When San Rafael Corporal Daniel Hanlon returned the
keys to a city car after attending a training class, little did he know
that a chance encounter with the city manager would nearly jeopardize a
spotless 24-year career. Thankfully, Legal Defense Fund panel attorney
Alison Berry-Wilkinson, of Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, was able to
prove that Hanlon did not lie and the city's decision to demote him from
corporal to officer, and to suspend him for 30 days, was completely
unwarranted.
On Sunday, November 3, 1996, Hanlon worked a late
swing shift. Hanlon decided to return the pool car that day so it would
be available for whomever might need it the first thing Monday morning.
After his briefing, Hanlon told his sergeant that he
had to "go upstairs to the manager's office to return keys."
As he made the statement, Hanlon showed the sergeant the car keys that
he was holding in his hand.
The sergeant however, claimed that after briefing was
over, he was headed outside for a cigarette break when Hanlon mumbled,
"I have to go upstairs. I have a meeting with the manager."
The sergeant did not question him and did not notice whether Hanlon had
any keys in his hand.
Hanlon proceeded upstairs from the police department
to the city manager's office. On his way, Hanlon picked up a copy of the
local free newspaper in the City Hall lobby.
Once inside the city manager’s office suite, Hanlon
left the pool car keys on the secretary’s desk and wrote a note
indicating that the odometer on the pool car was not working properly,
since Hanlon had noticed during the time he had the car that the number
of miles accumulated was far below the number of miles driven.
After writing the note, he picked up the newspaper
and was about to leave the office when he encountered the city manager.
Because the city manager was new, he and Hanlon had never before met.
Hanlon and the city manager were startled to
encounter each other on this Sunday evening. Hanlon recalled that he
began the conversation by noting that the manager "had to be from
Southern California," since the San Francisco 49ers were playing a
critical game that evening. The manager then commented that
although his sons were watching the game, he had lots of work to do.
According to Hanlon, he then gestured at the city
manager with the local newspaper and indicated that he had been reading
good things about the manager. They then discussed the concept of
community policing, as well as the nature of the training class that
Hanlon had just returned from.
Hanlon did not tell the manager that his purpose for
being in the office was to return the pool car keys. After the
conversation was over, Hanlon left the city manager's office, and went
"in service".
The city manager claimed that, while he was working
in his office on a Sunday evening, he heard a suspicious noise that he
set out to investigate. He then observed Hanlon, who appeared to be
coming out of the office of an assistant city manager.
The manager recollected that he asked Hanlon who he
was and that Hanlon stated that he had gone into the assistant city
manager's office to obtain a copy of the local newspaper so that he
could read an article written about the manager.
The city manager stated that he was puzzled
about Hanlon's purported purpose for being in the office
since the local newspaper was readily available in numerous public
locations throughout the city. However, the manager testified that he
decided not to embarrass Hanlon by questioning him about this incident
and, instead, they went on to talk about community policing and the
training class that Hanlon had attended.
Several days after the incident, Hanlon's sergeant
mentioned to his captain that Hanlon had met with the city manager
during his work shift. Several weeks after that, the captain asked the
city manager why he had met with one of his officers on a Sunday
evening.
The city manager informed the captain that no meeting
had taken place and that he had a chance encounter with Hanlon in his
office. Almost a month later, the city manager requested that the Police
Department investigate Hanlon for lying to his sergeant to cover up his
"snooping" in the city manager's office.
After conducting an internal investigation,
the city recommended that Hanlon, who in his 24-year career had never
before been disciplined, be terminated. However, after the
predisciplinary hearing, the chief decided to rescind the termination
recommendation and simply demote Hanlon from the position of corporal
and to suspend him for 30 days.
The city based its discipline upon an allegation that
Hanlon had lied, both to the sergeant, the city manager and the internal
affairs investigator concerning the reason he was in the city manager's
office on that Sunday evening. The city claimed that Hanlon told
his sergeant that he had a meeting with the manager, that Hanlon told
the manager that he was in the office to obtain a copy of the local
newspaper and that he told the internal affairs investigator that he had
gone to the manager's office to return the pool car keys.
Arbitrator William Ward concluded that each of the
witnesses, the sergeant, the city manager, and Hanlon were all truthful
concerning their recollection of the conversations that occurred on that
ill-fated Sunday evening. The arbitrator noted that, by the time
allegations of misconduct were levied against Hanlon, each of the
witnesses was asked to recall, in extensive detail, an innocuous
conversation that had taken place many weeks before.
The arbitrator also noted that the actions of the
city manager and the sergeant at the time of the conversation were
inconsistent with what they claimed had occurred.
Consequently, arbitrator Ward, upon the urging
of Legal Defense Fund panel attorney Alison Berry-Wilkinson, held that
the city did not have just cause to suspend Hanlon for 30 days and
demote him from the rank of corporal. The arbitrator ordered the city to
reinstate Hanlon to the position of corporal, repay the 30-day
suspension, and reimburse Hanlon for lost wages resulting from the
demotion.
