Kolender Is Upbeat About Image of Police

San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender said Tuesday that his department has soothed its troubled relations with the city’s minority communities and that he has bounced back from recent problems that led to a formal reprimand.

“We admit that with the Sagon Penn case and with a couple of other cases that have involved the arrests of minority members and with the focus of the media on some of those cases that I’m sure it has created some tension between the minority community and the police,” Kolender told a lunchtime gathering of reporters.

“I think things are looking up. I go to Southeast San Diego. I go to the barrio. I walk around and I see a difference in the attitude of the community towards the police. It is a very positive one.”

‘I Like What I Do’

Appearing upbeat and buoyant, Kolender said he has overcome the negative publicity surrounding his written reprimand from City Manager John Lockwood for fixing tickets and using a uniformed officer and city equipment to run personal errands.

“I really don’t go to work every day thinking, ‘Is this my last or whatever?’ I’m doing what I think is right. I like what I do. I look forward to going to work. I’ve had some days when I didn’t, but that’s life.

“When things happen to you that are a tragedy--the death of the officers, my own personal problems, those kinds of things--then you either fall back and do something else or you go forward. And I’ve decided to go forward.”

Kolender, who turned 52 last week, was the guest speaker at a San Diego Press Club luncheon at the Horton Grand Hotel. He said he intends to remain as head of the Police Department for at least three more years.

In an informal talk, Kolender discussed a range of issues, including jail overcrowding, police review boards, technological advances in police equipment and alarming increases in drug use and gang warfare.

Forming a Bond

He said drug trafficking and gang problems in Southeast San Diego have brought police and residents closer together.

“We see a community that is lining up with the Police Department. When we send officers walking in the community, people bring them coffee and come out and say hello. . . . It is a shame that it has to be caused by narcotics and gang activity, but the outcome of it has been very positive relations between the residents in Southeast and the officers, and we’re very pleased about that.”

However, Kolender remains opposed to a proposal that would allow civilians to monitor police investigations of citizen complaints.

The proposal, which called for Kolender to name a group of citizens to monitor the police internal affairs unit and report back to him, was developed by the City Council-appointed Citizens’ Advisory Task Force on Police-Community Relations to satisfy demands from minority leaders that police be held accountable when investigating cases of officer misconduct.

“As a public agency, what the Police Department does, or what I do, can and probably should be reviewed,” Kolender said. “My concern is who does it and whether it is reviewed in a legal manner or not.”

The police chief said that the civilian panel suggested by the task force was “not a legally constituted body,” though the recommendation was drafted with the approval of the city attorney’s office. He said he is concerned that police would be judged by “an ad hoc group made up of people who have preconceived ideas and who may be prejudiced.”

He added: “If you ask the Police Officers Assn., they are going to tell you we’re too hard. And there are some people in the community that will tell you we’re too soft. Well, if everybody comes up a little upset, I think that’s great. That shows we’re doing something right.”

Favors Initial Proposal

Kolender said he still favors his initial proposal to have the county grand jury periodically review police investigations. The grand jury recently announced that it does not want the responsibility of monitoring one agency each year because of concerns that it would become an extension of the Police Department.

Lockwood is expected to announce a plan to provide some form of independent review of police investigations this week, Kolender said.

Kolender also was critical of the county Board of Supervisors for failing to plan and pay for adequate jail space to house people arrested within the city limits. He expressed concern about the effects on newly trained officers who are frustrated that they have no place to take criminals.

“We are that close to no one being arrested for misdemeanors. What that means right now is when our officers arrest somebody for being under the influence of heroin, PCP, any narcotic, for petty theft, for disturbing the peace, or a warrant for failure to appear . . . they walk. They go to jail and they are written a ticket.”

Kolender said a local judge recently told him of a man who was issued six warrants for failing to appear in court without serving time in jail.

“Now that is sick. That is a mockery of our system of justice. It doesn’t take long for these people to know that they can beat it. And every month in excess of 2,000 people are taken to County Jail downtown and are released there to prey upon the public some more.”