Changes Urged in How Police Handle Cases of Sex Harassment : Law enforcement: Ombudsman and professional mediator recommended as ways to improve work environment for female officers.

Long Beach police officials are considering a number of recommendations that would change how the department handles sexual harassment complaints, including using an ombudsman and a professional mediator.

Officials also have been urged to schedule a seminar for women officers on how to identify and reject sexual harassment, and where to go to complain.

The proposals were drawn up last week during a meeting of three Police Department officials and the president of the local chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Police officials scheduled the meeting to discuss ways of improving the work environment for women after a federal court jury recently awarded $3.1 million to two former Long Beach policewomen who said they were harassed on the job.

The participants in the meeting discussed how to encourage women to report sexual harassment and how the department can improve the way it handles complaints, said two of the participants, NOW chapter President Gerrie Schipske and Paul Chastain, president of the Police Officers Assn. Department psychologist Kendall Price and acting Cmdr. Linda Fierro also attended the meeting.

Noting that few women complain of sexual harassment in the Police Department, Chastain said: “Some female employees at the Police Department are afraid to come forward with complaints. They don’t want to get the guy in trouble. They just want (the harassment) stopped.”

The group recommended that Chief Lawrence L. Binkley appoint an ombudsman to handle sexual harassment complaints that are not of a criminal nature. If the ombudsman cannot resolve the complaint, it would be forwarded to a professional mediator, the advisory group recommended. If the complaint remains unresolved, the chief would have the option of initiating an internal affairs investigation, they said.

Binkley did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment.

The group recommended that Binkley change his policy of automatically initiating an internal affairs investigation at the onset of every sexual harassment complaint. Critics contend that such investigations expose women to ridicule and retribution from co-workers.

Former Officer Melissa Clerkin, one of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against the department, testified during the trial that some officers refused to provide her with back-up help after she complained that she was being harassed by a sergeant with whom she had been romantically involved. After police officials began an internal affairs investigation of the sergeant, intimate details of Clerkin’s private life circulated throughout the department, she said.

Clerkin and Officer Lindsey Allison were awarded $3.1 million Sept. 26 following a monthlong trial. They and other policewomen testified that some officers regularly used offensive slurs and told sexually graphic stories, among other things.

Earlier this month, police administrators ordered that all officers be given a refresher course about sexual harassment, including unwanted sexual advances and offensive language.