Labor: police chief mistreated captain

WINDOW ROCK, April 17, 2008

This has not been a good month for Police Chief Jim Benally.

On Tuesday, he returned to work after a five-day administrative leave imposed by his boss, Samson Cowboy, the tribe's director of public safety, but said he wasn't sure what his fate would be until he had a chance to talk to Cowboy.

In the memo placing him on administrative leave, Cowboy said Benally was "promoting discord" within the rank and file of the police department.

It's the latest upset in a tenure marked by them. During Benally's two and a half years as police chief, several police officers have filed complaints with the Navajo Labor Commission over their treatment, alleging that they were subjected to unprofessional, personally demeaning actions by him and others.

The police department settled with the complainants in most of those cases but their attorney, David Jordan, said it's been a problem getting the department to adhere to the settlement terms.

On Tuesday, the labor commission handed Benally his biggest defeat yet, agreeing in a directed verdict that he had instituted a process that intimidated and harassed one of the department's captains, Veronica "Ronnie" Wauneka.

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Officials at the police department said Wednesday that Benally was not in and they did not know when he would return. Cowboy said Benally is still the police chief but is back on administrative leave, adding that this was done to protect him as well.

Benally may have sensed that his time here was coming to an end.

A few months ago, he applied for the vacant police chief position in Page and, according to city officials there, he was one of four finalists for that position. He did not get the job.

Tuesday's hearing on the Wauneka complaint ended suddenly after Benally had spent most of the day testifying before the labor commission.

Complicated situation

The labor commission had set aside Monday and Tuesday for the hearing but cancelled Monday's session when Benally failed to show up.

On that day, Benally was still on leave, serving out his punishment for fomenting discord. Emory McCabe, who was representing the police department and Benally before the commission, said he was uncertain how to proceed under the circumstances.

Normally, he said, the acting police chief would take Benally's place in representing the department, but the acting police chief was Wauneka.

And since most of the other captains and lieutenants in the department were on hand as witnesses for Wauneka, there was no one who could logically be called upon to take Benally's seat at the hearing.

McCabe suggested that a settlement could be reached so that a hearing would not be necessary. Jordan told the commission, however, that he doubted that since settlement talks a couple of months earlier went nowhere.

But this time, McCabe said, the settlement talks would be with Cowboy and not Benally and Cowboy had indicated that he was tired of seeing senior police officers taking their complaints to the labor commission.

Jordan said he was willing to try but on Tuesday, the commission met again and was told that there was no settlement. Jordan said he met with Cowboy but they couldn't come to an agreement.

So on Tuesday, the labor commission met again, along with Benally and all of the captains and lieutenants who had agreed to serve as witnesses for Wauneka.

Four complaints

The complaints from Wauneka against Benally centered around four basic issues.

1. Benally at times named sergeants as acting police chief when he was gone, rather than higher ranking officers who were on hand. Wauneka said this was not only disrespectful but also humiliating to her and the other captains to have to report to someone two grades lower than them in the chain of command.

Benally said his decision to appoint a sergeant as acting police chief happened only a few times and was done in order to save money since calling in a captain would have required that person to drive to Window Rock, taking them away from their duties at the district.

He said the sergeants in question were actually staff assistants to him so they knew what was going on within the department and they were there to take care of routine office matters and not give direct orders to the captains.

But Jordan produced several memos in which a sergeant, while acting police chief, did give direct orders to a captain. Benally said when this occurred, it was done with his authority.

2. Benally gave Wauneka poor performance ratings, while she had previously received good to excellent marks.

During his 25 months as police chief, Benally gave Wauneka two evaluations and in both cases, rated her as underperforming and in need of improvement in various areas. He essentially gave the same evaluations to the other captains.

3. Benally last year changed the assignment for Wauneka and three other captains, in essence sidelining them. He assigned them to community liaison positions and told them to turn over some of their other duties, including supervision of personnel in their district, to the district lieutenants.

This followed rumors that Benally considered the police captains "dead wood" and planned to sack them all. Benally responded that Wauneka and the others retained their title, and said there was a need for the captains to spend more time in the community, talking to community leaders. The change lasted only a few months until Cowboy directed Benally to return the captains to their former duties.

4. Benally at various times went around the chain of command and sent memos directly to the lieutenants without providing copies to the captains. Benally said that these may have gone to the lieutenants because the captains were not around at that time.

Benally testified at Tuesday's hearing for more than four hours. Afterward, Jordan asked the commission for a directed verdict, saying that Benally's statements had proved the accuracy of Wauneka's accusations.

The commission went into executive session for half an hour and granted the motion, saying that it would issue a formal written statement in a few days and would hold a hearing in mid-May on damages to be awarded.

None of the witnesses who had been standing around for two days testified.

Jordan said he had met with Cowboy for about an hour prior to the hearing, and further that the public safety chief seemed willing to discuss possible remedies for Wauneka's complaints, but not a monetary settlement.

While the captains and lieutenants were prepared to testify against Benally, last week six of the department's eight lieutenants sent a letter to President Joe Shirley Jr. demanding an independent investigation of complaints aimed at Samson Cowboy.

The six said they would consider filing complaints with the Navajo Labor Commission if Shirley ignored their concerns, but it is unclear if an arm's-length inquiry will be done. Shirley and the Public Safety Committee met in executive session Monday to discuss the lieutenants' complaints.

As for Wauneka's future with the police department, Jordan said she plans to take early retirement if Benally stays on.