Pubdate: Sun, 06 Apr 2014
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Page: A-1
Copyright: 2014 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: James Pinkerton

2 HPD OFFICERS RETIRE UNDER A CLOUD

Two high-ranking police lieutenants who were relieved of duty last
year for alleged sexual harassment of female employees under their
command have quietly retired with full benefits from the Houston
Police Department.

Both officers previously had been disciplined for serious violations
that could have resulted in their dismissals but were allowed to keep
their jobs, HPD personnel records show.

Lt. Carl Gaines, 50, whose retirement in January still allows him to
get his $87,675 yearly paycheck, admitted to harassing a number of
women, both officers and civilians, at his post at the city dispatch
center. One civilian employee was subjected to various physical
contacts, and Gaines made a lewd gesture to a female police officer, 
city records show.

Gaines, the son of a former HPD deputy chief, was suspended for 10
days in 1997 for filing false police reports in six drug cases.
Gaines, then a narcotics officer, was found to have lied and
fabricated events and statements in drug cases developed by a
confidential informant he had given a large amount of HPD money to buy
drugs, according to HPD records.

Lt. Laurence Lakind, 55, who gets $85,121 a year in retirement pay,
was accused of workplace harassment of a fellow HPD supervisor by
making lewd comments and sending emails of a sexual nature, sources
said. Lakind previously was suspended for misconduct that included
retaliation against an officer in his traffic command who reported
fraudulent overtime payments being claimed by a superior officer.

Neither lieutenant responded to several requests for
comment.

Denies Allegations

Sally Ring, a staff attorney with the Houston Police Officers' Union,
said Gaines "accepted responsibility for the misconduct."

Lakind's attorney, J. Scott Siscoe, said the lieutenant denies the
sexual harassment allegations.

Police Chief Charles McClelland issued a departmentwide circular last
October reminding employees that he would not tolerate sexual
harassment, and other prohibited conduct, in the workplace.

There is nothing that I can do to prevent a breakdown in someone's
morals and ethics "who then violate police policy or state law
"because of just intentional misconduct," the chief said Friday.

"One incident of sexual harassment is unacceptable, intolerable, but
there are no systemic sexual harassment issues ... that have been
brought to my attention that cause me concern" within HPD, McClelland
said.

Kim Ogg, a private attorney who has defended a number of HPD officers
in employment cases, said the police department has trouble policing
its own.

"There appears to be a pattern in the police department of firing some
officers for insignificant violations, while allowing others with
serious violations to remain on the force until they retire quietly,"
said Ogg, who is running for Harris County district attorney. It's
disturbing because it indicates that discipline may be contingent upon
how well an officer is liked, as opposed to his behavior."

Swift Action Is Taken

Ray Hunt, president of the police officers' union, said retirement
isn't a concession of guilt. It could just mean the employee is tired
of fighting the internal affairs' process, he said.

"I do not believe there is any type of widespread or even isolated
cases of sexual harassment that aren't swiftly dealt with" at HPD,
Hunt said. "Swift action is taken every time on sexual harassment.
It's not tolerated."

The HPD personnel records released to the Houston Chronicle show one
lieutenant retired before his internal affairs investigation was
concluded. The other lieutenant admitted he violated a number of city
rules of police conduct, then accepted a deal for a month off work
without pay and was allowed to retire.

"The sad thing about this whole operation with cops is they're so
well-protected they certainly don't suffer the consequences of their
actions - [consequences] that people in the privaate sector would suffer for
what they do,"  said attorney Jim Harrington, director of the Texas
Civil Rights Project in Austin. "If you have pervasive sexual
harassment, you need to have the same punishment as in the private
sector ... and that is to get canned."

Mark W. Stephens, a private investigator who spent 17 years at HPD,
said it is unusual for the department to investigate misconduct in the
higher ranks.

"Historically, HPD has not always included management in internal
investigations unless it was a specific complaint against a manager,"
said Stephens. "If it was a departmental or divisional problem, they
would look at the hired help so to speak."

