Excellent reporting, Mr. Noack. Nobody should have to put up with a hostile work place when they are just trying to put food on the table. If you are a punching bag for sexist or racist jokes, you will never receive raises and promotions that you've earned. The saddest part of this story to me was that Ms. Lohman endured the abuse in the beginning because she was just a single woman. She didn't put up much of a fight until she was dating a police officer and no longer single. Sounds like she thought the guys would respect her boyfriend even if they couldn't respect her. Very sad. If even half of the allegations are true, MV Police should be ashamed of themselves. Thank you Ms. Lohman for fighting for justice. You are a beast!

It's quite interesting when sexual harassment lawsuits are filed against police officers, how everything is always unsubstantiated, no proof, their word against the all powerful police...investigations happen, and nothing ever comes of them except to dismiss the charges. Evidence and documentation disappear, what a shock. This is truly bad since it involves a Police Chief of all things.

NOT ALL police offices are like this, and the bad officers completely ruin it for the good officers and all their hard work. It's bad enough the police are always fighting an up hill battle and this involves a Police Chief which in the end nothing will happen to him.

A hostile work environment riddled with sexual harassment as described in Lohman's statement's is not a case of a few "bad apples"; it is a case of the trickle down effect that exists in many boys' club venues. CoP Bosel is not just a participant, he obviously is the spoon stirring the pot.

Police depts by and large clearly reflect the quality of leadership that comes for their Chiefs. Many public safety officers have told me this is true.

Mountain View city council wants to dodge this problem but they must deal with it and fix it. As a resident of the city I've witnessed and encountered sexist male privilege behaviors from police officers. Disgusting.

The "investigation" is hilariously vague and smacks of pure nonsense and cover-up.

I totally believe Officer Lohman's description of the aggressive and hostile terrors she dealt with. I hope Bosel and other police officer who are guilty will be fired asap.

The problem will be evidence. No sworn officer can speak up in support of Lohman without risking an accidental shooting in the future, the code is so strong. If you're on the jury you must decide if Lohman is just looking for $$$ or if there was harassment.

Does Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell have time to investigate? If so, maybe she should be hired as an attorney to report directly to the City Council. The City Charter authorizes the City Council to hire outside counsel. Outside counsel's report would be confidential (protected by the lawyer-client privilege) unless and until the City Council voted to make it not confidential. Such a report or oral advice) would enable the City Council to evaluate the situation and talk
with the City Manager and City Attorney (direct hires) about what is expected of a police chief and other officers and city employees. If the Council's direct hires disagree with the City Council or fail to solve serious problems, if any, they could resign or be fired.

Working in the litigation circle this screams employee looking for a way out with a payout after having performance problems;hence, the tattle tail defense. Or the if I am going to get in trouble I am taking everyone down with me. No one brings up items from over ten years ago unless they are reaching. The only reason this is news is because it is government. These lawsuits, which usually get settled because of the cost of us litigators, happen in all industries. The hidden lines in this and the related articles is the starting of the relationship another police employee. I bet he is also on the SWAT and was involved in the behavior as well. All this does is put a black eye on the city and the department. I am a little bias on these because I know from experience about Mr McManis public relation and litigation tactics. Embrass at all cost to get the plaintiffs an undeserved payout on frivolous lawsuits. But as a Mountain View resident I hope these allegations are unfounded. I am sure this is causing more than a mild discomfort for the city but in the end will be a blip on the radar. Best of luck Mr Rich I am sure this will workout.

Not at all surprising to read this. Is this why the former chief, Vermeer retired in June 2014?

In my experience, MVPD has always been very difficult to work with to solve community problems. WIth the exception of a few good officers, they always show up with their chests puffed out (by their body armor) as if they were responding to a call in East LA on the set of "Training Day". So these allegations do not surprise me the least.

@Elise

Do you suggest they show up without body armor, simply so they don't appear to have puffed out chests?

You should go troll somewhere else.

My limited contact with MVPD has been mixed. Met a few good officers.
But I was disturbed by the needlessly aggressive attitude I received from
a couple of officers.

I made a mistake (California stop for which I was contrite, polite, and cooperative). The context in which I say this is that I lived in a very tough city before, which had a much more difficult environment (I was in a position to assist law enforcement),;those officers were very polite and professional under much more difficult conditions. The MVPD officer was rude and overly aggressive.

