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The picture of a department in disarray intensified Wednesday when The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kristen Taketa reported that nine San Diego Unified school police officers — a quarter of the department’s 36 sworn officers — are accusing department officials of verbally abusing them, using racist and anti-gay language, violating employment law and creating a toxic work environment.
Those allegations come several months after other serious accusations involving time card fraud, favoritism and potential conflicts of interest within the leadership of the small police department that serves city schools. As Taketa reported, it is the only police department in San Diego County that is run by a school district; other districts use an outside law enforcement agency for police services.
The officers, who have worked for the department for five to 33 years, submitted their complaints to the California Civil Rights Department this month and have requested a right to sue, which the department granted. A school district spokesperson declined to comment, citing a policy not to comment on pending litigation. Since the district won’t comment at the moment, here are some questions that deserve answers as soon as possible, starting with the biggest one.
Does San Diego Unified even need its own police department if these allegations are true? What are the costs of hiring an outside law enforcement agency? Why does Sgt. Jesus Montana, who has worked for the district for 33 years and was once president of the police officers union, say that “The district is not willing, under Superintendent [Lamont] Jackson, to interfere or defend our officers from this maltreatment.” What kind of examples do department leaders think they setting for the students they are supposed to be keeping safe? Have department leaders even thought about that?
Again, if these allegations are true, the workplace is so toxic that a fresh start doesn’t sound so absurd.
