WATSONVILLE >> The city of Watsonville hired an independent investigator last year to examine police department personnel conduct involving “various allegations” of workplace harassment, the Sentinel learned after submitting a Public Records Act request for city communications related to five named officers.

Described by law firm Van Dermyden Makus as a “neutral fact-finding investigation,” investigators reached out to three of Watsonville Police Department’s female officers for interviews related to “concerns that have been raised,” at least in part through an anonymous complaint, according to documents provided in the city’s records request response.

The city-provided records did not include the names of any officers requested but did offer redacted memos of the legal firm seeking interviews with the female officers, whose records the Sentinel had not requested.

“To ensure a full, fair, and effective investigation in this matter, and due to the sensitive nature of this investigation, during the pendency of the investigation you are ordered not to discuss this investigation, including the specific contents of your interview with the investigator, with anyone other than the investigator, your representative and/or your legal counsel (if any),” the notices of an administrative investigation titled “Confidential Memorandums” from Deputy City Manager Nathalie Manning stated. “The City has determined that there is a particular need for this order for this investigation because of the number and positions of the alleged subjects, the number of alleged victims and the nature of the alleged misconduct which make this investigation susceptible to actions that could color testimony or otherwise compromise its integrity if persons interviewed share information with one another.”

The emailed memos blacked out what appears to be the names of the accused personnel who allegedly perpetrated the harassment, as well as any specific allegations. At least one of the redacted names, if not multiple, were male police officers, based on the response to the original information requested by the Sentinel. The law firm requested interviews of as long as three hours with each female officer in August and September 2023, and then for follow-up interviews or information again in January and March, according to documents provided.

Documented results of the “administrative investigation in the Watsonville Police Department” were not shared with the Sentinel. Two of the male officers whose information was requested no longer work for Watsonville Police Department, with one separating from the organization in October and the other in July, according to a separate Public Records Act request. The Sentinel is not naming the officers because Watsonville officials have not verified their individual involvement in the internal investigation.

Confirmed investigation

In early October, the Sentinel asked Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora for information about any investigations related to sexual misconduct, broadly, that were ongoing in the department. Zamora said he was unable to discuss any personnel-related matters and urged the Sentinel to tell any whistleblowers with concerns to report them directly to his office, rather than a journalist. He did, however, acknowledge that one officer who had previously been on leave had returned to duty after being investigated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office before the case was sent to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for further review. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ashley Keehn confirmed that the Watsonville Police Department asked the agency to conduct an investigation involving one of its employees. Neither Keehn nor Zamora disclosed what the office was under investigation for.

Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy District Attorney Tara George, in response to an inquiry on whether or not her office had investigated any Watsonville police officers, said in late October that the office had conducted an independent investigation between June 2022 and January 2023 and “did not find that we could file a case based on the completeness of all the investigations,” meaning her office opted not to move forward with charges. George declined to specify the nature of the crime investigated.

“Here’s what I’ll tell you. We’ve had, this department, I’ve been here since I was 16. I’ve seen it go through many different things,” Zamora said in response to requests for additional information in October. “Throughout those years, I have seen, I have personally, even now in this seat, any allegation, any misconduct, is taken very seriously. So, if someone that you know is telling you that there’s misconduct, we’d like to talk to those people. Because it’s a very serious issue and we don’t take those lightly.”

Zamora said he could not make proper decisions without all the relevant information.

“Every organization that I know, not just in law enforcement, we come across difficult issues. When these issues come to the surface, these issues are worth solving,” Zamora said. “They’re not necessarily the easiest, but they’re worth solving. And it takes a tremendous amount of courage for a person to come forward, it takes a tremendous amount of courage for organizations to do the right thing.”

As of Nov. 1, the department had seven officers on leave for reasons potentially spanning paid or unpaid administrative leave or medical leave. City officials said they were legally unable to disclose a more detailed breakdown for why the officers were out. The department, authorized since July to hire as many as 75 officers, had nine vacancies and nine officers out on leave as of Aug. 1, according to police Capt. Michael McKinley. An additional five officers were in the department’s 22-week field training program at the time, meaning they were doubled up with experienced officers, and five non-sworn cadets were in the midst of police academy training, he said.

Supportive workplace

Asked about the city’s Biennial 2023-2025 budget document, which includes a police department policy goal to increase the hiring of female officers by 5% each year, Zamora said hiring women in the law enforcement field is generally a struggle nationwide. In October, the department had five female officers out of 71 filled positions, Zamora said. As of early August, that number remained at five out of 66 filled positions after a female officer recently departed for another job, McKinley said.

Zamora also said in October that he was invested in hiring a variety of types of officers, not focusing on candidates simply because they checked off a demographic box.

“I think, for me, I think we have to have some goal, other than saying, ‘We want to hire females,’” Zamora said of the thinking behind listing a female officer hiring goal in the city budget.

Between the June 2023 City Council budget sessions and October, one woman hired to attend the police academy before coming to work for the department “decided that she did not want to be in law enforcement, after all,” Zamora said. He added that it was not uncommon for officers to leave during or after going through the police academy and the subsequent more than four-month training program.

“It’s just not easy. I think the 5% increase equated to about four officers, four female officers. Five, maybe. Since then, we’ve hired two female officers and one of them, she decided it just wasn’t for her,” Zamora said. “She was a wonderful person, she came up through the police cadet program, she worked here through our Caminos (Caminos Hacia el Éxito) program, she was heavily involved with the community. She knew what the field was about. But, just a few weeks in the academy and she said it wasn’t for her.”

Zamora said he did not seek specific details from the officer who left the department on her reasoning.

Asked about meeting the department’s stated goal of specifically increasing female officer hires each year, McKinley, who oversees recruitment for Watsonville police, said he was not familiar with that priority.

“We’re looking for any qualified applicants right now,” McKinley said, suggesting a reporter might even apply for the job or have friends who would be interested.

This year, Watsonville police have begun offering hiring bonuses to new officer hires, in an effort to become more competitive with higher-paying Bay Area police agencies, according to McKinley. Lateral transfers, referring to experienced officers, are eligible for a one-time $30,000 bonus, while academy graduates are eligible for a $10,000 bonus, he said. The department was looking at potentially extending bonuses to entry-level hires with no experience, as well, McKinley said.

Per a requirement of the 2020 voter-approved renewal of public safety sales tax Measure Y, the city hired a firm in May to conduct a comprehensive staffing study for the department, which McKinley estimated was about halfway complete. The contracted firm will look at police operations, including areas such as staffing and service levels, gaps in service, resources, programs, workflow and organizational structure, McKinley said.