Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/westminster-police-department/)
City officials could end their relationship with a longtime animal control provider. Activists want council members to hold off on their decision – which could impact thousands of the city’s shelter animals and strays — until an ongoing period of political turmoil at City Hall dies down.
The City of Westminster faces a political “perfect storm” this year, with upcoming recalls for elected officials and lawsuits involving the police department — not to mention tough choices between higher sales taxes or cuts to public services, and finding a new city manager.
Cmdr. Cameron Knauerhaze, a top-ranking Westminster Police Department administrator, is claiming the city ignored a culture of wrongdoing under former police chief Ralph Ornelas.
The Westminster Police Department fostered a culture of bullying and retaliation for years under former police chief Ralph Ornelas, three police officers allege in separate legal claims filed against the city.
Two Westminster police officers who were plaintiffs in a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Police Department were involved in a workplace fight Aug. 30.
The nation’s highest court decided April 16 it would not review the case, rejecting a petition by Westminster to appeal the 2014 decision by a federal court jury that awarded $3.4 million in damages plus attorney fees to Westminster Police Department officers Jose Flores, Ryan Reyes and Brian Perez.
Westminster police officers will get a salary increase each year over the next three years, after the City Council approved a new three-year-agreement for sworn and civilian Police Department employees.