Burbank Police Department under fire from inside, outside its ranks

The Burbank Police Department’s under fire – from within and beyond its ranks. In a lawsuit filed last year, a group of officers claims a culture of racial, gender and sexual orientation discrimination persists at the department. In addition, the F.B.I. is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into possible excessive use of force by Burbank cops.

The turmoil at the Burbank Police Department came to a head shortly before noon on a quiet residential street last October. Sgt. Neil Gunn – a decorated 22-year veteran under investigation in an excessive use of force case – shot himself to death.

The suicide stunned the city and fellow officers.

“Neil had a special presence about him," Lieutenant Omar Rodriquez told the Burbank City Council a few weeks later.

Rodriquez' voice began to crack as he described his colleague and friend.

"When Neil stepped into a room, it was as if your dad just walked through the front doors. And you felt safe. You knew everything would be OK.”

Gunn’s family has close ties to Burbank. His wife works as a secretary for the city. His son, Neil Gunn Junior, is a Burbank police officer.

The family blames police leaders and the officers union for his death, claiming they failed to support him during an excessive force inquiry that’s attracted the attention of federal law enforcement.

The Gunn story is the most dramatic in a series of troubles at the Burbank P.D. Seven current and former officers have filed a lawsuit that asserts a “long pattern” of discrimination on racial, gender and sexual orientation grounds.

Attorney Solomen Gersen represents some of those cops.

“All of the officers are alleging that there was verbal harassment and abuse within the department," Gersen said.

He said Burbank cops "use such derogatory terms "wetback’, ‘beaner’, ‘spic’, ‘bitch’, ‘whore’ – certainly the 'N' word." He added the 'N' word was used by the former chief of police.

The former chief - Tim Stehr - declined to comment.

Gresen noted that no African American has risen above the rank of police officer on the Burbank force.

In another lawsuit, a well respected ex-deputy chief claims that department brass demoted him for raising concerns about disciplining officers involved in wrongdoing.

“This is an example of small town America that’s being faced with 21st century change – and they are resisting that change," Gersen said.

Burbank is not a small town. About 100,000 people live there. The city employs 1,500 workers. About 170 are police officers.

Burbank City Manager Mike Flad declined to comment on specific allegations of discrimination and retaliation.

“We’re active in pursuing and do our due diligence in following up on any accusations of discrimination and that’s what we’ve been doing with the police department," Flad told KPCC. "Some of the accusations that were made in the cases had already been followed up on. If discipline were warranted, discipline was already given.”

Flad said the city has hired outside experts – among them former United States Attorney Debra Yang – to examine police department policies.

The city manager said former Chief Stehr bears only some of the responsibility for the department’s problems.

“It goes much, much deeper than one individual and much deeper than the command structure," Flad said. "It’s cultural issues that the new chief is going to be tasked with getting in and giving a diagnosis to and then remedying as soon as he can.”

The new interim chief is Scott LaChasse, a former Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief.

LaChasse said that he – along with outside police watchdog Merrick Bobb – is considering reforms that range from use of force to discipline policies. Bobb is the independent monitor of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

“We’re taking a look at the disciplinary system to make sure that there’s certainty that if somebody commits a transgression, that it will be investigated and the penalty is going to be a recognized penalty rather than being personality-based by the person administering the penalty,” LaChasse said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation won’t comment on its civil rights investigation, but federal investigators reportedly have issued a grand jury subpoena for personnel records involving 12 Burbank cops.

Some people in the city don’t appreciate the scrutiny.

“I really disapprove of the heavy hand of justice and F.B.I.," said real estate agent Barry Burnett.

Burnett was was born and raised in Burbank and sits on its Chamber of Commerce. Standing outside City Hall one evening, he noted that unlike most Southern California cities, Burbank is mostly white.

“It is not easy to run a police department and to have it reflect the values, mores and operations of a community," Burnett said. "It really I think messes with the minds of a lot of the people in the Department of Justice who are trying to mix up the racial quotients."

Burbank Mayor Gary Bric maintains that the police department’s problems are pretty limited.

“Tell ya what. I’ve been here for 57 years. To this day, I’ll say we have a fantastic police department," the mayor said. "Out of 160-plus officers, we might have a couple of people we have to take a serious look at.”

Lieutenant Rodriquez embodies the department’s problems. He’s suing it for discrimination. He’s also facing allegations of brutality.

He told the City Council that the mayor’s underestimating the problems.

“The hate has to stop. The hate has to stop," Rodriguez said. "It’s ingrained into this department. We’ve never been this way."

In addition to the F.B.I. inquiry, the results of two other investigations by the city of Burbank and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department are pending.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the Sheriff’s probe for possible criminal prosecutions.

Final Burbank Police Complaint