sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A policy that required cadets at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police academy to razor-shave their heads each morning set in motion events that led to the removal last year of seven training officers, a lawsuit alleges.

The son of an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department commander who was a cadet at the academy was terminated, and quickly reinstated, after violating the policy, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit alleges that APD Cmdr. George Vega used his influence to get his son reinstated to the police academy in August.

The whistleblower lawsuit also alleges that city officials retaliated against the seven academy training officers for sending an Aug. 24 letter to Police Chief Harold Medina informing him of the incident.

It also alleges that seven staff members at the academy were illegally removed from their posts and later investigated for hazing for reporting the policy violation.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said all seven officers remain employed by the department.

鈥淭he City takes allegations of hazing very seriously,鈥� Gallegos said in a written statement. 鈥淭hose allegations, as well as the allegations in this lawsuit, will be addressed in court.鈥�

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 attorney Levi Monagle, who filed the suit Wednesday in 2nd Judicial District Court, said the seven officers were unfairly punished for reporting a policy violation to their superiors.

鈥淥ur clients had no role whatsoever in that actual disciplinary decision,鈥� Monagle said Wednesday.

鈥淭heir removal from the academy was the first instance of retaliation,鈥� he said.

The city retaliated against them a second time by investigating the officers for hazing after they sent the letter to Medina, which was protected by the state鈥檚 Whistleblower Protection Act, Monagle said.

All seven officers remain employed by APD, and three returned to their jobs at the academy in January.

The suit, filed against the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口, seeks unspecified damages.

The series of events began Aug. 1, when a new class of 128 cadets entered the academy, including Joshua Vega, the son of APD Cmdr. George Vega.

Around the same time, Academy Cmdr. Joseph Viers reinstituted an 鈥渙ld school鈥� policy that required cadets to razor-shave their heads every morning, the suit said.

On Aug. 16, a training officer noticed that Joshua Vega had not razor-shaved his head for several days, the suit alleges.

When confronted, the cadet at first maintained that he had shaved his head, but later admitted that he had not, which was considered a 鈥渃lass one鈥� violation of lying, it said.

Viers terminated Vega from the academy on Aug. 17 after an APD Internal Affairs investigation found that Vega had lied to the staff, the suit said.

That evening, the suit alleges, Cmdr. Vega had a phone conversation with Viers.

On Aug. 18, following a meeting between Viers and other APD leaders, Viers reversed his decision and reinstated Joshua Vega to the academy, it states.

Also that day, the seven academy training officers were called to APD headquarters and informed that they were being removed from the posts at the academy and assigned to other duties, it states.

The officers 鈥渨ere given no explanation for their removal from the Academy,鈥� the suit states.

On Aug. 24, the seven officers sent a letter to Chief Medina setting out the circumstances of Joshua Vega鈥檚 termination and reinstatement.

鈥淲e believe this reinstatement was effectuated by the direct intervention of his father, Commander George Vega,鈥� said the letter, which is included in the lawsuit.

鈥淭he direct intervention of Commander Vega in his son鈥檚 departmental disciplinary affairs is completely inappropriate, nepotistic, and constitutes an abuse of authority under New Mexico law,鈥� the letter said.

Dismissal of the seven officers also 鈥渨ould risk compromising the education (and eventual certification) of the entire cadet class,鈥� it said.

The letter asked Medina to intervene and rescind 鈥渢his proposed punitive mass-reassignment.鈥�

On Sept. 25, the seven officers received a letter from Medina notifying them that they were the targets of an investigation into 鈥渁lleged inappropriate conduct, to possibly include hazing, toward a cadet,鈥� the suit alleges.

That 鈥渢hird-party investigation鈥� by an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 attorney was concluded in December but never provided to the officers, the suit states. It contends that the investigation found no evidence of hazing by any of the officers.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the city to release the findings of the third-party investigation.

All seven officers 鈥渨ere sent letters issuing them 鈥榲erbal reprimands鈥� for unspecified violations of city policy,鈥� it states.

Three of the officers who filed the lawsuit 鈥� Lisa Neil, Shane Treadaway and Steve Martinez 鈥� returned to work at the APD academy in January.

The other plaintiffs in the suit are Tillery Stahr, Alix Emrich, James Jacoby and Kelsey Lueckenhoff.