Former San Clemente Police Chief Calls Forced Resignation ‘Unfair’

Calling his forced resignation “very unusual” and “very unfair,” former San Clemente Police Chief Kelson McDaniel Friday denied that he had mistreated any police officer.

If he was guilty of anything, McDaniel said, it was “insisting that members of the Police Department work an eight-hour day when they are paid for an eight-hour day.”

In a press conference at his home and in a later interview, McDaniel said he never broke the law or violated any rules of conduct during his 18-month tenure as San Clemente’s police chief.

McDaniel strongly denied charges by police officers that he had set a quota for tickets and forced them to make unjustified arrests “for the sake of increasing statistics.”

Calling himself “a survivor,” McDaniel, 50, said he would like to find a new job heading up a police department but, he conceded quickly, “there’s not much of a market for a fired policeman.”

McDaniel resigned Thursday following an overwhelming “no-confidence” vote last week by the 50-member San Clemente Peace Officers Assn.

Police officers and other department employees called him an insensitive manager who created punitive and extremely stressful working conditions. At an emotional meeting on Tuesday, some officers and their relatives wept and shrieked as they described working under McDaniel.

Administrative Leave

Later that day, City Manager James B. Hendrickson placed McDaniel on paid administrative leave and hired a consultant to interview police officers and study the situation. That review ended Thursday afternoon when Hendrickson called McDaniel into his office. Hendrickson declined to say if he had sought McDaniel’s resignation, but McDaniel on Friday said he was asked to leave.

Lt. Albert C. Ehlow, commander of the department’s detective division and one of the 113 candidates for police chief in 1985, is serving as acting police chief until the city can find a new chief.

Until his resignation this week, McDaniel’s reputation was that of an excellent police administrator. A native of Indiana, he served 17 years with the Newport Beach Police Department, then spent seven years as chief of the Los Alamitos Police Department. In October, 1985, when he was selected from 113 candidates to be San Clemente’s chief, all the reports on McDaniel’s background were “glowing,” Hendrickson said Thursday.

But McDaniel, who set strict standards for police work, followed an easygoing police chief in the small town of San Clemente. And by many accounts he immediately angered rank-and-file police officers by instituting policy changes that ranged from new beat assignments, shifts that changed every 28 days and personnel practices that encouraged reprimands.

Detective Barth Massey, a peace officers’ association board member, said officers were upset with McDaniel in his first week on the job when he reportedly told one newspaper: “My officers are no longer going to be on vacation now. They’re going to start working.” Massey said the relationship continued to disintegrate over the last year and a half and finally about 10 days ago, officers rebelled.

McDaniel said Friday that he was proud of his record in San Clemente. He said his administrative policies were “widely accepted and in place in police departments throughout the country.”

Of charges that he had set quotas for tickets and arrests, McDaniel said, “I did not--and never would--encourage my officers” to operate according to such policies.

In a three-page statement distributed to reporters outside his home, McDaniel said he was “severely disappointed” in the process that led to his resignation.

McDaniel’s Statement

“What am I guilty of?” the statement said:

- “Being dedicated and committed to the Police Department and the members of this community.

- “Insisting that members of the police department work an eight-hour day when they are paid for an eight-hour day.

- “Insisting that the members of the department arrive to work on time, just as any other employer expects his employees to be on time.

- “Insisting that the members of the Police Department--who are charged with not only enforcing the laws of the land but also with protecting our citizens--perform their duties in an honest, professional manner.”

Accompanied by his wife Sally and a handful of friends, McDaniel appeared calm as he read the statement. He answered only a few questions from reporters, embraced his wife, smiled and waved to journalists and retreated into his home.