Bell Gardens

Police Chief William Donohoe has received a vote of no confidence from the Police Officers’ Assn. for his running of the 52-member department.

Association members voted 33 to 6, with two abstentions, to censure Donohoe, said Detective Douglas Kingery, association president. Donohoe has been police chief for a year and a half.

A letter containing specific complaints was delivered to Donohoe on Tuesday, Kingery said.

The letter included accusations that the department has remained “chronically undermanned” and has not done enough to combat major crimes, such as those associated with gangs and drugs.

Donohoe also was accused of not communicating with police officers.

“We feel the chief has created sort of a negative atmosphere in the department,” Kingery said. “He is also isolated from the working officers.”

Donohoe, 48, was not available for comment but City Manager Claude Booker said he and the City Council support the chief “100%.”

Donohoe inherited an “undermanned and untrained department but is on the right track. He has made tremendous changes since becoming chief,” Booker said.

Donohoe was hired in July, 1983, to replace Police Chief Phil Hensen, who retired. Donohoe had been a captain at the Merced Police Department in the San Joaquin Valley.

All but one of the department’s 49 sworn police officers belong to the association, Kingery said. The department’s three other employees are civilians.