Chief Says Officers’ Offenses ‘Stupid’ but Not Criminal

Police Chief Charles S. Brobeck said Saturday that none of the six police officers he seeks to fire or suspend has engaged in criminal misconduct, and that some alleged offenses were “absolutely stupid” minor violations of departmental regulations.

Brobeck refused to disclose the specific accusations against the officers he notified Thursday may face disciplinary proceedings for purported conduct unbecoming an officer, but he said that some alleged offenses were infractions such as being discourteous, immature or using poor judgment.

“It’s a series of things that are not egregious acts but a series of minor misconduct things that when you add them together, an officer can’t continue working or has to have discipline imposed,” he said. “Some things are absolutely stupid that these guys did. They violated the rules and regulations.”

The officers Brobeck wants to discipline include Henry Boggs, who heads the 124-member Irvine Police Assn., according to several sources.

Officers Charles Baxter, Robert Landman and Wayne Shaw were notified Thursday of Brobeck’s intent to fire them, and were placed on paid leave; Officers Mario Asturias, Owen Kreza and Boggs were told they face suspension and remain at work, the sources confirmed.

None of the officers, or the attorney who represents five of them, could be reached for comment Saturday. In an interview Friday, Boggs declined to comment.

Under state law and department policy, final decisions about whether to suspend or fire the officers will be made after each has a hearing before Brobeck. The officers can appeal Brobeck’s decision to City Manager Paul O. Brady, and then to Superior Court.

City officials have denied that the disciplinary actions are connected to a sexual harassment lawsuit four women filed against the department in June, or to a claim by two former dispatchers that Irvine police have a “Code 4” club members join by having sex in the back of their patrol cars.

However, a city hall source who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Saturday that sexual activity is involved in some of the accusations, although it wasn’t known how many of the officers may be implicated.

The alleged misdeeds were uncovered during an investigation that began when the lawsuit was filed and was helped by information a citizen provided, according to Brobeck, Brady and Martin J. Mayer, an attorney for the Police Department.

In July, a woman who asked not to be identified called the department to report “some activity by an officer that she thought was kind of unusual,” Brobeck said.

No evidence supporting the woman’s story was discovered, but her information led investigators to other alleged misconduct that now form the basis of the charges against some of the officers, he said.

Brobeck, who has headed the department since December, 1991, said the monthlong investigation, in which internal-affairs officers interviewed about 40 people inside and outside the department, uncovered the alleged misconduct that led to the pending discipline.

Although the charges against the six officers are unrelated, Brobeck said he chose to announce the notices of discipline at one time “so I could put this all behind us instead of having it drag on through the department.”

City Council members on Saturday praised the chief for being dogged in his investigation, but expressed some alarm at the extent of purported misconduct.

“At least we’re doing something instead of saying, ‘No, there’s nothing going on,’ ” said Christina L. Shea, who was elected to the five-member council last November. “It behooves us to do a thorough investigation to protect officers that are above board, and it’s also beneficial to the citizens to show we have a system that works.”

Mayor Michael Ward said he thinks it is “a shame” that so many officers face discipline at once, and Councilman Barry J. Hammond described the move as “beyond ordinary but not extraordinary.”

“We’ve been working with our police chief and our city manager to just make sure our department is in proper order,” Hammond said. “After a strong internal investigation, you find out what’s going on.”