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NewsHound
08-05-2008, 03:26 PM
Lake City Police Chief Steven Burch resigned from the police department Thursday afternoon. His resignation was effective immediately.

Burch’s resignation comes on the same day he was cleared of any wrongdoing in a city-investigated discrimination complaint filed by Lake City Police Department Sgt. Shawn Raggins.

Burch was sworn-in as police chief March 31 and resigned during a Thursday afternoon meeting with Lake City City Manager Scott Reynolds. Burch had recently come under fire for forwarding an allegedly “offensive” e-mail throughout the department and for discrimination complaints filed by two officers.

Burch was on administrative leave, without pay, while the city attorney’s office conducted an investigation into Raggins’ complaints. Last month Burch was suspended for 5 days for violating the department’s electronic mail policy. The complaint stemmed from a discrimination complaint filed by Lt. Rudolph Davis.

Reynolds said Lake City Police Department Capt. Bruce Charles will be in charge of the department while the city conducts interviews to fill the vacant police chief position. Lake City Fire Department Chief Carlton Tunsil was in charge of the police department while Burch was on administrative leave and when he served the five-day suspension.

“I met with Chief Burch and Sgt. Raggins today, and Chief Burch resigned this afternoon — effective today,” Reynolds said Thursday afternoon, before heading to a late meeting. “He has not given me his letter yet, but he has resigned and he will be following up with a letter. After I gave him the documents (discrimination allegations) and let him read my findings, he resigned. There is no severance package.”

Reynolds said the city will begin advertising for the police chief position in the near future.

“Right now, Capt. Charles is in charge of the daily operations of the Lake City police department. We’ll start our search again soon,” Reynolds said.

Charles has worked at the Lake City Police Department for 33 years.

City discrimination investigation findings

A 27-page memorandum, released Thursday afternoon, from the city manager’s office detailed findings made in the city attorney’s office investigation into Raggins’ complaints.

Raggins’ discrimination complaint included the “inappropriate e-mail” as well as three other charges. Raggins complaints alleged Burch:

n Would not let Raggins resign from the Police Department Honor Guard, a voluntary position, or from his position as recruitment officer for the department;

n Racially segregated the police department building by having no blacks on the second floor; and

n Racially discriminated against Raggins by not allowing him to pick up his child while on duty, while a Caucasian officer was allowed to work from his home one day per week.

“I have come to the conclusion, based on my discussions with you, members of the Lake City Police Department and the report compiled by our attorney, Blair Payne, that your actions were not discriminatory in nature,” Reynolds wrote in the memorandum to Burch. “At this time the only action in which you were negligent was the

e-mail issue where you were given five days suspension. I consider the case to be closed at this time.”

Payne’s findings were in a six-page report within the 27-page document.

“After reviewing this matter we have come to the conclusion the complaint has no factual basis,” Payne wrote in a letter to Reynolds, addressing the racial discrimination issues. Payne also noted that “Burch simply made an administrative decision not to relieve Raggins of the recruitment duties, and was well within his right to do so as head of the police department.”

Regarding Raggins complaint about using his personal vehicle to transport his child from pre-school, Payne’s report noted that there is no question Raggins’ request to transport his child using a city vehicle while he is on call was correctly denied by Burch, and that police officers have no designated lunch hour.

Payne’s report concluded: “I do not find any factual basis supporting the complaint submitted by Raggins, however I must issue that caveat that if the recent accusation by Raggins’ attorney is substantiated, my opinions could change.”

In addition to the discrimination complaints Davis and Raggins filed with the city, both officers filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Findings from those cases have not been returned yet.


Source (http://www.lakecityreporter.com/articles/2008/08/01/breaking_news/doc48928ed7b28e2806338329.txt)