Some Southlake Police Skeptical as City Study Begins

By Jean Weaver and Jay Board

Contributing Writers

Administrators say they will study and resolve concerns about practices and policies raised in a nine-page report by Assistant District Attorney Kurt Stallings that summarizes findings of the five-month investigation.

Many police officers, though pleased their grievances surfaced in detail, see the grand jury’s refusal to indict as another blow to morale, and their confidence in city leadership seems to be fading.

“Not all ethical issues are violations of the law,” one police source conceded on Feb. 27. “I have to trust that the grand jury and district attorney did the best they could and that everything was considered. I don’t know how many exactly or how soon, but several [officers] have said they would leave if [the status quo remains]; it looks like another one left today. Morale is very low.”

“I am pleased that, at least at this stage of the controversy, there is revelation of the incompetence in the leadership in Southlake [Department of Public Safety],” another source said.

Police sources, fearful of retaliation, have spoken to the Southlake Journal since September, when Stallings’ investigation began, on the condition that their names be withheld.

Since then, three officers have been disciplined, which has been controversial: Sgt. Mario Cmet was demoted to the rank of officer; Sgt. Jayson Steele has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation; and Lt. Mike Kenny, who filed a hostile work environment complaint, was fired. Kenny’s appeal is pending.

Police Chief Wade Goolsby and DPS Director Jim Blagg, also an assistant city manager, have been at the center of the controversy and several of their decisions and policies were called into question in Stallings’ report.

“There are obviously some issues which need to be addressed,” Goolsby said in a statement last week, “and with the review process initiated by the City Manager they will be.”

Goolsby and Blagg will “work alongside” consultants the city hired to study the findings in Stallings’ report by answering questions and providing information, city spokeswoman Pilar Schank said. Goolsby and Blagg are responsible for the police best-practices plan, City Manager Shana Yelverton said in a statement posted Feb. 27 on the city’s Web site.

Yelverton was unavailable for comment this week. Officials have not decided whether to change the police chain of command during the study, Schank said.

Lance Wyatt, Kenny’s attorney, said he is very concerned that Goolsby and Blagg will reportedly be given a “big role” in the city’s follow-up to the Stallings report.

The involvement of Goolsby and Blagg has increased skepticism among some officers, who point to the relationship between the two and their alleged roles in controversies described in the report.

“[The] report makes me wonder how the long-standing relationships among officials continue to affect decisions,” a source said. “There has not been enough scrutiny of officials’ backgrounds.”

Both Goolsby and Blagg were hired in 2005 on Blagg’s recommendation. Blagg, a former Abilene city manager, was hired as a Southlake city consultant in February 2005, helping the city find candidates to fill the two high-profile positions. Blagg began work as assistant city manager in October 2005 and was also named DPS director early last year.

The city had a disproportionate number of administrative openings in the months after November 2004, when a major scandal involving misuse of city resources surfaced.

“Anytime an organization has turmoil, everyone in management wants to get past that, and everyone is going to be in a fairly responsible and in-step position,” said Dan Carlson, director of the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, which offers training courses that some Southlake officials have attended.

Concerns about objective oversight of the department spurred a successful effort by its employees to place a referendum on civil service for police and firefighters on the May 10 ballot.

Terry Hickey, an attorney for Steele, the officer on leave, said civil service requires officials to use a standard set of rules for employees.

“I can’t think of any place that needs those rules more right now than Southlake,” Hickey said.

The referendum has not faced public opposition to this point. The city is remaining neutral.

The city, which posted the Stallings report on its own Web site, contracted two former FBI agents, one of whom is reportedly a former head of the FBI’s Los Angeles office. The consultants, according to Schank, began work on March 3 reviewing policies and incidents questioned in the report.

[Update by J. W. - Lt. Mike Kenny reinstated March 7, 2008 to return to work effective March 10, 2008]