Persistent allegations of sexual misconduct at the Redlands Police Department, culminating with a new claim alleging three ranking supervisors attempted to cover up evidence, have triggered an administrative investigation by the city and an FBI probe.
In a claim for damages filed against the city on March 16, forensic specialist Geneva Holzer alleges that in December 2019, now retired Deputy Chief Mike Reiss, then a lieutenant, and Sgt. Kyle Alexander attempted to destroy physical evidence of sexual misconduct by Reiss.
Holzer found what she believed to be a semen stain on an office chair of a former employee who sued the city last August, alleging she was coerced into engaging in sexual acts with Reiss to advance at the department.
In her lawsuit, former property and evidence technician Julie Alvarado-Salcido alleged, among other things, that she was coerced into performing oral sex on Reiss in her office in August 2019.
Holzer was not aware of Salcido’s specific allegations at the time, but says in her claim that she nevertheless tested the stain. Tests returned positive for semen, but it was unclear whether Reiss was the source of it.
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Holzer, who earlier this year was recognized as Employee of the Year for exemplary service to the department, reported her discovery of the semen-stained chair to Alexander. The following day, she alleges in her claim, he told her to dispose of the chair.
When Holzer hesitated, according to the claim, Alexander told her to cut the semen sample from the fabric, dispose of the chair, to “not be descriptive” in her report and to send the report and photos of the chair directly to him via email.
“He told me not to put anything in our evidence system photo wise and don’t put the report into our reporting system,” Holzer said in her claim. “What Sgt. Alexander told me to do was done this way so no one would know about it, and it would never be discovered by anyone else.”
In February, Holzer said in her claim, she became aware of an encounter colleague Ruth Samano had with Reiss and Alexander in the department’s forensic office in 2019. Samano told Holzer the two entered the office and started “looking around.”
Samano, according to the claim, asked Reiss and Alexander if they were looking for the chair. Reiss replied, “You know about the chair?” to which Samano replied, “Yes, and it’s not here.” Reiss and Alexander then abruptly left the office, according to the claim.
Discovery of the evidence, according to Holzer, was reported to Cmdr. Stephen Crane, but never made it further up the command chain to Deputy Chief Travis Martinez, whom Crane reported to.
Holzer alleges Crane also was complicit in the cover-up.
“Through the chain of command my discovery of evidence of sexual assault was covered up and ordered destroyed by Deputy Chief Reiss then carried out by Sgt. Alexander and Commander Crane,” Holzer alleges in her claim.
Department scuttlebutt
In January, Sgt. Patrick Leivas, acting on scuttlebutt swirling within the department, confronted Holzer about the evidence, which she disclosed to him, according to department sources and the claim.
“I believe Sgt. Leivas reported it to multiple law enforcement authorities and an investigation was started into what happened,” Holzer said in her claim.
Sources within the department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Leivas presented the evidence to Martinez and Redlands City Councilmember Paul Barich. Martinez subsequently took the evidence to the FBI’s public corruption unit, which launched the federal probe.
Martinez declined to comment.
FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller said she could neither confirm nor deny whether the agency was investigating the Redlands Police Department. But department sources and attorneys representing current and former employees confirmed as much, saying investigators already have interviewed several current and former employees, including Holzer and Salcido.
Barich declined to comment on the investigation or his role in it, other than to say, “All parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but it always has been a standard policy that the city of Redlands would not put up with any sexual harassment. So if allegations do come true, then we will take appropriate action.”
Barich said he has not been interviewed by FBI investigators, who sources said now have the forensic evidence from the chair.
Department retirements
Reiss, according to Holzer’s claim, was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 30, then subsequently retired. A spokesperson for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System said Reiss retired on March 4 and is receiving a gross monthly pension payment of $15,728.
Reiss could not be reached for comment.
Reiss’ retirement occurred about the same time as that of Police Chief Chris Catren, who unexpectedly announced on March 2 that he would step down due to a work-related back injury.
Catren was president of the California Police Chiefs Association when he retired, and his departure came at a time of major changes in the department, including moving forward on a new police headquarters at the former Kmart building at Redlands Boulevard and Alabama Street.
Reached by telephone Friday, Catren said his retirement was in no way connected to the sexual misconduct and evidence-tampering allegations. It was solely medical related and at the recommendation of his doctor, he said.
“The two have nothing to do with each other. Nobody asked me to leave,” Catren said. “The timing is an unfortunate coincidence, but they have nothing to do with each other.”
Administrative investigation
Around the time Reiss was placed on leave, the city commissioned Laguna Niguel-based JL Group to conduct a “limited scope legal services workplace investigation,” according to a Feb. 3 letter from JL Group attorney/principal Jeffrey Love to City Attorney Yvette Garcia, obtained via a Public Records Act request.
City spokesperson Carl Baker said in an email that JL Group is conducting a “full and comprehensive investigation into each of the allegations of misconduct raised recently to determine the facts in this matter.” He said the investigation is still in its preliminary stages and should take three to four months.
“The City of Redlands takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously. While the recent allegations are significant, the City is committed to a thorough process that will determine the facts and is fair to all parties involved,” Baker said, declining further comment.
History of sexual harassment
Holzer alleges that as a result of her allegations that the semen evidence was suppressed, she became a target of continued sexual harassment by Reiss for more than two years. Two lawsuits filed against the city in the past two years by current and former employees allege a similar pattern of sexual misconduct by Reiss.
In April 2021, former police Officer Laurel Falconieri and Leslie Martinez, a 23-year veteran of the department and crimes against children detective, sued the city alleging a hostile work environment for women in the department as a result of “pervasive sexual favoritism.”
Falconieri alleged Reiss often told her how good she looked, invited her out for drinks and to his condo in Carlsbad, and sent her a picture of himself shirtless, but she immediately deleted the picture and did not respond to him out of fear, according to the lawsuit.
Like Falconieri before her and Holzer after her, Salcido alleges in her suit that Reiss targeted her for sex after she was hired as a fingerprint technician in August 2015. But unlike Falconieri and Holzer, Salcido was compliant with Reiss’ alleged demands for sex, feeling scared and pressured because he was her immediate supervisor, her lawsuit alleges.
Salcido alleges Reiss followed a similar grooming pattern of predatory behavior, regularly inviting her out for drinks and to his condo in Carlsbad. He also requested she send him nude photos of herself.
The sexual misconduct was so prevalent, not only with Reiss but department-wide, that the alleged victims say it fostered its own lexicon of female subordinates having ranking superiors “in their pocket,” meaning they engaged in sexual activity with them in exchange for favorable working conditions and other perks.
In the interview with Catren, the former chief said the allegations advanced by Falconieri, Martinez and Salcido were all investigated and findings were made, but he could not disclose what those findings were.
Source: Orange County Register
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