SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Community activists are demanding the City of San Diego release a confidential report from a law firm hired to investigate workplace allegations made against Police Chief Scott Wahl.
The calls come after a Team 10 investigation revealed taxpayers spent more than $37,000 on the outside probe.
“Spending nearly $37,000 on an investigation only to conceal it is unacceptable,” said Tasha Williamson, a police accountability activist, at a press conference outside City Hall Monday.
Earlier this month, Team 10 revealed the city had hired a San Francisco law firm to probe unspecified allegations made against Wahl.
Police sources say the investigation was launched earlier this year.
Invoices obtained by Team 10 show the city paid investigators with the law firm $300 to $450 an hour for “fact-finding” work.
The City Attorney’s Office, which contracted the law firm to write a final report concluding whether the allegations were true or unsubstantiated, has refused to release the findings or discuss them.
“The taxpayers, you and I, have paid money for a secret report that they don't want released to us, that we can't know what is inside of that report,” said Geneviéve Jones-Wright, executive director of the Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance.
Both Jones-Wright and Williamson have previously run for mayor.
In an era of budget cuts and rising parking and trash fees, Jones-Wright said it was unacceptable for the city to spend tens of thousands on a workplace investigation.
'This is a personnel matter'
"Why must the everyday San Diego suffer when we can just write checks $37,000, for example, on a secret report?" Jones-Wright asked.
San Diego police spokeswoman Ashley Nicholes told Team 10 earlier this month, “This is a personnel matter.”
She said under California law, personnel records that are not required to be made public under state law are confidential.
“This applies to all sworn peace officers in the state of California,” she said.
The mayor’s office said Monday that it doesn’t comment on internal personnel issues.
“What I can say is that the mayor has full confidence in Chief Wahl,” wrote Rachel Laing, the mayor's communications director, in a statement.
Yusef Miller, executive director of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition, argued that since public funds were used to pay for the investigation, the final report should be made public.
“I say that our… $37,000 is not confidential. It belongs to me. That money that I paid for it makes it my public property. So, they cannot hide behind confidentiality," Miller said.
The police department did not return a request for comment on the calls from the activists by the press deadline on Monday.
