Long Beach PBA voted "no confidence" in new police commissioner in balloting Thursday

The Long Beach PBA Thursday night cast a “near unanimous vote of no confidence” in the city’s new police commissioner, Ron Walsh, according to union president Brian Wells.

The Long Beach PBA has 62 members. There are 66 members in the city’s police department. The number includes superior officers who are not members odf the union.

Wells said the ballot was secret. He said he planned to meet Friday with City Manager Donna Gayden “to discuss this public rebuke of Commissioner Walsh, his policies, plans, and behavior.”

Gayden said at a city council meeting Tuesday that the issue of the voter was concerning and that she would meet with the PBA leadership.

Wills said the voting was secret.

“For now, the PBA board feels it is best to keep the actual vote count among the members due to concerns of retaliation,” Walsh said in a statement. “Should Commissioner Walsh continue to proclaim broad support from my members we will consider releasing the numerical count.”

The PBA and the police commissioner have been battling publicly all this past week, trading charges. The PBA is upset about some of Walsh’s plans since he took over the department in February. Walsh had been Chief of DSupport in the Nassau County Police Department before coming to Long Beach.

Walsh has claimed he thoroughly discussed his policing plans with high-ranking Long Beach officers, and that he had their support.

The city and the PBA have been in prolonged negotiations for a new contract,

Meanwhile, three candidates running for city council seats on the Long Beach United ticket said in an announcement Friday they were "deeply troubled" by reports of that Walsh had "reassigned our police patrols just weeks after the City adopted a Police Reform Plan that omitted any mention of this redeployment."

The three candidates - Bill Notholt, Kevin Heller and Leah Tozer - said Walsh's pla violated Gov. Andrew Cuomo's order for police reform "and completely contradicts the letter and spirit of Executive Order 203, and displays a startling lack of transparency."

They accused the city council of having "shrouded" Walsh's ppan "in secrecy to suppress debate and criticism."

"The PBA's allegations that Commissioner Walsh has implemented a "zero tolerance" policing policy is especially disturbing, as this standard has been roundly discredited throughout the nation and world," the United Long Beach candidates said.
"We are equally troubled by the PBA's allegation that Commissioner Walsh has cultivated a culture of fear, intimidation, and reprisal within the LBPD. Management and staff will disagree on occasion, but employees must always be treated with respect and dignity," they concluded..