to Sheriff's Department deputies. Seventy percent of sheriff's deputies are white.
County police officers are primarily responsible for patrolling county parks and facilities.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected the j... Read more
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Wickenburg Sun - Wickenburg,AZ
29 August 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Council to decide former offic
When the Wickenburg Town Council meets next week, it will decide whether or not to uphold a 3-month-old decision to terminate Wickenburg Police Officer James Christian Sallee.
The meeting will take place at Town Hall Tuesday (Sept. 5) at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was moved from Monday to Tuesday in observance of Labor Day.
Sallee's employment with the town ended this past May at the conclusion of an internal investigation relating to a 2004 off-duty incident that took place north of Yarnell.
The final decision to terminate Sallee was made by Town Manager Shane Dille. Sallee appealed the decision, and earlier this month he met with the Wickenburg Personnel Board during a three-hour closed-door hearing. The three-member board consisted of a council member (Vice Mayor Jim Girard) a town employee (Stacey Canary) and a citizen (G.R. Cason).
The following day, the board contacted Sallee and his attorney in writing with its decision.
“The personnel board has listened to the testimony tapes and reviewed the hearing testimony and findings,” the memo said. “The evidence is very clear in support of the discharge of Officer James Sallee.
“Therefore,” it said, “the board supports the decision made by staff in the termination of James Christian Sallee and sends this decision and recommendation to the Town Council of Wickenburg.”
The council will review the board's findings and recommendation during a possible executive session, and Sallee's attorney is expected to file a brief opposing the board's decision.
The investigation leading to Sallee's termination involved a traffic incident in which Sallee was stopped by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office (YCSO) for allegedly driving 92 mph in a 55 mph zone.
The incident report was written by YCSO Deputy Michael Bricker, who in his report said Sallee was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. The report said a field breath test was administered, and the test was said to have registered .086. A person in Arizona is presumed intoxicated with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or above.
In the report, Bricker said he placed Sallee under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and then transported him to the YCSO substation in Yarnell for further testing.
Bricker said in the report that Sallee tested on an intoxilyzer machine and registered a BAC of .070. Bricker said Sallee was released to his passenger and was not cited for either speeding or DUI.
After learning of the incident this past April, Wickenburg Police Chief Tony Melendez conducted an internal investigation. According to documents providing details into the investigation, Melendez gave Sallee a written notice of investigation stating that he could be disciplined up to and including dismissal if he refused to or did not truthfully answer questions relating to the investigation.
At the conclusion of the investigation, Melendez said he found Sallee to be untruthful.
“Based on factual findings supported by sufficient evidence, Officer Sallee was impaired and was given the benefit of the doubt based on his position,” Melendez said. “Officer Sallee failed to report his unethical actions to the Wickenburg Police Department, and it was further found during this investigation that Officer Sallee was untruthful by making false statements.
“Officer Sallee's denial of corroborated facts calls into question his integrity, truthfulness and fitness to serve as a Wickenburg police officer,” he added. “Due to the seriousness of Officer Sallee's actions, which jeopardize public trust in the Wickenburg Police Department, it is my recommendation that Officer Sallee be terminated.”
Town Manager Shane Dille then made the decision to terminate Sallee on May 24.
Sallee, however, told the personnel board that he did not make untruthful statements during the investigation. He said he was never placed under arrest and was not impaired at that time.
“Deputy Bricker never placed me under arrest, and I volunteered to go take the intoxilyzer test at the Yarnell substation to prove that I was not intoxicated,” Sallee said.
Sallee also said there was not a written policy in place at that time stating that a member of the Wickenburg Police Department needed to report to his or her supervisor if he or she had any law enforcement contact while off-duty.
The hearing was closed to the media, family and the general public. However, the hearing was conducted in Council Chambers and several individuals sat and waited outside the room.
Several days after the hearing, Sallee requested in writing that tapes recorded during the hearing be released to the public. It is impossible to know all the testimony that took place during the hearing because the tape released to the public was chronologically out of order, with a large block of testimony missing.
Town Clerk Donna Riffel, who did not attend the hearing, said the tape recorder used is the same recorder used during council meetings. She said when it is not used correctly or paused incorrectly, the recorder malfunctions. Riffel said she has had the same results in the past during council meetings.
“This was unintentional human error,” Riffel said. “And I will state for the record that the tape was not doctored or altered in anyway.”
The order of witnesses and testimony on the 60-minute tape include the swearing in of witnesses, the introduction of the panel and attorneys, opening statements by Salle's attorney, closing statements by Sallee's attorney, closing statements by the town's attorney, testimony by Shane Dille, testimony by Chris Sallee, and it concludes with questions from the personnel board.
What is missing from the tape is approximately 45 minutes of testimony from Chief Melendez, and testimony from Judge John Henry and YCSO's Major John O'Hagen. Henry and O'Hagen were called as witnesses for Sallee.
Heard on the tape during opening statements was Sallee's attorney Janet L. Feltz, saying her client did not violate any of the rules cited in his disciplinary notice. Feltz said Sallee did not discredit the town because he was never cited for the incident, nor did he lack candor in his written reply regarding the incident.
“The deputy may have written in a report that he the took Officer Sallee to the Yarnell substation and used the term ‘I placed him under arrest' without making a statement to that effect to Chris at the scene,” Feltz said. “Chris suggested they go to the substation, so the deputy had to write a report.”
Deputy Bricker was not called by either side to testify, and board member Cason questioned that decision. He told Feltz that she had placed a lot of emphasis on whether Sallee was actually placed under arrest or not, and he wondered why Bricker was not there to testify.
Feltz responded by saying that the town was making the allegation, and that it was the town's choice to make the allegation through hearsay instead of through direct testimony.
“We're here with the officer,” Feltz said. “You have first-hand testimony and can assess his credibility. I don't think it is our responsibility to bring in Deputy Bricker. I think it is the city's responsibility to do that if they want to establish the allegation.”
With that, Cason then asked town attorney Russ Romney why he did not include Bricker on the town's witness list. Romney told Cason that Bricker was out of town that week and he had been unable to subpoena him.
Sallee, who worked for the town for 12 years, believes he did not receive due process. He said he was never given a chance to speak to Melendez or Dille regarding his account of the events versus the account of Deputy Bricker after he wrote his initial response to Melendez.
He said he knew the importance of telling the truth, realizing he could be terminated if he was not truthful. He also said that he could lose his certification with Arizona Police Officers Standard and Training (POST) if he was not truthful.
Sallee said he swore to tell truth when the hearing began, and that his story has not changed since the time of the incident.
“I love being a police officer and enjoy working for the town,” Sallee said “And I always aspired to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather, who passed away at 91. He was a sergeant and a 35-year veteran of the Lexington (Kentucky) Police Department.
“But I am very concerned about the tape that was recorded during my hearing,” he added. “The Town Council may listen to it when trying to make a decision, and it is inaccurate because of all the missing testimony.”
Sallee has not said what will be his next move if he is not reinstated with the Wickenburg Police Department. He said for now he is just trying to clear up the situation so that he can move on with his life.
“It's been really hard living here and having people stare at me and make comments,” he said. “I have made mistakes and I made one last December when I was impaired and I had an accident.
“I received disciplinary action from the town and I did not fight it because there was a consequence to my action,” he added. “I do regret, however, that it has taken me this long to say I am sorry for
what I did.”
Sallee was referring to an incident where he was cited for extreme driving under the influence. Sallee was suspended without pay for 30 days and the charges were eventually dismissed in that case.
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