Stephens, who left HPD in 1999, said the management problems at HPD
stem from the promotion of supervisors who did not have much
experience on the streets.

"The real problem with the promotion process is they don't promote
based on experience or performance, it's based on testing and
political correctness," said Stephens.

After his recent internal affairs investigation, Gaines admitted to a
number of infractions including repeated sexual harassment of a female
civilian worker and disruptive behavior during a two-year period from
August 2010 through November 2012, records show. In June 2013, HPD
received an anonymous complaint accusing Gaines of inappropriate
behavior over a period of several years to a "number of subordinate
female employees" at the Houston Emergency Center, where 911 calls are
answered, according to his letter of suspension from McClelland.

It was alleged he made comments, gestures and actions of a sexually
oriented nature,"  to the women, including a woman sergeant,
according to the suspension letter. "On another occasion, Lt. Gaines
walked up to her and made a pelvic thrust stating 'you know you want
me.'"

Ring, the staff attorney with the police union, confirmed HPD made
Gaines a deal for a 30-day unpaid suspension and retirement, in
exchange for not being fired by the chief.

"He accepted responsibility for the misconduct that was alleged in the
discipline letter ... he did not choose to challenge the allegations,"
Ring said.

She said the investigation into misconduct of two lieutenants with
female subordinates was "an unfortunate coincidence,"  but insisted
other employers, such as schools, have a much larger problem with
sexual harassment than HPD.

"When you look at size and totality of the department, it's not that
inflammatory,"  said Ring. "And if you look at other career paths that
other people have chosen, there are lots more people in positions of
authority who have taken advantage of subordinates than at the police
department. Like I said, every day there's a teacher getting down with
a 13-year-old."

Not First Suspension

The suspension against Gaines was not his first, records
show.

In 1997, then HPD Chief C.O. Bradford suspended Gaines for 10 days
without pay for being untruthful and inaccurate in preparing six drug
cases while he was assigned to narcotics. The letter did not say
whether any of the cases resulted in false arrests, and Bradford said
he could not recall the matter.

The suspension also said Gaines turned over an undisclosed amount of
HPD money to a confidential informant, and failed to "maintain
adequate accountability" of the money.

Gaines, in February and March 1997, failed to list all those involved
in criminal offenses, made up events that he later admitted did not
occur, and included statements or activities of others that "were
confirmed to be inaccurately portrayed"  by him, according to the
suspension letter.

Charges of tampering with a record were brought against Gaines in
March 1997, but a grand jury declined to indict the officer and the
case was disposed of, according to the Harris County District
Attorney's Office and district court records.

Lakind left HPD while he was under investigation for sexual harassment
of a police officer who was his subordinate, his attorney confirmed

Siscoe, himself a former Houston police lieutenant, said Lakind
decided to retire because he had been relieved of duty and was
required to stay at home during working hours. Siscoe said the sexual
harassment complaint filed against Lakind by a female sergeant was the
result of the lieutenant taking steps to correct a subordinate's work
performance.

"He has always adamantly denied anything improper at all, as far as
any sexual harassment,"  Siscoe said. "They worked together as a team.
.. she got some negative work performance issuues, and Larry tries to
address those issues, and then a complaint gets dropped against him."

Contesting Discharge

Lakind is contesting the less-than-honorable discharge issued by
McClelland that by law is sent to the Texas Commission on Law
Enforcement, which could affect his future employment as a police
officer at another department.

A hearing on his appeal has been scheduled for this summer, a
commission official confirmed.

In 2006, Lakind agreed to a 21-day suspension to avoid being fired for
revealing the name of an officer who had anonymously reported
wrongdoing by a sergeant. In addition, Lakind had his subordinate
officers tell others in the division he was not pleased that a
supervisor had been reported.

"Based on these comments, there was a perception that they were being
criticized for doing what was right when reporting improper behavior
by a police supervisor,"  Lakind's suspension letter stated.

Larry Lakind is the older brother of HPD homicide Lt. Rory Lakind, 43,
who was disciplined by McClelland on Friday for not adequately
supervising homicide investigators.
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