Officer: Rumors plague force

In the quiet city of Newport Beach, where there isn’t enough criminal drama to go around, officers will create the drama among themselves, a former officer testified Friday during a civil trial against the city.

“It was like being back in high school. You’re either in the ‘in’ crowd or the ‘out’ crowd. The rumor mill is crazy,” testified Steven Fong, a former Newport Beach police officer now working with Huntington Beach. “I want to help people. I didn’t feel like that’s what I would be able to do in Newport … the department got in the way of that.”

Like everyone involved in the lawsuit, Fong said he was reluctant to testify against his former employer and colleagues because, working within the same county, he’s sure to bump into them.

Newport Beach, its police department and its former Chief Bob McDonell are being sued by Sgt. Neil Harvey, a 27-year veteran who claims that he has been discriminated against and not promoted because of false rumors that he is gay.

Defense attorneys maintain that it’s Harvey’s lack of leadership ability and over-emphasis to minor details that’s holding him back from becoming a lieutenant.

Larry Lennemann, Harvey’s lawyer, sought to convince jurors that the small Newport Beach police department is a place of haves and have-nots, where loyalty trumps the truth over fear of retaliation and where getting ahead relies more on favoritism than performance.

Harvey has never been considered “one of the guys,” and is ridiculed by his superiors and subordinates alike for being too “nitpicky” in editing police reports, his lawyer said.

Fong testified that from the moment he joined the department, he was expected to align against Harvey.

“Based on my contacts, I walked away believing ‘that’s someone I don’t want to associate with,’ ” Fong testified. “The people who I observed didn’t care for Sgt. Harvey. It seemed plain and simple if I was considered one of his friends or associates, then all those bad feelings would come toward me.”

Not until Fong actually worked with Harvey, did he see the hostility was unfounded, he testified.

In fact, he considered Harvey his favorite superior, he told jurors.

“He knows the job probably better than anyone over there,” Fong told jurors. “I think he would’ve made a good lieutenant...He did the right things. He told people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear.”

Much of officers’ dislike for Harvey came from the belief he was gay, his lawyers claim. Fong said co-workers gave him that impression immediately.

Sgt. John Hougan also testified about the rumor.

Hougan named 23 former and current police officers, including the current chief, who he said used homophobic slurs against Harvey and insinuated that Harvey is homosexual.

A favorite joke among officers is comparing Harvey to Lt. Jim Dangle, a fictional gay lieutenant from Comedy Central’s “Reno 9-1-1” TV show, Hougan testified.

Lennemann said officers’ reluctance to testify against their colleagues proves that loyalty, not the truth, is what counts in Newport Beach.

“At the end of the day, we all got to go back to work together,” Hougan told jurors.

Harvey and Police Chief John Klein sat opposite each other in the courtroom.

“It’s going to change relationships,” Hougan said.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.