ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Dennis Weiner, the previous police chief for the Spherical Rock Impartial Faculty District, confirmed on Monday that the district placed him on administrative leave till the top of his contract.
In accordance with Weiner, the choice was made final week. It got here months after a third-party investigator concluded in a report his former department was “toxic” and “hostile.” KXAN additionally obtained information displaying the Texas Fee on Regulation Enforcement investigated RRISD’s police management in 2023 and located proof of lapses in licensing.
Final week, college board Trustees Mary Bone and Danielle Weston shared an April 30 letter Weiner wrote to the district’s superintendent on Fb. The letter alleges that some district officers didn’t report or delayed reporting crimes to the varsity police division.
Within the letter, Weiner alleged the district didn’t report a sexual assault in April that occurred on a faculty bus and mentioned he requested that the Texas Workplace of Legal professional Basic examine “the practices and actions of district management as they relate to police issues.”
A district assertion mentioned the content material of Weiner’s letter “inaccurately represents personnel issues and an incident involving minors.” RRISD Board President Amber Feller Landrum advised KXAN on Monday that Weiner’s assertion {that a} bus driver noticed the assault is fake.
The district added that every one incidents involving college students have been addressed with relevant regulation and district coverage. The Legal professional Basic has not but responded to KXAN’s request for remark.
The division has been topic to a number of inside and exterior investigations for months.
State and third-party investigation
The Texas Fee on Regulation Enforcement investigated Weiner and Assistant Chief of Police Rose White, and the company detailed its findings in a June 2023 investigation abstract obtained by KXAN. White and Weiner got here from the Palm Seashore County Faculty District’s police division earlier than being employed with Spherical Rock ISD.
In accordance with TCOLE information, Weiner accomplished and handed his TCOLE licensing on March 21, 2023, and White did the identical on April 18, 2023.
Nonetheless, in line with the TCOLE investigation abstract, each Weiner and White had “not accomplished the right BCF (background affirmation type) course of” or L1 types, that are wanted for appointment to RRISD.
Weiner mentioned he did obtain a letter of warning from TCOLE for the L1 problem, however mentioned he adopted the method the district’s human sources and police division had in place when he was employed.
“The method was corrected instantly when TCOLE knowledgeable me of the problem through the investigation that the method was not being adopted. I’m licensed in [New York], [Florida], and [Texas] and have by no means been investigated by the state licensing company till I used to be employed by RRISD,” Weiner mentioned in a press release to KXAN.
TCOLE additionally investigated no less than one cease White made in December 2022.
“Proof exhibits that White did in actual fact signify herself as a regulation enforcement official previous to receiving her Texas Peace Officer’s license when she performed an investigative topic cease, detaining that topic, and requesting CJIS data by way of radio on December 12, 2022,” in line with TCOLE’s investigation abstract.
KXAN obtained one occasion report for a name dealt with by White on Dec. 12, 2022. The report exhibits the cease occurred at Spherical Rock Excessive Faculty at about 1:30 p.m. It doesn’t present any arrest was made, and the decision disposition is labeled as “warn.”
TCOLE submitted White’s case to the Williamson County District Legal professional’s Workplace, which declined it on Oct. 31, 2023. TCOLE mentioned it closed the case in January 2024.
Other than the TCOLE investigation, district officers mentioned Spherical Rock ISD paid third-party investigator Patricia Lineras $15,000 to conduct two formal investigations in October 2023. The primary investigation was right into a criticism filed towards Weiner and one other into the tradition and local weather of the division.
KXAN initially requested the district if it was investigating its police division in October 2023. The district then denied an investigation was taking place, however the investigative report obtained by KXAN by way of open information request exhibits each have been already underway.
“I apologize that you got incorrect data concerning the inner investigation. The investigations have been HR-related and performed by an outdoor investigator,” an RRISD official advised KXAN in an e mail.
In accordance with the report, the third-party investigator interviewed 37 present social employees, cops, sergeants, the assistant chief, and help employees within the police division. Each investigations have been accomplished by Oct. 24.
Investigators say they noticed “an absence {of professional} communication by the chief,” favoritism, and a failure to observe district procedures.
“There’s a lack {of professional} communications by the Chief (inappropriate feedback made to and about cops and sergeants,” the report acknowledged.
“It was regarding that in a division entrusted with the protection and safety of our district, they have been categorizing it as chaotic and disorganized,” Landrum mentioned. “As soon as these considerations got here to mild, the administration addressed them as a systemic problem of the right way to make adjustments.”
The report, accomplished in October 2023, additionally expresses considerations with the district’s radio and dispatch workplace: “… There’s a worry that the brand new dispatch system wouldn’t have the ability to deal with extreme safety points rapidly.”
In response, district officers advised KXAN, “The radios are a piece in progress.” Nonetheless, the district has not supplied extra data on the character of the issue with the dispatch and radio system or clarified whether or not the problem is ongoing.
