Police Satisfied With Mantell After Review

San Diego police officials announced Friday that they are “completely satisfied” that longtime police psychologist Michael R. Mantell is working the number of hours that he has been paid for interviewing police recruits and counseling law enforcement officers.

The police officials, including Chief Bob Burgreen, said they reached their conclusion after reviewing a list of contracts supplied by Mantell this week, and that they trusted that the number of hours Mantell said he works for about 10 other government agencies did not conflict with his city obligations.

The officials said they did no independent audit of Mantell’s performance nor did they contact other government agencies to determine the scope of the psychologist’s work and whether it conflicted with his requirements for the city.

Burgreen and Leroy Brady, head of the police personnel unit, said they were only concerned with Mantell’s level of service for the city and were not particularly interested in how his work compares with other government agencies.

“I’ve reviewed his figures,” Burgreen said. “And I am completely satisfied he’s performing for us the number of hours he’s required. We have the utmost confidence in his ability to provide psychological services for this department.”

Police Department records show that Mantell worked 2,017 hours--or about 40 hours a week--for the department last year, well above the 1,850 he was required to perform under his contract.

“I work as much or more than that,” the chief added. “So by no stretch of the imagination is the number of hours he’s submitting to us unrealistic.”

A separate investigation into Mantell’s work by the San Diego County Civil Service Commission is expected to be completed next month. That probe began after a job applicant complained about Mantell’s screening review process.

Mantell met Friday afternoon with county investigators to discuss the status of their review.

“We’re asking him a lot of questions,” said Larry Cook, executive officer of the Civil Service Commission. “This is just a normal part of the investigation.”

Mantell could not be reached for comment Friday about the police officials’ conclusion that he is performing the hours he claims on his work sheets, which he submits monthly to the Police Department.

Copies of those work sheets, obtained Friday by The Times, show that he normally works more than 2,200 hours a year for the Police Department, and that in his busiest year, 1985, he worked 2,472 hours, or about 47 hours a week.

Mantell has said that he works an additional 15 to 20 hours a week on his other government contracts and in his private practice.

For 10 years, Mantell has enjoyed a no-bid contract with the city. But now that contract has been put up for bid, and Mantell is competing with 19 other psychological service providers who have submitted contract proposals.

A special committee of advisers has been formed to study the 20 bids and make recommendations to the chief’s office on which are best suited for the city contract. Mantell’s current contract, at $235,000, is the largest program for police psychological services in the county.

Burgreen said Friday that he would not allow the county’s ongoing investigation, and dissatisfaction among some small city police agencies with Mantell’s work, to influence his decision on whether Mantell will win the new contract for next fiscal year.

“I’m certainly not ruling him out, and I’m not saying he’s got a lock on it either,” Burgreen said.

City police officials began reviewing Mantell’s work after learning of the county investigation. They said they wanted to make sure that because of Mantell’s numerous obligations with other government agencies, the Police Department was not being shorted in the number of hours Mantell was supposed to perform.

Brady said he and Burgreen met with Mantell this week, and that the psychologist submitted a list of about 10 contracts and performance obligations that he has with other government agencies. Included in that list was the average number of hours he spends each year on those obligations.

Brady would not provide a copy of that list to The Times.

However, he said that he and Burgreen concluded that Mantell’s work with other agencies did not impede his ability to work the required number of hours under his city contract.

“We saw nothing inappropriate,” Brady said.

Jack McGrory, assistant city manager who oversees the Police Department, agreed Friday that Mantell’s work for the city has been fault-free.

“At this point we’re comfortable he’s doing a good job,” McGrory said. “We think that he is giving our contract the high priority that it deserves.”