In 2011, Shaumbe Wright submitted a Public Records Act request to the city of Monterey, seeking his exam results from a sergeant promotions test he’d taken twice. He thought he’d been unfairly passed over for the job.
In a department of 51, Wright is the only black cop. He’s been on the force for 18 years, and never been promoted.
Wright filed a claim last Dec. 24 alleging discrimination and civil rights violations. A month later, he found out his claim had been denied by the city, leaving him a six-month window to file a lawsuit.
“We’re definitely contemplating a lawsuit,” says Wright’s attorney, Bradley Gage. “This is just the beginning.”
Gage is known for cop discrimination cases. In 2009, he won an $18 million settlement on behalf of 16 officers who’d been fired from the South Gate P.D..
“Our client was passed over for a promotion because of his race,” Gage says. “There’s a history of discrimination, and when he complained, he got retaliated against with a series of unjustified internal affairs investigations.”
Monterey Chief Phil Penko declined to comment on the matter because it’s in pending litigation. Wright would speak only through his attorney.
But Penko’s also been confronting issues of more widespread discontent. In February, he received the results of a survey completed by members of the Monterey Police Association, in which 21 of 30 respondents reported they were “very dissatisfied” overall.
“Morale is low, turnover is high, hard work isn’t appreciated and there isn’t even a light at the end of the tunnel,” one member wrote.
Penko responded swiftly, pledging to address the issues and try to improve the department’s culture. City officials met regularly to come up with a strategy. “We owe it to one another to each do our part,” Penko wrote in an email to the department. “I’m in.”
He also emailed Chief Vicki Myers (who oversees the shared police force for Seaside and Pacific Grove), and who was grappling with morale issues of her own. Wright’s claim, as well as the emails, were obtained by the Weekly via a Public Records Act request.
Myers wrote back to Penko: “Hang in there! In the grand scheme of things, this is a blip.”
She also included the contact information for Michael McCrary, a retired chief based in Seal Beach who facilitates team building workshops. Each city has now hired him on for $125 an hour, plus travel expenses. McCrary declined an interview because of his proximity to confidential personnel matters.
McCrary’s just getting started in Monterey, where the beef is mostly with middle management. In Seaside, Myers herself is the source of the complaints.
In July, the Seaside Police Officers Association took a vote of no confidence in their chief, citing concerns with her management style. Frustrated by what they claim is a lack of response, they took their issues public on April 1.
McCrary’s workshops are supposed to address some of the issues. POA members – who decline to be identified claiming they fear retaliation – are calling for Myers to be removed.
(1) comment
"Monterey, Seaside and P.G. chiefs confront low morale; Monterey cop prepares to sue" (April 10) presents some interesting issues which bear deeper scrutiny. Prospective plaintiff Shaumbe Wright claims he has not been promoted because in a police department of 51 he, the only African-American, is the victim of racism. His attorney cites "a history of discrimination, and when he complained, he got retaliated against with a series of unjustified internal affairs investigations.” What was the specific nature of these IA investigations? What were the results? By his own admissions in interviews, Officer Wright has a history of petty crime. He was admitted into the Monterey College of Law under the aegis of a racial preference. He received his J.D. in 2004, and as late as 2010 was contemplating taking the bar exam. A check of the state bar's roster reveals no attorney named Shaumbe Wright or Shaumbe Wright-Fair (another name by which Officer Wright operates). Officer Wright did, however, take a test, twice, to be a sergeant, and when passed over for promotion, sought his exam results through a Public Records Act request. The article does not state that Officer Wright was successful in obtaining the results of both of his tests; and if he did obtain them, there is no mention how Officer Wright fared. The article goes on to characterize local police departments as wildly dysfunctional, e.g., “Morale is low, turnover is high, hard work isn’t appreciated and there isn’t even a light at the end of the tunnel." Is the officer who wrote this comment black or white? Assuming, due to statistics, the officer is white, it appears that hard work by ANYONE isn't "appreciated." Furthermore, Officer Wright is a self-identified Christian who, as an ex-NFL running back, served from 2010 to 2013 as Head/Assistant Football Coach at Trinity Christian High School. Could Officer Wright possibly be the victim of anti-Christian bias? On his LinkedIn page, Officer Wright also describes himself as a Monterey P.D. detective, as well as community action team (CAT) officer, School Resource Officer, and Field Training Officer. Officer Wright, who refused to allow his face to be seen in the article's photo (thereby, intentionally or not, dramatizing his plight as a persecuted black man fearing retaliation) posted his portrait on his LinkedIn page and on his Facebook page. He can also be seen coaching football players, his face clearly visible, in an article devoted to him. I will follow this case closely as it unfolds.
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