University police promotion raises many questions
By Charles A. Harold
I was going through my police department mail the other day when
I discovered a memo from university police Chief Clarence Chapman
announcing that Karl Ross was promoted from police captain to
assistant chief of police. The memo stated that Ross will now, "
… be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the
department." His specific duties include the following: budget and
finance, personnel and labor relations, information systems, and
policies and procedures.
I was confused when I read about his promotion. There was never
a public offering or an interdepartmental testing process that
allowed other, more qualified police officers to fairly compete for
the newly commissioned position of assistant chief of police. I was
equally confused to hear of his promotion because his past
management and personal actions fall well short of the
qualifications necessary to perform the duties of such an important
and publicly scrutinized position.
Perhaps he could answer the following questions about his past
management practices to help justify his appointment to assistant
chief of police.
In February 1994, while Ross was acting chief of police, a
survey was conducted by a professional outside consultant. The
survey attempted to evaluate the opinions that police department
personnel had of police and university management. Why did the
survey of police personnel for Ross’ administration reflect one of
the worst dissatisfaction ratings that the consultant has ever
seen? How does this make him qualified to be in charge of personnel
and labor relations?
On Feb. 28, 1994, while he was acting chief of police, the
police officers of his department unanimously decided to direct a
vote of no confidence against him because of his continued lack of
leadership abilities. How can he justify his new appointment to
assistant chief of police given this past vote of no confidence?
How can he justify being in charge of personnel and labor relations
and being " … Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the
department?"
On Nov. 3, 1994, at approximately 2:40 p.m., he crashed an
unmarked police vehicle into a post at the fleet services fueling
area, then failed to report the accident to the on-duty watch
commander as required by police department policy. He then tried to
cover up the accident, until it was discovered by a police
department employee. No accident report was completed until four
months after the collision occurred. Why did he attempt to
circumvent department policy and hold himself above the law? How
can he justify being in charge of police policies and procedures
when he has repeatedly broken police policies and procedures?
On Oct. 30, 1995 he issued a memo to all department personnel
directing them not to telephone or contact Administrative Vice
Chancellor Peter Blackman to deal with police personnel issues. Why
has he issued this order? Is he fearful that members of this
department will report additional transgressions he has committed?
How can he justify being placed in charged of information systems
when he has taken steps to cut off the free flow of important
information between police officers and university management?
The public has a right to know how the managerial affairs of
their police department are being run. Effective law enforcement
depends upon the maintenance of stable employer-employee relations
between street level police officers and police managers such as
himself. Effective law enforcement depends upon holding police
managers accountable for their actions when safekeeping the public
trust.
The time has come for Ross to publicly account for his past
transgressions. He must explain to the public why he has repeatedly
misled the professional men and women of this police department who
work diligently around the clock to provide a safe and tolerant
atmosphere for the members of the UCLA community.
Therefore, I challenge him to an open public debate of these and
other issues of public concern, at a place and time of his
choosing.
The professional members of this community eagerly await his
reply.
Harold is a UCLA police officer.
Effective law enforcement depends upon holding police managers
accountable for their actions when safekeeping the public
trust.
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