The Alliance City Council heard from six of their constituents at their meeting on March 5 regarding the hiring of David Leavitt to serve as the next Chief of Police for the Alliance Police Department, giving council members the opportunity to respond.
The community has been fraught with discussion regarding the hiring of Leavitt since the announcement was made in February, much of it regarding an article published by WPLN News in Nashville describing Leavitt being disciplined for alleged sexual harassment. The article, which was published on November 8, 2021, states that Leavitt was allowed to retire in good standing from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. No legal actions were taken against Leavitt, however.
Mayor Earl Jones introduced the agenda item, which was requested by six citizens who wished to share their views before the packed council chamber, noting that the council was there to listen to their concerns about Leavitt, but stating that they ultimately had no control over the matter. He explained the reason why council does not have a set time period for public comments during their meetings as compared to other boards.
“We have no say over personnel, and, in fact, are forbidden from discussing that,” said Jones. “We will take your remarks, but we will not respond to anything. We are not in charge of personnel and are forbidden from dealing with or talking about personnel, with the exception of the city manager and the city clerk. They are the only people, according to ordinance, that we can hire, fire or discuss.
“Last time, somebody asked why we no longer had just public discussion at our meetings,” Jones continued. “I did some research, and the reason is is because, most of the time, when people came and asked to speak to the council, without doing the paperwork, it was about personnel issues. They wanted to come and talk about, most generally, the building inspector, the code enforcement people, or the police department, all things which we do not control.”
Jones set the time limit for each speaker to five minutes, tracking the time by setting an alarm on his phone. He read the ordinances concerning public comments and advised that those sharing their views must maintain a “G rating.” He said that comments would be heard in the order they received the requests, inviting Karen Trussell to address the council first.
Trussell shared her concerns over the hiring process and how it was determined that Leavitt was the best candidate for the job. She noted that Leavitt’s references were contacted, but asked whether members of his community were contacted to share their experiences with Leavitt.
“After analyzing all of the information from all the sources, we’re told to believe from the very beginning of this process with GPS (search consultants utilized by the City of Alliance in the hiring process) the candidate provided his side of the past, which would clearly follow him to any new position he chose to take,” said Trussell. “We’re told they reached out to the new police chief’s six references, who all vouched for him. Isn’t that what typically is the purpose of references?”
Trussell asked if anyone in the hiring process dug deep enough to get the story from those who accused Leavitt of sexual harassment or misconduct.
“When the news article with the past deviant actions came to light to the public, the city manager swept it under the rug, saying only one reporting agency picked up the story,” said Trussell. “Unfortunately, for the city manager, community members are smart enough to reach out directly to the journalist, a brave neighbor who may be able to cross-examine him. Imagine our shock when we were told by the publisher that this single report the city manager referred to was based upon hundreds of pages of complaints and information.
“Did you contact even one singular human being from the other side to hear the opposing side’s story before you disregarded it?” Trussell asked. “Did you happen to glance your eyes upon a single one of a hundred pages used to form that single report? Sometimes the truth isn’t popular to publish, perhaps it isn’t best to cite the number of agencies reporting a story, but rather checking into the validity of a story being published.”
Trussell decried the hiring process, citing it as a failure to check every detail.
“Shame on you,” Trussell said. “What’s worse is for you to double down and trying to continue to help this man find a position of power to abuse by bringing him to serve over us in Alliance, Nebraska. How dare you look at us and tell us this was the absolute best candidate for our community. There’s only three conclusions to be made from your statement. Number one: America is in a sorry state where we are allowing ourselves to be policed by deviants who have no business with power over the public in a system dead set on kicking the can down the road to protect on pensions. Number two: you didn’t do your job in properly looking into his shady career background by calling someone on the victim list instead of the reference. Or, number three: you’re outright lying that this was the best candidate for the job. I’m not sure which is the truth, but currently I weep for our community, and your hiring process has proven itself to be absolute garbage.”
Having concluded her remarks, Trussell stepped down from the lectern and Tamara Wood was invited to address the council. She explained that trust is an important factor when it comes to law enforcement officers, and other positions, noting that the trust has been violated in this case.
“A police officer who has been found to have violated the position of trust by harassing subordinates has, by their own hand, forfeited any right to have the community’s trust ever again,” said Wood.
Wood said she spoke with the author of the WPLN article, Samantha Max, noting that she stands by her reporting and the sources she used for the article.
“Mr. Leavitt has not taken responsibility for his actions,” Wood said. “He has continually downplayed the severity of his actions and his behavior. The city council and Mr. (Seth) Sorensen (Alliance City Manager) have all lauded Mr. Leavitt’s resume and experience, but they have all chosen to overlook the fact that he violated the trust that was placed with him, and as such, he has disqualified himself from being reinstated in that position. The city council and city manager should never have offered Mr. Leavitt the position of police chief, and for the good of the community, should immediately rescind that offer made to him.”
