Service board to interview investigators

Newport Beach’s Civil Service Board delayed an investigation into the Newport Beach Police Department’s promotional process by at least a week, but will look to ultimately move forward after the police chief and the department’s union agreed on an investigator to look into the union’s complaints.

“Jobs are on the line. Careers are on the line,” with this investigation, said board chairman Bert Carson. He shared the concerns of the four other board members who decided against rubber-stamping the decision of the chief and the police union. Board members pointed out in the end, if they were asked to explain why they approved a certain investigator, they’d better have a good explanation.

The board told Police Chief John Klein and union officials that within a week or two they should OK an investigator hired to look into how the department promotes its officers. The process is under fire from two fronts: the union and Sgt. Neil Harvey, who is suing the city claiming discrimination because he has been passed over for promotion for at least 12 years. Harvey said false rumors that he’s gay have destroyed any chance of him becoming a lieutenant, especially because 50% of the scores for ranking candidates are subjective.

Similar criticisms are being leveled by union leaders, who in a letter to the head of Newport Beach’s Human Resources said, “It appears the promotional process has allowed individuals to exert greater discretion than is warranted.”

Among the concerns from the union — the scoring system that ranks promotional candidates for the chief to consider. The scores are made up of three weighted areas: written exam, 20%; oral interviews with a neutral board, 30%; evaluations by superiors, 50%. The scores are tallied, then rounded down to the nearest whole. So someone who scores 80.1 will be ranked the same as someone who earned an 80.9. This, the union argues, gives too much discretion to the chief because they appear to be equal.

Several grievances by union members have not been adequately addressed, the letter continues.

Another possible area of concern is the practice of limiting the promotions to the top eight candidates. It’s a claim Harvey has also mentioned in his suit, pointing out that he was conveniently ranked last by his peers which placed him ninth in the rankings, though scoring high in the other areas. The ninth ranking eliminated him from consideration.

The police union and the chief agreed to have Jeffrey Love, an attorney and police officer for 27 years, conduct the investigation over their second choice, James Blaylock, a police officer for 35 years and law enforcement investigator and consultant.

Board members said they will schedule interviews with both men as early as next week so they can weigh in on the decision.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].