Ethics hearing for Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins continued to next month

A hearing last week into alleged ethics violations by Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins was continued to January.

Raleigh Attorney Mikael Gross filed the complaint against Hawkins with the city's Ethics Commission in August, claiming, among 14 allegations, that the police chief:

• uses city property and employees for her own benefit — a transgression she has allegedly fired employees for;

• had the department’s K9 trainer train her family dog, and, in another instance, had on-duty officers divert from their duties to search for the dog when he escaped her home. The complaint alleges the call Hawkins made to dispatch was “removed” from the computer system;

• administers disparate discipline based on age and race;

• hired a verified gang member, and when she was told the individual was a gang member, initiated an Internal Affairs Investigation into the Gang Unit because she had not authorized an investigation into the individual;

• initiates Internal Affairs investigations in November 2018 and November 2020 then guided the outcomes rather than allowing the investigation to come to a fair and equitable resolution;

• attempted to have someone removed from the board of the Fayetteville Police Benevolent Fund, a nondepartmental agency, because she was intending to initiate an internal investigation into the person;

• has been stopped several times speeding when not on an emergency call. That the stops became so frequent, officers ceased stopping her to avoid retaliation;

• allowed the K9 trainer to place choke collars on canine officers and place them on the ground to "teach them what it feels like to be a dog on a leash and collar," — an activity Gross states is not an acceptable or standard training procedure for canine officers in the state;

• hired the K9 trainer as an officer with the department, despite his allegedly being unable to attend Basic Law Enforcement Training because of issues with standards and training.

"This letter is to make you aware of issues which have come to my attention over the last nine (9) months regarding the administration of the Fayetteville Police Department, specifically regarding the Chief of Police, Gina V. Hawkins," Gross wrote in the notarized copy of the complaint submitted to the Ethics Commission and which he provided to The Fayetteville Observer.

Requests by the Observer to obtain copies of the complaint through the city were denied citing personnel and public records law.

Gross noted in his complaint that he became aware of the alleged issues with Hawkins after he was “retained to represent the interest of employees at the Fayetteville Police Department.”

Specifically, Gross is representing Lt. Michael Petti in a lawsuit against Hawkins and the department. Petti a former assistant chief for the department, alleges in his civil complaint that Hawkins and the city violated his constitutional right and his right to due process when he was demoted in 2019. He also alleges that Hawkins did not follow departmental or city policy and that she "acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner."

In response to the ethics complaint dated Oct. 21 from Hawkins, sent to the Ethics Commission attorney and provided by Gross to the Observer, Hawkins addressed the eight allegations the commission agreed to hear:

• She denied firing an employee for misusing city property and instead stated she fired the employee for being “untruthful.”

• She said the K9 trainer was never hired as an officer, nor did she use the trainer to train her dog, noting the accusation was “previously submitted as a complaint 'anonymously' to the City of Fayetteville Internal Audit Department and investigated."

• She stated the allegation of officers being forced to put on dog collars was false. “I have no knowledge of any actions outlined in this paragraph.”

• She said that the claim that she called dispatch to request officers search for her dog was false and recounted how her dog had gotten out and she’d called dispatch to find out if anyone had reported seeing her dog.

“Frankly, my dog is extremely big and I would not want anyone who may be afraid of dogs responding with a weapon near my dog,” she said, concluding, "But if a citizen would call 911 asking for our assistance, I would expect us to respond because I know we prioritize calls and if we are available to assist the public and there are no calls pending, then I would expect us to respond and help as we've done on many occasions."

• She called the statement false that she hired someone after knowing they were a verified gang member, noting, "The incident is an internal investigation related to personnel actions and is presently still open. I would be able to discuss this in a closed session as it relates to personnel actions which violate city policies." It was not clear from the letter whether the personnel action violates city policy or if speaking about the action in open session would be a violation.

• She said it is her responsibility to ensure all investigations — in the field and in internal affairs — are thorough. "All employees who have received discipline has all rights within the policy and gone through all appeals through the final appeal of the City Manager in the month of November 2018 and November 2020 to include Mr. Gross's client."

• She denied outright ever attempting to get someone removed from the Fayetteville Police Benevolent Fund.

The Ethics Commission, which meets on an as-needed basis, was prepared to hear the case Dec. 14. Gross said he’d initiated a continuance after one of his witnesses lost his son in a vehicle accident Dec. 11. The witness is a current employee of the Police Department.

