Sexually harassing police employees isn't OK. Des Moines leaders should say that out loud.

It will take more than another police-related payout from the city of Des Moines’ treasury to mitigate the damage female Police Department employees have suffered from their male colleagues.

The City Council on Monday approved $2.4 million in payments to four women to resolve a three-year-old lawsuit that alleged repeated incidents of sexual harassment, as well as discrimination in assignments and promotions. A lawyer for the women said the city agreed to several policy changes intended to prevent future abuses.

That’s an OK start, but it would have meant a lot to hear any elected official say out loud that such behavior will not be tolerated. Instead, the settlement payments were approved without public mention or comment as part of the meeting’s consent agenda. The only official comment from the city has been a prepared statement from City Manager Scott Sanders, which said in part that “constructive input from the plaintiffs will be received by the city in an effort to continue to provide a good working environment for its employees."

Sanders' statement included the standard wording that "a settlement does not indicate liability." But even accounting for the careful, concede-nothing wordsmithing that’s often involved in resolving these sorts of legal claims, his statement is squarely at odds with the problems in the Police Department that the women identified.

“This case seeks to put an end to the decades of sexual harassment that continues to plague the Des Moines Police Department, along with the concomitant gender discrimination and retaliation,” attorneys Paige Fielder and Jill Zwagerman wrote in a filing for a trial that was scheduled to start this month until the settlement agreement was reached.

Decades. The abuse in this case can’t be saddled on a handful of bad apples who were swiftly disciplined. Some fixes around the edges won’t be enough to protect women from being teased, insulted, threatened and punished.

Seize the opportunity offered by chief's upcoming retirement

The city has an organic opportunity to change direction with the announcement of Police Chief Dana Wingert’s retirement. Whatever blame Wingert does or does not deserve for the conduct of male supervisors and other officers, a fresh voice will have the best opportunity to set a credible expectation of zero tolerance, of fair and prompt reactions to complaints and of meeting the department’s goals as part of a federal initiative to have 30% of police officers be women by 2030.

But as Sanders works to replace Wingert, more is needed than a fresh voice who aces the interview process with promises of fairness. In addition to the sexual harassment lawsuit, accusations of racial profiling, excessive force and other misconduct in recent years have led to an ever-growing string of lawsuit settlement payouts. To begin to restore trust in the equity of the department's internal and external operations, council members must make certain there can be no mistaking their own expectations for zero tolerance for sexual discrimination in the workplace.

A trial would have established what actions and inactions did and did not break the law. The voluminous evidence already produced in the case, though, included allegations of unsolicited nude photos from male coworkers, unwanted touching and groping, and sexist insults. It is enough to conclude that the internal environment at the police station needs a course correction.

One of the independent reports the city has commissioned over the past two years, while mostly focused on interactions with the public, noted concerns along these lines: “In our interviews some staff questioned whether DMPD leadership consistently sends an internal message highlighting its support for 30x30 goals,” the report said. “Thus, it would be worth making further public and internal statements of support on the topic. … Data from the survey distributed by 21CP indicate that announcing a strategic priority to hire, promote, and retain women might not be well received by a significant portion of DMPD personnel, as 37% of survey respondents indicated the Department puts too much emphasis on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Mayor Connie Boesen left the country early Tuesday on city business and was not immediately available to answer questions from the Register about why council members chose not to speak publicly about the settlements or the Police Department’s future.

Will council view sexual harassment 'as serious enough to end'?

The Iowa Supreme Court several years ago reinstated a county attorney who had engaged in extensive sexual harassment, citing the high standard for removing an elected official from office. (The court later suspended his license for six months.) While deference to the voters' will is understandable, the most perceptive part of the reinstatement ruling came in the late Chief Justice Mark Cady's dissent: "Sexual harassment will not end until it is seen as serious enough to end."

In Des Moines, city leaders missed an opportunity at Monday's council meeting to demonstrate how serious they are about stopping sexual misconduct in the workplace. They need to follow through on their next chances, both to speak out and to install a new chief who enforces their message.

Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the Register editorial board

FURTHER READING:One simple fix for our broken policing system: Hiring more women

This editorial is the opinion of the Des Moines Register's editorial board: Carol Hunter, executive editor; Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor; Rachelle Chase, opinion columnist; and Richard Doak and Rox Laird, editorial board members.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines needs a loud declaration against sexual harassment