SAN BENITO — Some police officers don’t trust their leader.
Members of the local police officers’ union have signed a letter of no confidence against San Benito Police Chief Michael Galvan.
The May 30 letter to Mayor Ben Gomez and the city commission was issued a day before officials called for an investigation into Galvan’s private recordings of conversations, downloaded and leaked to the public.
City Manager Manuel De La Rosa has received the letter, city spokeswoman Martha McClain said.
Galvan did not respond to a message yesterday requesting comment.
Eight officers signed the letter, while the letter indicates fear of retaliation stopped 12 other officers from signing.
There are 38 officers in the department but total union membership is unclear, McClain said.
In the letter, union members claim Galvan’s leadership and behavior have led to low morale among officers.
“Chief Galvan has launched an unnecessary and demoralizing attack on our integrity,” the letter states.
“Our concerns stem from several months of unethical and unprofessional behavior by Chief Galvan, which is highlighted by his inability to separate personal issues from professional ones. Due to Chief Galvan’s poor leadership, morale has dropped to an all-time low in our department.”
Union members claim Galvan made “false statements that tarnish the image of our department” when he told the Valley Morning Star on May 25 police officers record conversations to better support their cases.
Instead, members claim, Galvan issued a 2016 directive ordering “no one is to record with their own personal device, and if they are it has to be approved by the chief of administration.”
Union members also claim Galvan, who has not worked on a police case since 2011, has not submitted any recordings as evidence in police cases.
“It is required protocol in our department to submit evidence to the evidence custodian,” the letter states. “However, the evidence custodian has recently asserted that Chief Galvan has not submitted any voice recordings as evidence in any case.”
Galvan also jeopardized the recordings’ confidentiality, the union members claim.
“Chief Galvan also admits that he placed the recordings in a ‘public’ domain, which would make them accessible to anyone within the department,” the letter states. “If the voice recordings are actually evidence, then he may have compromised the cases by not submitting the recordings through the proper chain of custody.”
Last week, commissioners called for an investigation into Galvan’s recordings of private conversations with city officials including commissioners and police officers.
Nearly 500 recordings were apparently downloaded from a public server at the San Benito Public Library and distributed to individuals.
The recordings apparently focus on conversations whose topics include police officer cases and citizen complaints.
Last year, Galvan took over as police chief after serving as assistant chief since 2012.
