Douglas’ City Manager Carlos De La Torre announced last week the Lieutenant Kraig Fullen will serve as the Interim Chief of the Douglas Police Department beginning Oct. 19.
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According to a press release from the City of Douglas effective Oct. 21 Fullen will oversee the daily function of the DPD which include all day to day operations of the department as outlined in the Chief of Police Job description.
“I am extremely pleased with the outstanding work performed by Lieutenant Kraig Fullen and by the department as a whole. I am grateful to have very capable officers, such as Lieutenant Fullen, working for the police department,” De La Torre said. “The City of Douglas Police Department will remain committed to improving the quality of life and safety for current and future residents of this community.”
Comments
Angie Villareal wrote on Nov 16, 2012 9:54 AM:
The Blue Few ret wrote on Nov 15, 2012 11:31 PM:
Judging by your choice of words and being rather defensive, I'm going to assume your one officer there that has either A, not been messed with or singled out or B, part of the "good 'ol boy" A-Team. The A Team was a group that followed a former chief, lets call him Chief Alpha. But then again, you already knew that. Chief Alpha used an old tyrant's approach, and that was "divide and conquer." That was a philosophy which came from Attila the Hun. Chief Alpha would separate the weak and the strong, dispose of the strong so he could "mold" the weak to his standards, which weren't very high.
Therefore, leading us up to Lieutenant Fullen. Lieutenant Fullen began his career with good and high standards; however, quickly diminished after receiving a promotion to sergeant and now lieutenant. Lieutenant Fullen has failed to realize where to draw the line. If an officer is wrong, then use the checks and balances set forth by State Law, the City of Douglas and the department's Rules and Procedure Manual. It's rather disturbing when several officers have been singled out for not catering to certain supervisors, for exercising their union rights and for voicing their opinion where the situation warrants it. I won't mention names; however, another lieutenant is accused of certain unethical behavior, while on duty and in an unmarked / undercover vehicle, which has since gone undetected by their higher ups.
I truly believe now that Mayor Ortega and City Manager De La Torre are in the driver's seat, they will make the best educated decision on who to permanently appoint as Chief of Police. These two men are good members of the community and it shows in their ability to further research what is best for the department and most importantly, for the public they took oath to protect in many ways. The department has MANY well sound, qualified and most importantly, ethics and the ability to lay down their own lives for others. My opinion is that an outsider, who does not favor anyone and is willing to come in and treat his fellow officers and the general public with the upmost respect and fairness, is exactly what this city needs and has been lacking for many years. I've been a member of this community for 51 years now and I follow what goes on here and the internal operations of that department. If Lieutenant Fullen was well qualified and taking care of his troops, then he would not need to continue meeting with Chief Alpha , who is still running that department along with another high ranking member of the department who seeks guidance from Chief Alpha as well. In addition, the patrol level and investigations level would be working together much more if there was no divider between both units. Let's not forget, the patrol level is and will remain the backbone of any agency.
Lastly Mr. Disgusted, lets not forget when you hear about high ranking officials dragging out fruitless investigations simply based and motivated on officers exercising their union rights and instead that energy should be focused more on community policing and problem solving. If higher ranking officials at the department were better trained in Criminal and Administrative Law and management skills, then we (the public and the department) would have a better sound agency. Let's not ignore an important fact: A Chief is nothing without his Indians. So I leave you with that Mr. Disgusted and encourage you to further see how that department is run and that the department will soon be a smooth, well oiled running machine, thanks to Mayor Ortega, City Manager De La Torre and every respectful member of our City Council. "
To Disgusted wrote on Nov 7, 2012 2:34 PM:
Disgusted wrote on Nov 6, 2012 12:22 PM:
You must be one real disgruntled and misinformed officer. Therefore I’ll just refer to you as Officer D. Before casting stones, perhaps you should have gotten your glass house in order. If you actually paid attention to what was going on at the police department, you may have figured out that Lt. Fullen has been acting Chief of Police for the last five years. He has had to deal with everything from budget management and development and implementation of policy to handling complaints from the public.
What did his predecessor actually do? Other than approve a new police uniform and let the officers sport facial hair, which I personally find rather unprofessional when wearing a uniform. Chief Melis was great at politicking but lacked in core leadership. Lt. Fullen on the other hand, displayed leadership abilities by being able to take control of the department when its figure head was out mingling and shaking hands.
You state in your comment that we need someone who is firm and fair and will not launch false witch hunts against good officers. As I recall, Lt. Fullen as always backed his officers when they acted in good faith and without malice. Not so long ago, he went to bat for a new officer who was accused of misuse of force. It would have been very easy for Lt. Fullen to have this new rookie fired because he was on probation. Instead, he launched a criminal and internal investigation to find out if the officer had acted wrongfully. When the officer was cleared, Lt. Fullen recommend to Chief Melis and City Hall to have the officer reinstated immediately. As you know, two other persons were reprimanded because of their inaction. I suppose this took backbone to say the least. Unlike hiding behind an editorial comment instead of facing the man and bring your concerns to his attention.
I have known Lt. Fullen for many years and I have never known him to be bad or vengeful person. To say that he has launched witch hunts on officers is completely false and utterly disrespectful to him and to the police department.
You also mention bad officers in the department who have failed to complete reports and an ill officer who passed out on duty. I wonder if you or any other officers or supervisors ever e-mailed their first line supervisor mentioning these concerns. Everyone likes to talk about how bad everyone has it in this organization or the next but nobody seems concerned enough to actually address the issues at hand through proper channels.
The only thing you accomplished by posting your little rant is now everyone knows some officers are in need of additional report writing training. See you around Officer D.
Keep up the good work Chief!!! "
read up chuck wrote on Nov 3, 2012 9:00 PM:
Chuck wrote on Oct 31, 2012 4:25 PM:
Patricia Fullen wrote on Oct 27, 2012 8:25 PM:
I know its been years since I was in Douglas,and perhaps you won't remember me..sometimes I bring up the Dispatch to see what is happening in Douglas.
congradulations on your promotion. "
J Hernandez-Lopez wrote on Oct 26, 2012 9:52 AM:
Really Douglas Citizen wrote on Oct 25, 2012 11:37 PM:
By the way, he is the "interim" chief. that means he will act as the chief until someone is hired for the job.
congratulations, Kraig. Class of '92. "
AZ Kid 2 wrote on Oct 25, 2012 11:32 PM:
douglas resident wrote on Oct 25, 2012 10:04 PM:
J.G. wrote on Oct 25, 2012 5:43 PM:
douglas citizen wrote on Oct 24, 2012 4:59 PM:
Vegas Baby wrote on Oct 24, 2012 3:15 PM:
L. Romo wrote on Oct 24, 2012 2:37 PM: