Citing chief’s emails, group alleges hiring bias in Glendale Police Department

A government watchdog group is alleging that the Glendale Police Department ignored civil service rules after the police chief communicated with a professional panel assembled to evaluate candidates for promotion from lieutenant to captain late last year.

The panel’s recommendations were ultimately thrown out, and the test for captain readministered and evaluated by a different panel of experts, but the Glendale Coalition for Better Government argues the promotion was “predetermined” and that reforms are necessary to combat what it perceives as internal biases.

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But police sources argued that the police chief’s input to the panel sought to reduce, not encourage, bias, and that ultimately, the promotion process was fair.

The coalition, a group of business owners and residents who advocate for accountability and transparency in government, recently posted on its website emails from the police chief that it obtained using state open records laws that, members argue, show favoritism.

The group pointed to a series of emails in which Police Chief Robert Castro, who is Latino, indicated that “many past promotions were done for political and racial favor.”

He continued, “I do not play that game so that is why I asked you to help me.”

Coalition members are now seeking the reimplementation of a community panel — made up of community leaders and city employees — to help with hiring and promotions.

“I don’t think these positions are the chief’s positions to give out to whoever he wants,” said coalition board member Roland Kedikian. “These are Glendale positions. Glendale clearly articulated a system of how they want these positions given.”

At the core of the matter is communication that took place in November. The hiring panel scheduled a conference call for Nov. 23, and the following day, Castro emailed the group again, indicating that one applicant withdrew, but he named three who were still in the process.

According to Glendale’s civil service rules, Castro would ultimately be able to select the candidate for promotion but would be required to choose from among the professional panel’s top-three list.

Before Castro took the helm of the department more than two years ago, allegations of favoritism were widespread.

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Castro said earlier this week that his intention with his first captain promotion was to find a “peacemaker” who could communicate with and be respected by the entire organization.

“I needed a captain that could bridge that gap among all the different people in the organization and make them have confidence that they were going to get opportunities to be successful regardless of what their past history may have been,” Castro said, adding that this perspective was important for panelists to know. “I’ve sat on many oral panels for many agencies. It’s critically important to know the history of our organization for them to know what we’re looking for.”

The candidates not included in Castro’s email included two men, one of whom is Armenian, were both promoted to lieutenant in November 2013, just more than two years before interviewing with the panel. The third candidate not listed was an Armenian woman who’s been a lieutenant since 2010.

Civil service rules require that lieutenants have two years of experience in the position before they are eligible to promote.

On Dec. 1, the panel, which included John Neu, chief of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office investigations bureau, along with Torrance Police Chief Mark Matsuda, Covina Police Chief Kim Raney and Azuza Police Chief Sam Gonzalez, interviewed and were asked to rank six applicants.

But the results of the exam were thrown out by Human Resources Director Matt Doyle — three days later after he learned of the pre-interview conversations.

At a subsequent Civil Service Commission meeting that month, Laura Stotler, then-president of the Glendale Management Assn., asked the commission to investigate the incident and restore a community panel as part of the process, which the commission eliminated in October at Castro’s behest.

“Sometimes the community just doesn’t understand all the intricacies of what a chief needs for his No. 2 people in running the organization,” Castro said at the time.

The commission on Dec. 9 declined both of Stotler’s requests.

Former Glendale Police Capt. Todd Stokes, who at the time served as the police managers’ representative for Glendale Management Assn., also hoped the commission would investigate the incident’s impact on union members.

“As the union representative for the sworn managers, I’m concerned any time there’s a violation of law or rules that impact my members in a negative way,” Stokes said.

The candidates were interviewed a second time a couple months later by a different panel of law enforcement professionals chosen by Doyle, according to city spokesman Tom Lorenz.

Multiple sources said the second round of rankings was almost the same as the first, with the same three candidates making the top of the list.

Ultimately, Stewart Brackin, a 24-year department veteran who’d been a lieutenant since 2010, received the promotion to captain.

None of the other candidates filed grievances or complaints about the process, Lorenz said.

For Kedikian, that’s immaterial.

“The applicants should be aware of all the rules, not the unwritten rules, the hidden rules, where the chief could communicate his needs,” Kedikian said. “My concern is not about who lost or who won — I don’t care. But what my concern, the coalition’s concern, is that process is not rigged.”

Kevin Todd, current president of the Glendale Management Assn., said via email Thursday that the union is “satisfied with the cancellation and subsequent recruitment process.”

Other sworn employees voiced their support for the chief and his judgment.

“I am confident that any communication that Human Resources deemed inappropriate was done with the department’s best interests in mind,” said Glendale Police Officers Assn. President Jason Ross, adding that the union supports the single-panel method.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek