PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION Chief Melvin's rebuttal {December 7, 2017) The purpose of administrative leave is to protect the officers and the contents of an internal personal investigation while an investigation is being conducted. Officers who are subject to administrative leave do not suffer the loss of any pay or benefits. Any officer who is placed on indefinite suspension has the ability to appeal thet decision by Civil Service law. The decision to place an officer on indefinite suspension is not taken lightly and will only come after a thorough investigation has been complete and consultation with the City Attorney, the Human Resources Director and the City Manager. My decision to investigate serious allegations brought forward by an Association member cannot be made on whether or not someone may be offended. I have 2 duty to direct investigations and allegations of that nature. The decision as to what attorney represents the Police Departments or the City is not a decision that is made by me or my Administration. As of this date. any criminal investigations that have been brought to the District Atlomey or U.S. Attomey Offices are still under investigation. Associations response (December 18, 2017) As mentioned above on page (19), Chief Melvin openly states that Civil Service Laws hinder him in being able to discipline officers. This is one example that contributed to the lowering of morale under Chief Melvin’s leadership as most Association Member enjoy working under Laws and its protection. It also placed fear in offivers facing possible disciplinary action because we know how the Chief feels about Civil Servi The majority of the Association members disagree that the officers receiving indefinite suspensions were not deserving of the most severe form of disciplinary action. The City is experiencing costly arbitration hearings and numerous lawsuits being filed by police officers affected by his disciplinary decisions. More so than any other time in history of the department due to Chief Melvin's command. The city has now reportedly spent over $300,000 of taxpayer's money in legal fees paid to an outside attorney for representing the City against the officers Chief Melvin has indefinitely suspended. Five officers total to this date have filed an appeal and are awaiting arbitration. The estimated amount of legal fees paid was determined through open records request and are anticipated to greatly inerease when the arbitrations proceed. Page 34 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION Associations original statement (November 27, 2017) Officers are being denied training courses due to the shortage of staff caused by the Chiefs leadership. Chief Melvin’s rebuttal (December 7, 2017) | take training seriously and have even assigned an officer specifically to manage and conduct in house taining. The department had not had this position under the previous Administration. Es ery officer in the department recently met the required amount of training by the State of Texas, with the average amount of over 80 training hours per officer. doubling the state requirement per training eyele. Associations response (December 18, 2017) To be more specific. training courses OUTSIDE of the department have been denied. There are several officers that have been denied outside department training courses over the past year. They were denied and told their absence from work to attend outside training courses would ‘cause overtime. The Field Operations Department has been operating below mi contributes to the denial. Excellent outside training courses NOT being offered within the department are appealing to officers. Some courses are highly desired to expand their knowledge and training in the field. This is the issue the Association is referring to. (November 27, 2017) ‘The Chief has not been truthful with officers or the City Council in several situations. Chief Melvin’s rebuttal (December 7, 2017) 1 am not aware of any instances where | have been untruthful with officers or with City Council. Page 35 of A2PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION Associations response (December 18, 2017) Chief Melvin claims that he is “not aware” of any instance where he has been untruthful with officers or with City Council. This statement indicates a complete lack of “awareness” on his part. or just another calculated attempt to mislead or be outright deceptive, Prior to the union meeting scheduled to discuss moving forward with the no confidence vote against Chief Melvin on October 1. 2017, Chief asked me. the Association President in a department email if talks of an impending no confidence vote against him were true. [ confirmed, this was indeed true, Weeks later. in a private meeting with Councilmen Thomas Kinlaw Il, it was discovered in conversation that Chief Melvin had told Councilmen Kinlaw JI] that he wasn't aware of the no confidence vote against him until it was announced on local news channels. J informed Councilmen Kinlaw III that this was not a true statement and that I had in fact informed Chief Melvin of the no confidence vote well before the media was made aware of this. The email exchanged between the Chief and | was saved as a documented example and was shown to Councilmen Kinlaw IL. When Chief Melvin presented the Louis Manner Security Detail Project, City Council was told that it would not affect patrot in any way. Yet two Sergeants and a patrolman were quickly pulled from patrol. This caused the graveyard shift to have only one Sergeant and a Lieutenant to cover supervisor duties. t left evening shift with only one supervisor every weekend, the busiest time of the week. Counei! was also told this would be manned 24 hours a day 7 day a week by two officers. This ‘was not true, and several council members discovered this while checking on the apartments own their own. As addressed above he has misled employees by telling them he would be doing things ‘one way yet not following his own rules and policies. These are just a few examples of untruthfulness, Chief Melvin indefinitely suspended an officer for untruthfuiness. This officer has filed an appeal and has a pending arbitration Page 36 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION Associations original statement (November 27, 2017) Due to the leadership of the Chief and the resulting shortage of 19 officers, officers are being forced to work extra shifts creating additional overtime expense for the City and creating a ‘workforce of fatigued officers trying to do the best they can under the circumstances. Chief Melvin's rebuttal (December 7. 