Next, Jeff Schneider offered his remarks to the council, discussing the reporting process of WPLN when they published the article, saying that there is a pattern to be found in the evidence.
“So we offered the job to a man who has shown a pattern of inappropriate sexual behavior toward his subordinates, who abused his access to police databases, which is illegal and abuse of civil liberties, and who is an operation manager of a security company accused of hiring non-certified officers and having them in roles impersonating real police officers,” said Schneider. “How is that going to build trust with our community, let alone the members of our already dwindling police force.”
Schneider said he spoke with two former Alliance Police Department Officers who left the department, noting how important this choice is for the future of the APD.
“Both specifically told me that if the city does not get this right, that Alliance may end up not having a police department at all,” Schneider said. “However, both talked about the respect they had for Kirk Felker. One of them mentioned how morale was terrible under the last police chief and morale improved once Felker took over as interim police chief.”
Schneider asked if during the hiring process current APD officers were asked for their input, and whether the scoring used for candidates included points for bravery, noting that Felker was wounded in the line of duty while protecting Alliance.
“We have a chance to make the right decision here,” Schneider said. “We have to have a police chief who has the trust of members of the Alliance Police Department and the community.
Next, Tim Smith addressed council members, citing the decision to hire Leavitt as one of the most unpopular decisions made while he has lived in Alliance for the past 68 years. He said that Leavitt offering his side of the story during the hiring process was a tactic to get ahead of the story.
“Also, I would argue that while no legal charges were levied, the internal allegations of sexual harassment were investigated by their internal affairs people, and confirmed within the MNPD system theirselves, and Mr. Leavitt was disciplined accordingly,” said Smith.
Smith cited minutes from the Nashville Metropolitan Civil Service Commission on November 9, 2021, showing that the disciplinary action against Leavitt included a demotion from captain to lieutenant, before he was allowed to retire from the Nashville Police Department.
“Retirement in good standing would always be possible as a voluntary decision, and it should be noted that the decision was made after a 20-day suspension and being demoted to lieutenant,” Smith said.
Jones interjected at the five minute mark, telling Smith his time was up and calling upon Spencer Sanchez to speak to the council.
Sanchez said this issue is straight forward, citing Smith’s remark that all of the information was found in simple Google searches. He asked why and how this decision was made, and how Leavitt was determined to be the best candidate.
“With all the facts that everyone has brought up, everything that has been seen on Facebook, the news, social media, how is this guy coming into our city, and how is he the best fit for this?” Sanchez asked. “This has been rather frustrating, and I know a lot of Alliance citizens feel the same way. It’s been pretty obvious, I guess. I guess the moral of the story is, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. This guy has a reputation of having bad decisions, repeatedly. Why would you want to bring that here to our citizens, in Alliance?”
Sanchez said that the citizens of Alliance just want to have answers. He stepped away from the lectern, and next, Joshua Trussell offered his remarks to the council.
Trussell began by thanking the council members for their service to the community of Alliance. He explained that the department’s maintenance costs have been increased by decisions made in the past, such as purchasing used vehicles and other equipment.
“It seems we’re headed back down this path again,” said Trussell. “Some of the most sought after characteristics for a leader in law enforcement are integrity, honesty, commitment and experience. Once we start to sacrifice these qualities, our community, in the end suffers. I’d like to know how someone with multiple sexual harassment allegations, a documented demotion late in 2021, and then operations manager for a security firm that is under investigation, how will he be successful in a role where integrity and honesty are keys to success. I believe this choice is going to cost the taxpayers of Alliance even more. I hope, going forward, we can make better hiring decisions for such important roles.”
Trussell said he would forfeit the remainder of his time to allow Smith to finish his statements, and Jones denied that action, stating, “It’s not your time to give.” He said that each person was allowed five minutes to speak, stating that Smith had already used his time, and offering Trussell the choice to speak for the remainder of his time, or to conclude. Trussell concluded his remarks.
Jones brought the meeting to a close encouraging people with disagreements to disagree in an agreeable way. He also encouraged people to attend council meetings in the future
“I would like to say, many people talked to me today and said, well, ‘are you worried?’” said Jones. “Honestly, people, we love to have people come to our meetings. For the last seven meetings, I believe, there’s been no one here but us. So, if you think it bothers us to have people come, or people express whatever their opinions are, and I want to tell you the fact that we may disagree on this one decision does not mean that we are monsters or we’re terrible people, or that we can’t get along, because that’s just ridiculous. We’re certainly all bigger people than that. I hope that we can all disagree and still be friends. We’re still your neighbors. We’re still the same people we were last week before the controversy started.”