Police officers placed on leave
GLENDALE — Five Glendale police officers and a sergeant are on paid administrative leave as officials investigate their roles in four incidents.
Police and city officials declined to identify the officers or discuss the nature of the incidents because they were personnel matters.
But in referencing some of the officers on leave at a citizen advisory board meeting last week, Glendale Police Chief Ron De Pompa said that of the 500-member department — 253 of them sworn officers — about 2% make poor decisions, and “1% of that 2% are just bad apples.”
“They get into a career that they don’t belong, and it’s our job to identify them and get them out of the profession as quickly as we can,” he added.
Without revealing the reasons for putting some of the officers on leave, De Pompa said there was also “that other 1%” who make some “very dumb mistakes.”
“It leaves you scratching your head wondering, ‘Why did they do that? What were they thinking?’” he added.
With those officers, De Pompa said disciplinary measures are taken to ensure that their actions aren’t repeated in the future.
“All I can say is let the process work,” he told members of the Glendale Police Advisory Council. “Occasionally, we have officers and employees that misstep, but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad organization.”
He said the department was not embroiled in any scandal like the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division in the 1990s.
“We are not like any other major organization that has the type of corruption that you have read about,” he said. “This is a good organization and professional. It’s filled with caring and dedicated people that are keeping this community safe, and I give you my word on that. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”
Advisory council member Sam Manoukian said at the meeting that the cases are reviewed by the Civil Service Commission, where he serves as chairman.
“When people do make mistakes, you do not hesitate, and you take action,” Manoukian said.
The disciplinary hearings are closed to the public.