Aggrieved Long Beach cops slap city with $39 million suit

Amid allegations of retribution for their support of the Republican-led coalition’s election bid last year and violations of their civil rights, five Long Beach police officers and one recent retiree have filed a $39 million federal lawsuit against the city.

The suit, filed on May 23 in U.S. District Court, names the City Council, City Manager Jack Schnirman, Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, the Long Beach Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and former PBA President Stefan Chernaski, and claims that officers James Canner, Karl Hayes, James McCormack, Jose Miguez, John Radin and Benjamin Tayne were denied their civil rights under the Constitution’s First and 14th Amendments. Each is seeking $6.5 million in damages.

In March, city officials said that Tangney had implemented a number of changes as the new police commissioner that reduced what they called “out of control” overtime costs, while improving accountability, stepping up traffic enforcement and increasing the number of patrols by reassigning a number of officers to uniform duty.

The suit claims, however, that the administration doled out patronage jobs and gave raises to officers who supported the Democrats in the November election. It alleges that Tangney demoted, reassigned and filed “baseless, malicious, inappropriate and untimely departmental charges” against the plaintiffs as retribution for their support of Republican-led coalition candidates during the 2011 campaign.

The suit also claims that the PBA and Chernaski failed to fairly represent the officers; that the new city administration created new positions in the Police Department in order to reassign Canner, Radin, McCormack and Tayne; that four of the officers were hit with baseless disciplinary complaints for the first time in their careers; and that Chernaski failed to file grievances on their behalf contesting those complaints because he “was a political confidant and ally of Tangney and the Long Beach Democratic Committee.”

The officers are seeking an injunction compelling the city to restore them to their former ranks with retroactive pay.