2017) Having to work extra shifts is not a result of _ staffing shortage Patrol continues to be supplemented by officers previously assigned to specialized units. ‘The primary reason that extra shifts are being worked inefude on the job injuri work-related injuries, scheduled training (SWAT, SRT, HNT. ART. K-9) and (O40), non- ck calls. So far in 2027, © Sick call-ins have resulted in ‘7 hours of sick time usage: this is equivalent 10 425_ shifts possibly having to be covered by overtime. # During the same period. there have been 2,197 hours last due to on the job injuries or 720 shifts affected © Combined, factoring just sick ealls and on the job injuries, there were 1,145 shifis that were possibly covered by overtim These cannot be attributed to me or my Administration. Associations response (December 18, 2017) The majority of officers in field operations sacrifice continuously for the service of the citizens of Port Arthur. Only a few have weekends of. and many have families with small children. These officers routinely miss Holidays, Birthdays and other family events that are important to Page 37 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION them and their families, but because of their chosen profession and the inadequate staffing they cannot attend these events because they just can't get the lime off. The chief claims sick calls resulted in 4247 sick hours creating overtime, This was not caused by the officers. but staffing shortfalls. These officers are tired and overworked. not because of extra duty jobs. but from being short staffed for so long. Overtime force-overs is a constant occurrence due to being understaffed. An officer will try to take off a few hours early to attend a family function, Not only can they not take off early. but if they are next on the force over rotation list they have to work over and miss the family function, In some instances, the only way an officer can take off is to take sick leave. The mere nature of what officers do puts them in constant contact with citizens with less than normal medical conditions such as tubereulosis. hepatitis e, influenza and other contagious diseases. These officers are also exposed to the outside environments like rain, high temperatures and the cold. Exposure to this overtime will no less than cause an illness with officers. Being fatigued also brings your immune system down causing illness. With proper staffing if someone becomes sick. it would not become an issue. Why is it okay to work every day at minimum, of below minimum, staffing? It is a disservice to the citizens as well as the officers. Working under these conditions. it's no small feat that officers don't get more citizen complaints. but that is in part due to the professional officers themselves. Not because of Chief Melvin or his staff, but because af the professional afficers within this department The chief claims OI resulted in 7197 hours of overtime. Fully stafY patrol and this will not be an issue. The profession we have has an extremely high risk of injury. Couple that, with the amount of citizens officers come in contact with high on PCP or Synthetic Marijuana it's only by the grace of God and the professionalism of these officers that the OJ! number is not higher. Even our fireman brothers can pull back when a burning dwelling gets too dangerous to place firefighters inside. Police officers aren't afforded that luxury. Police officers must respond no matter what the danger. Whether it’s an active shooting incident or a violent offender hyped up on PCP. The officers will still face these threats head on knowing it may be their last day on earth, Sacrificing their lives for the protection and service to the citizens of Port Arthur. A sacrifice they are all willing to take for the service of their community. Being fully staffed would shorten response times, better the service to the citizens and put more officers on the street most likely decreasing the on the job injuries where officers aren’t alone subduing a violent offender. This CAN be attributed to the chief and his statt. because of theit poor leadership officers are leaving to work at other agencies or just retiring early to get away from this mess. Page 38 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION (November 27, 2017) Under this Chief's leadership, the morale within the department is at an all-time low and division among officers within the Department is at an all-time high, both of which affect the safety and welfare of the citizens of Port Arthur. CONCLUSION Associations original statement (November 27, 2017) ‘The above are only a few examples of why the averwhelming majority of the members of the Port Arthur Police Association have lost confidence in Chief Melvin and his administration’s ability to lead this department. The executive board of the Association would be happy to meet with you and/or others within the City or on the Council to discuss these matters in further in detail. We look forward to working with you to address these issues and to make the necessary changes to get the Port Arthur Police Department moving in a positive direction. Chief Melvin's final statement (December 7, 2017) Thave had, and continue to have, an open-door policy for officers and employees that want to discuss issues, Since my arrival, | have made it a point te have conversations with the Association President, of which there have been four during my 14-month tenure, The current Association President has agreed that he had “open and honest” communications. The Association has