Mailbag: Derogatory emails call ethics into question
The emails mocking women, ethnic and religious groups sent out by former Deputy Chief of Police Tom Angel while working at the Burbank Police Department are reprehensible.
Tom Angel was the appointed deputy chief in Burbank, primarily responsible for operations with specific oversight of all internal investigations. This highly ethical task was entrusted to him during a most turbulent time.
It was Tom Angel who attended hours and hours of courtroom testimony on behalf of the Burbank Police Department listening to witness testimony that alleged discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. He very well knew the city was fighting cases that alleged the department was infected with a culture that condoned discrimination and bigotry.
He knew several of the cases alleging discrimination, harassment and retaliation in the workplace were either won or settled in court. It is chilling to think he sent these deplorable emails during this same time period.
Both the Burbank Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are in the midst of a challenging and complex environment which demands strong ethical leaders. Police Department leaders should be expected to consciously model ethical behavior, consistently following a set of principles that foster integrity.
As department leaders of the organization, it is their individual and collective behavior, and not simply a motto on the wall, that reveals a department culture. Leaders always set the standard of behavior because in their position they influence and enable others.
It is said that actions speak louder than words. It is our sincere hope that city and county leaders carefully examine the issues and processes and take corrective action. Let us all remember the wise words of Abraham Lincoln “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Mike Chapman
President
Burbank Human Relations Council
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What did Chief LaChasse do?
Although it sparked national attention, the recent police email scandal was uncovered by the Burbank Leader. The reason it started with the Leader is that was (and still is) a Burbank police issue and deserves Burbank attention.
Make no mistake, these emails were received, forwarded and/or created on a city of Burbank email account, through a Burbank-taxpayer-provided computer, and by a city of Burbank employee that Burbank taxpayers were compensating at more than $200,000 a year to “clean up” the police department.
Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse was also brought in to “clean up” the agency and he too is compensated by Burbank taxpayers at well over $200,000 a year. What did LaChasse do when, more than a year earlier, he had the same emails in his hands that caused Tom Angel to resign last week from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department?
He did allegedly “remind” employees of his zero-tolerance policy. (Maybe he has a different definition of zero tolerance. Our community certainly does.) Please don’t be fooled by a statement such as, “We can’t discuss personnel matters.” This statement is calculated and misleading in that it gives the appearance that Chief LaChasse punished Tom Angel. He did not.
The bottom line is that if you were concerned by these emails (as most of us were) and you expect more from those leading your police department (and most of us do), then it’s time to demand that the City Council hold the chief accountable for his perpetuation of the very same stereotypes that taxpayers were handsomely paying him to address.
Dan Yadon
Burbank Police Lieutenant, Ret.
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Questioning a commemoration
Why is the Armenian Genocide such a priority for the Burbank Unified school board? Why did its members feel they must focus and move on it so quickly? This Armenian/Turkish war was 100 years ago and did not even involve America, so why is this an issue for the Burbank school board?
What exactly will setting the whole month of April as a commemoration of the Armenian Genocide include? How will this be implemented? Will the students need new history books? What other reading material will the students be assigned every April? Will there be a variety of reading material furnished? There are so many atrocities in every war. Which other ones will the school board feel it needs to look at and set aside a month to address?
As this was rushed through so fast, and the Leader article didn’t include any details, I am really concerned as to what exactly this action will bring. Our American Civil War was not nation against nation, but brother against brother -- and yet the pain and suffering that each side inflicted on each other was horrible.
Regardless of which war is being discussed, in every war there are atrocities committed by both sides. If humanity is to have a future, we need to find a different better way to solve disputes and not try to place blame and/or punish a people or country today for war that happened 100 years ago, or for national or personal gain. It is a known fact that neither side is blameless when it comes to committing heinous acts in time of war.
Anna May Nelson
Burbank