Forest Hill fires police chief whose command was marred by complaints, hiring difficulties

Forest Hill fired now-former Police Chief Eddie Burns Sr. on Saturday, a source in the city’s administration told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. The source said Burns had been on medical leave for months before his termination and was blindsided by the decision to fire him.

Burns told the Star-Telegram in a text message Thursday that he planned to meet with an attorney and couldn’t comment until after that meeting.

Forest Hill Mayor Stephanie Boardingham could not immediately be reached for comment. City Manager Venus Wehle did not respond to multiple requests for more information on Burns’ termination.

The source told the Star-Telegram that Burns was fired by Wehle with no input from the mayor or city council.

Burns commanded the department in a period marred by internal complaints of harassment and a spree of resignations without new hires to fill empty spots, according to city records and multiple former officers. Between January 2022 and October 2023, the department lost 10 officers and only hired three.

Burns’ personnel file, obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request, shows that Burns had received three letters of reprimand, all in 2023. Two of them related to the police chief’s communication with others and one reprimanded Burns for hiring an attorney without the approval of the city council.

Burns was hired in July 2021 after the last police chief and an assistant police chief resigned from the department.

According to the personnel file, Burns initially applied to be the city’s fire chief but was hired to command its police department.

For five years, from 2006-2011, Burns was the Dallas Fire-Rescue chief, a term the Dallas Morning News in 2011 described as “rocky.” Under his leadership, Dallas Fire-Rescue was the subject of allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation, all of which have been alleged during his tenure as the chief of Forest Hill police. During his time with the fire department, the Dallas Morning News reported Burns was named the “Worst Boss in America” by eBossWatch.com.

He resigned after Dallas city leadership found out he owned a stake in a bar in Arlington and another in south Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

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Burns’ termination in Forest Hill comes two weeks after the Star-Telegram obtained the personnel files.

Reprimands

In one reprimand, Burns was criticized for replying to an email form a city council member sent directly to him. He copied Wehle in his response. The city manager wrote in the reprimand that Burns was not allowed to communicate directly with members of the council and had to direct any communication through her under the city charter.

The city requires in its charter that the mayor and council members only contact city employees through the city manager and vice versa.

Another issue outlined in the chief’s personnel file was a meeting he had with an officer whose name was redacted from the file sent to the Star-Telegram. Burns contested the reprimand, issued March 10, 2023, after he met with an officer who had lodged complaints against the department including a charge of discrimination submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The reprimand is not specific about the type of discrimination alleged.

A Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Star-Telegram for records relating to EEOC complaints against the city or police department was denied.

Welhe charged that Burns met with the officer despite rules that he was not to speak with her and that his actions in taking the meeting “evidence an extraordinary lack of good judgment and thus evidence incompetence in the performance of the general duties of a department head.”

Burns wrote in his rebuttal to the reprimand that the orders not to speak to employees who had made complaints came after he met with the officer. He also wrote that he tried for more than an hour before meeting with the officer to contact Wehle and the director of the city’s human resources department but that nobody picked up the phone or returned his calls until after the meeting.

The police chief wrote that he and the officer discussed her temporary leave from the department, including that the city would use the Family Medical Leave Act to protect her job while she was gone and her options for using sick leave and vacation time. He told her there were no light-duty jobs available for her at the time, which would have allowed her to continue working until she was deemed fit to return to duty. He said that he at no point spoke with her about any pending complaints or grievances she’d filed.

Wehle also said in the reprimand that Burns allowed the officer to record a portion of the meeting and that he was not permitted to do that. Burns wrote back that he allowed her to record the meeting “in an effort to maintain transparency” and that the directive prohibiting police command staff from allowing officers to record conversations didn’t come until two days after the meeting.

In his request to have the reprimand removed from his personnel file, Burns said he spoke with the HR director after the meeting.

According to the request to remove the reprimand, Burns recapped his meeting with the officer for the HR director, saying the officer was going on unpaid leave and wanted to know if there was anything Burns could do for her. He told her about the FMLA decision and that she would be able to cash in on vacation and sick leave.