chosen the path where communication ceased even after I asked if there were things that Lor my Administration had done to upset the Association. These questions were asked prior to the Vote of No Confidence without having the facts. There are rumors being Soated throughout the Police Department by Association members and leaders that is leading 10 Jow morale. Had the Association come to me and my Administration as requested, many of these cumors would have been squashed and there would aot have been reason for division, amongst officers. My administration and 1 want to work together with the Association in making this department a professional. accountable, proactive and dedicated (P-A.P-D.) police agency that works for the safety and well-being of the citizens of Port Arthur. Page 39 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATIONS FINAL CONCLUSION: (December 18, 2017) Chief Metvin’s closing statement claims that low morale was duc to rumors specad by the Association leaders and this is simply not true. The chief and his administration created the low moral from poor leadership and lack of communication with their officers. Rumors were not needed to creatc low morale. The officers made their own decisions as to the confidence with the chief and his administration and contrary to the chief's statistics the majority have no confidence in or trust this chief and administration. We are all just merely holding on hoping things will change. From where the officers stand, Chief Mclvin has been nothing near “open and honest.” (Chief Melvin has not been forthcoming recently with his attempts to find employment elsewhere. He has out right said at recent staff meetings that he had no intentions of leaving Port Antbur. ‘This was said to many of his administrators and front-line supervisors. He also indicated that he planned on finishing out his career in Port Arthur. This was just weeks ago when he openly told the PAPA board that was “nearing the end of his career.” Then on December 14, 2017, by way of Facebook and Media coverage, itis leamed for the first time that Chief Melvin was in St. Louis, Missouri, participating in a finalist interview (Televised Town Hall Meeting) for St. Louis PD Chief of Police. While this was another example of his not being transparent with employees and coworkers, his ‘sucessful interview. or becoming the finalist and then Chief of Police for St. Louis MO... would be in the best interest of the City of Port Arthur, and the Port Arthur Police Department. We will have well over a decade of rebuilding to do here to repair, train and hire a force comparable to ‘what was in place when Melvin took over. Chief Melvin’s lack of concem of plagiarizing an online Denver Past article not only shows poor judgement: but, what kind of leader or chief administrator is unable to take a moment to form his ‘own words or opinion for the largest hunile beyond Hurricane Harvey? What about accountability, professionalism, character, and ethics? These are what Chief Melvin preaches as practice and includes in part in our departments mission statement. Melvin's choices have put the City of Port Arthur, and its Police Department in the worst tight and Chief Melvins consistent misleading and deceptive statements homibly effects moral. Chief Melvin’ s responses are just another predictable attempt to mislead and blame others for his ignorance and failure to unite a group of men and women who want nothing more than to Page 40 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION ‘come together under a leader. Leaders don’t blame everyone else particularly their employees, which he has done in nearly cach issue the PAPA points out. For those in touch with reality, it is known that the oaly thing holding this department together is that unity and majority wio had no choice but to come together in an attempt to have these issues addressed. Chief Melvin claims that we had every chance to address problems with him or his administration. Anyone who attempted to make a suggestion that his staff was possibly not doing things sensibly or lawfully would find themselves being transferred rather quickly. So in order of self- preservation or fear of retaliation communication had stopped. This was mo mistake on any union member's part. This was the actual design of Chief Melvin’s regime. The effect on morale is obvious when an entire workforce (except a dozen of so person's within his circle of communication) is given no mean to complain, suggest, or even voice their concerns to anyone who could affect change. Acconding to Chief Melvin, he has been a saving grace for this department. Well that is part of his being untruthful, and if he believes that then he is not aware enough to be truthful with himself as well. In conclusion, the majority of the Port Arthur Police Association members have plenty of documentation and reason to believe that Chicf Melvin and his administration lack many basic requirements to successfully lead the department and serve the citizens of Port Arthur to the best of the departments ability. The Associations stands firm that have lost all trust, faith and confidence in Chief Melvin’s ability to effectively lead the Port Arthur Police Department. Mr. Harvey Robinson, as Union President of the Port Arthur Police Association, | am Tespectfully asking for your assistance. The longer issues go unresolved, the longer moral is low, and the longer there is division among the ranks in the police department, there is a greater likelihood that more officers will leave the department for better working conditions. The ‘number of arbitrations and lawsuits are likely to increase and more grievances could arise. It's ‘evident now that Chief Melvin is seeking other employment opportunities. Respectfully saying, ‘why not assist him in his departure for the better of all that have been affiected under his leadership. Les _ Greg Mouton, President President - Port Arthur Police Association And on behalf of the Executive Board Page 41 of 42PORT ARTHUR POLICE ASSOCIATION (This page was imentionally left blank) Page 42 of 22