The OC Register reports on IVC's top cops

1. OC REGISTER. In this morning’s OC Register, Marla Jo Fisher reports on recent events regarding Irvine Valley College’s top cops (Top college police placed on leave):

Both of the top police officers at Irvine Valley College have been sent home on paid leave and their computers seized, pending an investigation into unspecified allegations, officials confirmed Friday.

The reason for the probe was not disclosed. College President Glenn Roquemore said he could not discuss the case.

…Reached at their homes, Police Chief Owen Kreza and his deputy police chief, Dennis W. Duncan, both said they did not know why they were placed on leave.

…[D]eputy chief, Duncan, who retired from a long career as a sheriff's deputy before coming to work at IVC, said he had not been contacted by any investigator since he was sent home a week ago Monday.

"I was told not to say anything," Duncan, 52, said. "Anyone, at any time, can make an allegation. My conscience is clear."

…The matter is administrative, not criminal, and outside law enforcement has not been contacted, said Tracy Daly, spokeswoman for the South Orange County Community College District….

…Kreza told the Irvine World News in 2001 that he had provided security to country music stars, business moguls and the family of the Sultan of Brunei.

…In September 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kreza was among five Irvine Police Department officers facing internal discipline.

City officials would not specify the reason for the discipline, except to say it stemmed from a internal investigation into a lawsuit by female officers alleging that some Irvine cops belonged to a "Code Four Club" into which male officers were inducted after having sex in the back of a patrol car while on duty.

After the investigation, city officials said they found no evidence of such a club, but announced they would discipline five officers for unspecified offenses discovered during the probe, none of which were criminal.

On Friday, Kreza said vehemently that he'd "had nothing to do with that Code Four Club" and that it was not related to his 1993 suspension by the city police department.

"My suspension was related to secondary employment," Kreza said. "I had applied for secondary employment. It was a mess."

Kreza is on the board of directors of the Exchange Club of Irvine, which has as its credo, in part, that members should "consecrate my best energies to the uplifting of Social, Religious, Political and Business ideals… (and to) honor and respect the law."

There’s nothing much new here, aside from Kreza’s acknowledging that he was indeed suspended in 1993 by the Irvine Police Department. This suggests, of couse, they he did engage in some form of misconduct.

Nevertheless, nine years later, Kreza was hired as IVC Police Chief by then-College President Raghu Mathur.

WAIT A MINUTE: the Reg reports that "Kreza said vehemently that he'd 'had nothing to do with that Code Four Club.'"

Aha! So there WAS a Code Four Club after all! (In 1993, after an investigation, the Irvine PD ultimately declared that there was no such club. See Kreza/Irvine PD.)

I suppose Owen could say that, in the above remark, he was referring only to the group who wore those Code Four pins that were being sold out of Officer Boggs' garage. But if that's all the club amounted to, why get all hot and bothered about being associated with it?

2. FATE OF IPD LAWSUITS DETERMINED. Yesterday, I presented various reports from 1993 concerning the Irvine Police Department's sexual harassment and discrimination scandals. At the time, I had not yet determined the fate of the sex harrassment/discrimination lawsuit (filed by four IPD women) that led to the uncovering of IPD's dark side.

Yesterday, I found an abstract of a 1995 OC Register article that fills in some details:

Irvine police harassment suits settled for $140,000

CITIES: Three former women employees were paid so the city wouldn't have to go to court, the city attorney says.
March 29, 1995

Byline: LORI HAYCOX; MICHAEL COPELAND

The Orange County Register

The city paid $140,000 to settle sexual-harassment lawsuits filed by three female employees who alleged they were treated unfairly when they worked at the Police Department, city officials confirmed Tuesday.

The last settlement was reached Oct. 25, when the city agreed to pay $83,000 to narcotics investigator Abbe Taylor. In previous settlements earlier in the year, the city paid $55,000 to senior officer Shari Lohman and $2,750 to dispatcher Elaine Jones. "We recommended [abstract ends here].

You'll recall that other women were involved in the initial lawsuit, e.g., a woman named Pamela Fuehrer. How come she's not mentioned?

Perhaps she is, in the full article (I only pulled up the abstract). Inquiring minds can buy the article and pursue the matter further, I suppose.

3. HOW BAD WAS THE ALLEGED HARASSMENT? In case I haven't mentioned it, the stories of harassment and discrimination that the initial four women told were very bad, surprisingly bad. Those interested might look up such articles as "4 Female Irvine PD Employees File Sex Harassment Suit" (Times, 2/24/93). Naturally, they are allegations. (Please note that these allegations are independent of the allegation, incidental to the suit, that there existed a "Code Four Club.")

Here's an excerpt from the above article:

[Plaintiff] Shari Lohman said she was pressured to attend off-duty police parties where she was exposed to derogatory comments and sexual gestures and forced to listen to sexually explicit recordings by the late comedian Sam Kinison...At one party, she said, she pointed to the necktie of a supervisor who didn't normally wear one and said, "What's this? How come you're dressed up?" The supervisor responded, she asserted in the suit, by placing his hand on her breast and saying, "What's this?"

According to the Times article, one plaintiff said she joined in filing an EEOC complaint and the lawsuit because "she has 'feared for her safety as a police officer' because of threats from her male counterparts in the field."

I am not suggesting, of course, that Owen Kreza had any part in these alleged patterns of sexual harassment/discrimination at the IPD.

Owen definitely has a reputation at IVC for making inappropriate remarks. Reliable persons have told me that they have heard such remarks by Kreza.

Naturally, such conduct, though objectionable (perhaps this is the wrong word), is a far cry from the conduct alleged by the IPD women of '92-'93. For all that I know, Owen's suspension in '93 concerned, as he is reported to have said, "secondary employment," not sex-related misconduct.

4. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...? I went to the Irvine Police Department website, and, in its directory, I found that

☆ HENRY BOGGS (one of the "IPD Six"; he was initially threatened with suspension, evidently for running some sort of "Code Four" pin business without the IPD's permission; ultimately, IPD decided not to pursue discipline in his case) is now an administrator with the IPD. He is the department's "Administrative Sergeant."

☆ The IPD serves three areas, comprising 37 officers (assuming the directory lists all officers).

Judging by their names, of those 37, about 11 appear to be female.

☆ Given the IPD's history, one is disappointed to discover that neither the department's "vision" nor its "values" refers (even indirectly) to the importance of avoiding sexual discrimination or harassment:

Vision Statement

We aspire to be a world-class leader in policing, a model for character, innovation, and service. We strive to protect our diverse and dynamic community with fairness, integrity, and respect for the rights of the individual. We resolve to develop a creative, forward-thinking workforce, dedicated to raising our level of excellence to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

One of the department's "values" is "respect":

Respect--Valuing human life, having considerate and courteous regard for all persons. We follow, honor and defend the constitution of this country.

May I offer a suggestion? The IPD should list it's "vices." Among them:

CLUELESSNESS