Police insisting on new chief

The Newport Beach police union representing the department’s managers is demanding that Police Chief John Klein be immediately replaced.

In a letter to City Atty. David Hunt, the Police Management Assn. is called on city officials to immediately recruit and retest for a new department leader.

A week after the association, which represents department commanders from the rank of sergeant up, found that 70% of the union’s 33 members wanted city officials to go through the recruitment process again and retest for the position, the union attorney sent a letter to the city attorney’s office saying the officers want the change immediately.

Klein’s rise to top cop ran afoul of city ordinance, bolstering the union’s argument. In a letter to the union April 3, Hunt stated that Klein was recruited for the position by a closed, or city employee-exclusive, recruitment. The law requires the city to also test police chief candidates from outside the department.

In the April letter, Hunt asked union attorney Sanjay Bansal for his legal opinion on what, if any, action his clients would like to see taken in light of Klein’s improper ascension to chief.

While the union has clearly expressed its desire for a new chief, Bansal’s letter fell short because there was no legal basis for the request, officials said.

“That’s not a legal opinion, that’s their vote, their feelings,” said Tara Finnigan, spokeswoman for Newport. “Chief Klein has rights too.”

Messages left for Klein Thursday went unreturned, but in the past he has said he leaves all such decisions to the City Council. Hunt said Wednesday that he expects to issue his legal opinion on the matter next week.

The union’s urgent call for a new chief is the latest setback for Klein’s administration.

In a letter sent to Klein, Hunt, and the Civil Service Board May 7, the Police Employees Assn., which represents police officers and non-sworn employees in the department, association attorney Robert Wexler wrote that the “department is becoming increasingly paralyzed by the cloud that hangs over the present administration.”

The letter aimed to get the city to expedite its investigation into Klein’s promotion and the department’s promotional process in general.

The association criticized Klein’s unilateral decision to suspend all promotions until the city concludes its investigation into the promotional process. Klein said he would lift the suspension when the investigation concludes.

How people have been promoted has come under intense scrutiny lately, with the city recently losing a $1.2-million judgment against a sergeant who was not promoted out of retaliation and because of false rumors he is gay.

They could potentially face a second lawsuit, as recently retired Lt. Steve Shulman filed a claim against the city earlier this month seeking no less than $100,000. He claims a biased process kept him from rising to captain and the city should cover what he paid to leave the department two years early but with maximum retirement benefits.