While the Ethics Commission attorney and the majority of the board members agreed to the continuance, Hawkins initially resisted it, saying in an email to the board attorney, “As tragic as my employee’s family accident is, emergencies and unfortunate accidents happen daily and I adamantly object to prolonging this hearing.”

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She continued: “I am being asked to show up for a hearing and listen to individuals monologue for hours for the first time during the hearing. This is not due process in any form. I have submitted factual documents to totally eliminate at least one of the items from Mr. Gross’s written document and still I am being required to show up and explain a false statement from Mr. Gross."

Ultimately, the hearing was continued when the commission met Dec. 14. A new date has not yet been set.

Hawkins' attorney, James Hairston, said Monday he is looking forward to arguing the facts during the ethics hearing.

"We will address everything that was filed in that ethics complaint before the Ethics Commission," he said. "Stay tuned."

The lawsuit against Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins

In October, Lt. Petti, represented by Gross, filed a lawsuit in Cumberland County Superior Court against Hawkins and the city of Fayetteville.

According to Petti's complaint, issues arose in November 2018 when Petti, then a 21-year veteran of the department, disagreed with Hawkins on the schedule and shift time for officers during a command staff meeting in the chief's conference room.

Hawkins had reportedly said previously that the meeting room was a "safe environment where (her employees) could all be open and honest about their feelings without having to worry about repercussions afterwards," according to the complaint.

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Up until this point, the complaint states, Petti had received the highest rating available to employees in his five previous annual performance reviews, including the review of his work Hawkins made two months earlier.

Once Petti disagreed with Hawkins on the patrol officer schedules and shift times, others in the meeting also "voiced concerns" about the new shift deployments, the complaint said.

The next day, with another assistant chief present, Hawkins allegedly confronted Petti, saying he'd been disrespectful during the meeting and she believed he had discussed his positions with the others before the meeting, which is why they spoke up.

She allegedly told him that the next time this happened she "would be sending (him) home and take action."

Petti said he asked for permission to speak freely and Hawkins agreed, at which time he told her that on several occasions Hawkins had accused him of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and he found those comments to be disrespectful, unprofessional and unlawful, according to the complaint.

Hawkins told him to provide her with the dates and times of the comments and the people present who may have witnessed the instances, the complaint said.

A day later, Petti claimed, he provided Hawkins with the list of dates and witnesses.

"The Defendant seemed more concerned with who heard the comments than what was actually said," the complaint states.

Four days later, Hawkins placed Petti on administrative leave with pay, and two days after that he was placed on unpaid administrative leave after receiving a Notification of Consideration of Dismissal.

Petti said that, among other city and department policy violations, Hawkins never assigned any of her complaints to the Internal Affairs unit as outlined in the department policy and instead unilaterally decided his fate.

That "Hawkins had the Consideration of Dismissal drafted without a prior internal investigation, without notice of alleged charges, and without offering (Petti) a chance to defend himself before imposition of disciplinary action," was a violation of due process the complaint states.

When Petti attempted to appeal the dismissal, he said, Hawkins refused to recuse herself from the appellate process, despite the fact that she initiated the complaint, decided on the penalty and executed the penalty, according to the complaint. She also allegedly refused to be questioned during the appeal process, the complaint states.

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The complaint states Hawkins claimed Petti disobeyed orders and was insubordinate, that he was discourteous, he displayed unbecoming conduct, he engaged in conduct on or off-duty that affected the department, he had an unsatisfactory performance and he was guilty of professional image and courtesy violations.

Three months later, Hawkins offered a resolution to the matter in which Petti would be demoted three steps to lieutenant, removing him from the command staff, and a nearly $21,000 reduction in pay.

By that point, Petti had gone 77 days without pay, the complaint states.

Six months later, he was disciplined for working another job months earlier during his suspension. He also alleges that when he returned to the Police Department, Hawkins placed him in a night position that didn't exist before and that was not filled once he left.

Petti alleges Hawkins' violated his rights by not

He is asking for his rank of assistant chief to be reinstated, compensatory damages in excess of $25,000 for lost wages, vacated leave, attorneys and court cost fees, and punitive and special damages.

Military & Crime Editor F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Ethics commission hearing about Police Chief Hawkins continued