Burns was also criticized in a June 13, 2023, reprimand for hiring an attorney relating to the complaints filed with the EEOC. Wehle wrote in the reprimand that Burns hired the attorney without approval of the city council but that the invoices were sent to the city.

Wehle wrote that Burns hired a firm regarding “legal issues pertaining to a Forest Hill Police Department employee and issues related to ADA and fitness.” Burns was notified in a city directive that Forest Hill already had a legal defense team and that the police chief does not have the authority to hire an attorney to represent the city or the police department.

Wehle notified the attorney and the law firm hired by Burns that they were not employed by the city and that they were prohibited from speaking to any city employees, according to the reprimand. She said the city would not be paying any more invoices to the attorney or the firm.

The reprimand related to Burns replying to an email from a council member was dated Oct. 26.

The city charter says, in part, that “the City Council or its members shall deal with city officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the City Manager solely through the City Manager.”

Because city ordinances require that the city manager appoint the chief of police, Wehle said in the reprimand that Burns was not allowed to be contacted by any elected official and must direct any communication between himself and the mayor or city council through Wehle.

Internal investigation

The Forest Hill Police Department faced “several recurring issues that may point to more global/departmental culture or operational issues” last year, according to a memo from the city manager to the police chief.

The issues were outlined in an investigation by Everman police into complaints filed against the department by some of its officers, according to the memo sent to Burns by Wehle on May 26, 2023.

Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer told the Star-Telegram he was not at liberty to discuss the investigation or its findings.

The memo mentions that officers and supervisors in the department did not respect the chain of command, officers who filed complaints against the department should not be allowed to meet with Burns and that the department should be clearer in what extra duties officers could apply for, what the requirements were and if they would receive any extra compensation.

Some former officers said in resignation letters that the department had a “toxic culture” and at least two told the Star-Telegram that problems including harassment and fears of retaliation have led officers to quit and made it difficult for Forest Hill to find new candidates.

The Star-Telegram reported last fall that 10 officers had quit since Jan. 1, 2022, and only three officers had been hired in that same time.

The city said on Feb. 8 that it has not hired any new officers since that report, with the number employed remaining at 18.

With a population of 13,701 in 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that means Forest Hill has about 1.3 officers for every 1,000 residents. According to statistics from the FBI, the national average number of police officers per 1,000 residents in a city was 2.4 in 2019, the latest year data was available.

The lack of new hires is in spite of efforts made by the city council to make recruitment easier. The city’s elected leadership voted last year to temporarily suspend the civil service exam for police, a measure they hoped would speed up the hiring process and make the city more appealing to officers looking for work.

Some former officers said they believe the city has developed a bad reputation.

Lorenzo Burrell, a former Forest Hill police sergeant, told the Star-Telegram the culture at the department is a major reason he decided to leave. He suspects it prompted the departure of several other officers and has created a reputation that makes potential candidates uninterested in applying.

Burrell left the department in September 2022 for a job in another city, where he said he hasn’t encountered the same problems.

While at Forest Hill, Burrell said he had multiple officers, all women, come to him for advice about reporting sexual harassment by a superior. He said he didn’t think the department took the complaints seriously and allowed the man accused of harassment, a member of the command staff, to quietly resign.

Burrell isn’t the only officer to cite the culture within the agency as his reason for leaving.

In resignation letters from Jan. 1, 2022, to October 2023, officers complained of racial discrimination, harassment, retaliation, poor ethical judgment, low pay, outdated equipment and a toxic work environment. Two of them said they were leaving to join Burleson police, citing better pay, better equipment and a better fit for the officer’s family.

Of the 10 resignation letters from that time obtained by the Star-Telegram, five mention that the decision to quit was influenced by problems within the department. One officer said in his resignation that he had zero complaints about his time with the department and three others did not list any reasons behind the decision.

The city said in November it has addressed concerns about equipment by purchasing new cameras, Tasers, radios and a new fleet of vehicles. City officials also said they worked to improve the condition of the police station, create new training opportunities, update policies and provide accreditation services.