Burbank chief called out

CITY HALL — In front of the bereaved family of a police sergeant who killed himself last week, Burbank City Councilman David Gordon on Tuesday called on his colleagues to direct the city manager to place Police Chief Tim Stehr on administrative leave amid an FBI investigation into police misconduct and a growing stack of lawsuits against the city.

Citing the recent public suicide of police Sgt. Neil Thomas Gunn, who was named in an FBI probe into police misconduct along with several other officers, Gordon said the City Council had a “moral and legal responsibility” to place Stehr on leave until the investigations were concluded.

“The stress and tension in our Police Department has understandably become toxic,” Gordon said. “We cannot close our eyes or cover our ears to what is going on.”

Gunn died Thursday of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the chest at the corner of North Sunset Canyon Drive and East Harvard Road, said Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Gordon’s comments were met with repeated applause from a chamber packed with Burbank police officers, many of whom joined the Gunn family in a candlelight vigil outside the steps of the police station.

The group, carrying a large portrait of Gunn and candles bearing his name and badge number, marched up the steps of City Hall before the council meeting.

Stehr’s “actions and inactions” pushed the Police Department “to the brink of disaster,” said Burbank Police Lt. Omar Rodriguez, a 22-year member of the department who is on leave.

Although FBI officials would not expand on why the officers were named in the probe into civil rights violations and excessive use of force, several of the officers listed in the investigation — Rodriguez, Bill Taylor and Steve Karagiosian — have also filed lawsuits against the city alleging racial discrimination, harassment and on-the-job retaliation.

The City Council took no formal action on Gordon’s proposal after City Atty. Dennis Barlow questioned the legality of the request.

Council members, arguing that they had yet to receive any information linking the chief to police misconduct, made clear they had no intention of declaring an emergency order.

“I don’t believe there is an emergency,” Councilman Dave Golonski said. “I can’t help but feel that you’re grandstanding.”