Sergeants Tell Hearing That McDaniel Policies Ruined Police Morale

San Clemente police sergeants lost their ability to communicate well with officers under them because they felt pressured to prepare negative performance reviews under former Chief Kelson McDaniel’s rule, according to four sergeants who testified Tuesday at a public hearing on the chief’s dismissal.

McDaniel, 50, was asked to resign by City Manager James B. Hendrickson on May 28 after the 50-member police force gave the chief a no-confidence vote. They complained about changes McDaniel made, including “personnel incident reports,” in which supervisors documented an officer’s misconduct.

Communication Breakdown

The PIRs, as they were known in the department, took away a sergeant’s ability to talk with the employee about a problem, testified Sgt. William Trudeau, a San Clemente police sergeant for 11 years.

“There was a breakdown with communication from line to middle management to upper management,” Trudeau testified at the hearing, which was requested by McDaniel’s attorney, Fred T. Ashley, after Hendrickson refused to consider reinstating the chief.

Sgt. Richard Downing, a sergeant for seven years, testified that some supervisors had “overused” the PIRs and that he had expressed his concern to his lieutenant about the negative effect the written reprimands were having on some officers.

Sgt. James R. Thomas, who has held that rank since April, testified that the PIRs were being misused. “There was a perception by the line officers that they (PIRs) were being used as supervision by terrorism.”

There was no place for off-the-record counseling under the PIRs, 10-year Sgt. Paul Falk said. “There was frustration on the line because there was a lot of change for change’s sake,” he testified.

The four witnesses were answering questions put to them by attorney David C. Larson, representing the city.

Although the sergeants did not participate in the no-confidence vote, each testified that he was aware of some of the officers’ complaints regarding changes made by McDaniel.

Officers had complained of a “ticket quota” that caused them to feel pressured to issue up to two citations a day. However, all four sergeants testified that there was no specific ticket-writing requirement.

Many McDaniel supporters in the council chambers sighed in disbelief as the former chief’s secretary, Pat Bouman, testified that she had lost respect for her boss because of what she considered to be chauvinistic and racist remarks.

Bouman said she was offended by McDaniel calling her “hon” and his use of profanity and racial slurs.

Bouman testified that she heard McDaniel use a racist epithet to another officer in reference to a black transient who came to the police station one day.

Ashley asked that Bouman’s remarks be stricken from the record, but the hearing officer, retired state appellate Judge Robert E. Rickles, said the testimony related to the purpose of the hearing: to determine the reasons why officers and non-sworn employees did not have confidence in their working relationship with McDaniel.

“In my entire career I never observed such low morale with myself and the other employees,” said Bouman, who has worked for four full-time and three interim chiefs in 27 years as police chief secretary.

Since the hearing was scheduled, McDaniel has also filed a claim for more than $4.35 million against the city, accusing city administrators, City Council members and police officers of engaging in a “conspiracy” to cause him emotional distress and force him to resign after 18 months as chief.

The hearing is scheduled to continue through Thursday, with Hendrickson and McDaniel expected to testify.