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Their view: Martin Luther King was an example too many are not following

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Wilkes event ‘sheds light’ on Dr. Martin Luther King’s life

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; City Police Chief Marcella Lendacky is unqualified, domineering and simply out of touch with modern leadership practices, according to a recently completed review of the department she leads.</p><p>But Lendacky says one of her main rivals &#8212; Sgt. Phil Myers &#8212; thought he was going to be named chief a few years ago, and that&#8217;s led to some of the trouble within the force.</p><p>On the same day the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association provided its final report to the city, Lendacky, a 29-year department veteran, notified Mayor Tony George of her retirement in June.</p><p>&#8220;In the opinion of the PCPA assessors, Chief Lendacky, with few exceptions, does not demonstrate the characteristics to be successful in a modern, progressive organization,&#8221; the report said. It did not recommend that she be removed from her position, however.</p><p>The mayor has withheld the public release of the 100-page document pending city Attorney Tim Henry&#8217;s review to ensure it complies with the state Right-to-Know law. However, the Times Leader obtained a copy of the unedited report.</p><p>It labeled Lendacky, who held the position of night shift commander before the mayor appointed her chief in 2016, as an &#8220;autocratic&#8221; leader who employs a &#8220;My way or the Highway&#8221; style. It stated she works &#8220;hand in glove&#8221; with Commander of Patrol Ron Foy, who also is an &#8220;autocratic leader&#8221; and acts as her enforcer of &#8220;perceived performance problems and discipline.&#8221;</p><p>Foy is still with the department.</p><p>Neither Lendacky nor Foy have college degrees, unlike Commander of Investigation Joseph Coffay, the report stated. Coffay, a 28-year veteran, has 12 years of inter-agency experience with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.</p><p>&#8220;His background and experience align with qualifying standards for consideration as a senior administrator,&#8221; the report stated.</p><p>The document was the end result of an estimated 10-week assessment by the Harrisburg-based PCPA. The group was hired in November at a cost of $26,212 to offer recommendations after identifying the root causes of the acrimony between the police administration and the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association. The union represents patrol officers, detectives, sergeants and lieutenants who make up the majority of the more than 80-member department.</p><p>The mayor, a former police chief himself; Lendacky; the PBA; and city council supported the assessment that also was supposed to look at preparing the department for accreditation. The focus changed after the PCPA realized &#8220;the range and scope of the hostilities&#8221; and redirected its investigation to look at &#8220;the deficient directives system on the organizational health of the department.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8216;Lack of trust&#8217;</strong></p><p>From January 2016 through the end of 2017, there were 18 cases of discipline within the department and 15 of them were against union members, according to the report. And during Lendacky&#8217;s time as chief, there have been 44 grievances and unfair labor practice complaints.</p><p>The PCPA interviewed Lendacky, Foy, officers, members of the city administration and city council. The PCPA also was provided access to department policies and procedures and the collective bargaining agreement with the PBA.</p><p>The overall determination was that there is a failure of leadership in the department due to a lack of vision, direction and training to keep current with technology and trending issues.</p><p>&#8220;In the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, there is a pervasive belief if the members take initiative, make decisions, and police proactively, they will get in trouble for doing something wrong,&#8221; the report said.</p><p>The officers do not feel they are &#8220;supported and valued,&#8221; and fear they will face discipline, the report continued.</p><p>Further explaining the effects of that management approach, the report said, &#8220;The severity of the estrangement, the lack of trust, and the continuing spiral of dissention (sic) between Chief Lendacky, Commander Foy, and many of the department members represented by the PBA make the likelihood of reconciliation unlikely.&#8221;</p><p>The report said Lendacky blamed the PBA for the problems within the department and singled out Sgt. Myers, president of the union. Myers expected to be named chief with the change in administration, Lendacky said in the report.</p><p>Lendacky said the fact that some PBA members were friends with a city council member affected her relationship with the elected official.</p><p>&#8220;Lendacky also stated the city council president, Beth Gilbert, &#8216;hates&#8217; her and attributes the council president&#8217;s animus to the president&#8217;s friendship with multiple members of the union,&#8221; the report said. It added that Gilbert has not yet accepted the chief&#8217;s invitation to meet to hear the &#8220;other side of things&#8221; in the department.</p><p>Gilbert had been supportive of the union&#8217;s calls for an investigation of the department even before the PCPA was hired. She issued a statement Wednesday that said, &#8220;I am hoping that both Lendacky and Foy see their shortcomings and agree to step down over the next few days so that new, more effective, and qualified leadership can take over.&#8221;</p><p>The report listed those shortcomings.</p><p>For Lendacky, it said, &#8220;Her administrative performance during the last two years demonstrates deficiencies in the requirements for the position. She has failed to establish an agenda and has neglected the duties of the chief executive, opting for the actions of a low-level disciplinarian, focused on compliance with confusing, deficient directives, following an arcane carrot-and-stick leadership style that simply does not work in modern policing.&#8221;</p><p>For Foy, it said, he does not meet professional standards for a senior commander.&#8221;His actions have alienated numerous department members and members of the city council, and destroyed the amicable relationship with the PBA,&#8221; said the report. &#8220;His statements in public forums reflect poorly on the professionalism of the department and probably violate the department Code of Conduct.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8216;Troubling attitude&#8217;</strong></p><p>The report addressed a concern raised by the PBA that Lendacky modified reports to lessen severity of incidents to cast a better light on the administration of the mayor, who mounted a &#8220;law and order&#8221; campaign in his run for office. The union said Lendacky changed reported burglaries of copper pipes from vacant residential buildings to thefts. The PCPA said its assessors differed with the chief on her reasoning for the changes.</p><p>Another incident involved the reports of shots fired at victims of a house burglary. According to the report, the officer who responded could not find shell casings, prompting the chief to doubt whether shots were fired.</p><p>&#8220;Chief Lendacky questions the officer, suggesting the victims and actors were the same people doing it to each other. She refers to the situation as &#8216;shit on shit.&#8217; She tells the officer to change the report to an event report, concluding the conversation by saying the department does not need this kind of statistic,&#8221; the report said.</p><p>It offered this criticism of her actions: &#8220;Beyond the concerns raised by the chief&#8217;s misrepresentation of incidents occurring in the city, her comments regarding the victim citizens reveal a troubling attitude toward constituents.&#8221;</p><p>To ensure the department progresses beyond its current status, the report offered 30 recommendations in the areas of leadership, discipline, chain of command, and administrative investigations.</p><p>&#8220;Leadership must establish a culture within the department where there is trust and confidence demonstrated at all levels towards all levels,&#8221; the document states. &#8220;Leaders must demonstrate the qualities they espouse and lead by example.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Foy </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_Foy.cmyk_-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Foy </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_Marcella-Lendacky-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Marcella Lendacky. 9/26/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_Marcella-Lendacky-5.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Marcella Lendacky. 9/26/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Review: WB chief a &#8216;My Way or Highway&#8217; manager</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>To read a portion of the report, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Wilkes-Barre-Police-Dept.-Report-2.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Report: WB Police leadership unqualified, too domineering (Read the report)