Oceanside Police Union Seeks Apology From Mayor for Race, Sex Bias Allegations

A furor over alleged racism and sexism in the Police Department here escalated Tuesday, with officers demanding an apology from the city’s first black mayor amid talk that he could become the target of a recall campaign.

City Councilwoman Carol McCauley, backing complaints from the officers’ union, said she has begun to hear widespread discussions about a possible recall effort against newly elected Mayor Terry Johnson because of his criticism of the Police Department.

“He needs to apologize,” McCauley said. “His statements may have damaged those fragile [racial] relationships in this city.”

Johnson caused a stir when he told the Catfish Club, an African American civic organization in San Diego, that the Oceanside Police Department has a deep-rooted culture of racism and sexism.

Johnson has since retreated and said he regrets suggesting that the department be dismantled and that the chief be replaced. But he has refused to apologize to the Oceanside Police Officers Assn., which he believes has been a stumbling block to the hiring and promotion of minority officers.

“I have nothing to apologize for,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I’m not upset at the chief or the rank and file. My frustration is with the reluctance of the police officers association to get behind the chief in his objective to find qualified [minority and women] candidates to diversify the department.”

At a closed session Monday with the mayor and officials of the labor union, City Manager Steven Jepsen sought to end the controversy by having both sides agree to release a joint statement Tuesday. That effort failed amid disagreement about whether racial discrimination exists in the department, Jepsen said.

A statement read by Det. Chris McDonough on behalf of the labor union said, “We regret that Mayor Johnson has chosen not to apologize for his racist statements made about the Oceanside Police Officers Assn. and its leadership.”

The 166-officer department has a history of claims, grievances and lawsuits based on allegations of racial or gender bias. Minority officers have alleged discrimination based on race, as have white officers.

According to figures released Tuesday, the city has had 58 allegations of harassment or discrimination within the department based on race or gender in the last 10 years. Of the 58, six are still pending, 16 were substantiated and the rest were dismissed.

In the same period, the city has paid $4.8 million to settle discrimination claims within the department and $218,380 in legal fees for those cases.

Johnson, a two-term councilman, has been criticized by council members, civic leaders and area newspapers for his comments.

Critics have noted that Johnson said nothing about alleged racism and sexism within the Police Department during the mayoral campaign in which he defeated McCauley and four other candidates. The police union backed McCauley.

There is also a view among some that Johnson is dredging up matters that have been largely corrected by the current police chief, Michael Poehlman.

“The bad old days are gone--long gone,” Jepsen said. “Where we’ve been is not as important as where we’re going.”

In a city where 47% of residents are minority, 27% of the police officers are minority.

Before Poehlman was hired in 1995, the city had had six police chiefs in a decade. The department was so tumultuous that Poehlman insisted on an unusual clause in his contract: that he can be fired only for cause and that he must be given time to redress any perceived weaknesses.

Under city law, a recall effort cannot be mounted until an official has been in office 90 days. But recall fever is building, McCauley said.

“I’ve received a lot of e-mails and phone calls about that. There’s a lot of conversation out there about it,” she said.

Johnson said the recall talk will not deter him from pursuing the issue of diversity in the Police Department.

“I’m not here to say and do popular things,” Johnson said. “I’m here to make a difference and I’m going to do that.”