The next was regarding a concentration of homeless who were setting up camp in the
neighborhood. While some officers were very helpful, I was disturbed when I was recommended to take the homeless persons possessions and throw them away. I do not believe that is standard practice by a professional law enforcement agency.

These are anecdotal stories, but I am concerned about the behavior of the law
enforcement in this city, especially when they behave like this when I know that
officers in much tougher cities can handle situations much more professionally.

Our experience with MVPD has been a mixed bag. In most cases the officers we have dealt with have acted professionally and responsibly, however I have seen a number of other situations where the officers' conduct is over the top, threatening and escalates rather than de-escalates situations. I'm disappointed to think that some of these officers may have gotten away with their behavior because MVPD leadership was too distracted with their own issues. Hopefully all the facts will be public soon - transparency is critical and kudos to the MV voice for the investigation. I'm curious if the MV city manager's announcement was truly in the interest of transparency or simply an attempt to "manage the messaging" knowing that the MV voice article was about to be published.

@Elise - I wholeheartedly agree with your comments about some officers showing up as if they are responding to a call in East LA. I can't fault an officer for wearing body armor. In my mind it's the rest of the tactical gear that facilitates the impression that some officers are heading off to war (and view citizens as combatants) rather than serving our extremely safe community.

Hearing impairment?? Was she screamed at? At close range??

Goodbye and good riddance, Chief!

I have known Chief Bosel for some time now. I have witnessed him saving a life, witnessed him calming family members in emergency situations and witnessed him in a social environment with co workers, friends and family. Max would NEVER allow this type of behavior in front of him. He is one of the strongest, smartest, kind, normal human beings I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. For this woman to lash out like this especially after so many years have passed since the "incident" she speaks of is beyond ridiculous. She is just upset she didn't get her job back I think. Max Bosel has always handled himself with poise and honesty. If you know Max, you know that he isn't capable of allowing this to happen. He is a loving married man who authentically cares about all people, all races, and has a soft heart for the senior community. I would trust him with my life. He is the good in public safety..

City Manager Rich "did note the investigation revealed police employees had engaged in some form of inappropriate behavior in the past. Without specifying exactly what was discovered, Rich said that the city would conduct extra training on appropriate conduct for all police staff."

That's going to go over real well in a court of law, family man or not.

Whatever did occur here, whether technically legal or not, clearly does not pass the headline test. Minimally, we have an ethics issue.

Ethics issue by which party? This screams of someone looking for an easy payout. It will likely never go to court and will cost the city a stack of cash to make it go away. These type of lawsuits are filed are the time without merit. If the allegations are true, so be it, but why wait so long before addressing it?

Did you read the article, GregDavid? The city already admitted to past misconduct by the police force "inconsistent with the standards we expect". The article also answers your question about why Officer Lohman is filing a lawsuit now instead of 10 years ago. It states that Bosel tried to retaliate 10 years ago, he tried to push her out of the force but he was unsuccessful. It is in her personnel records and is documented. Then when Bosel became chief recently he resumed harassing her and offered her a demotion. Thank goodness we have a legal system that can help the powerless fight the abuse of power.

I'm stunned to read of the outrageously high salaries of these public workers. Wow.

This woman is honestly reaching for $$. She tried everything to get her job back and this was the last resort to make a stance in the attempt to bring innocent people down. People that disciplined her for her conduct. Face it, she wasn't a good employee. Her history proves this. There are just people out there like this who need to retaliate for feeling done wrong and then there are people who work hard, can handle professionals just fine.. She is looking for payback and this is what she came up with? To try to ruin lives. did this really happen? If so and she was so emotionally effected, why did this come up now? If this effected her job performance, then why not report it? She is a discrental employee that is acting out. Trust me.. For those of you that think this is true? What if Bosel isn't what she claims he is? What if she is making this up or distorting the truth? I was in public safety for 10 years and everyone is close and everyone does have to loosen up and make jokes once in a while in public safety. This does happen, but never to the extreme to make anyone feel uncomfortable. I'm sure IF this did happen, she was a participating party and making it bigger than it ever was! I was a single woman working in this environment. I was abused and targeted in the system by fellow women 911 dispatchers (they were down right mean!!) .. I didn't want to be part of that environment, so i left the industry. I didn't lash out 10 years later because I suddenly wanted to make issue of it. It is what it is.. my life went on.. And never looked back . Max Bosel was with me the first time I administered CPR on a elderly woman. I will never forget the compassion I witnessed with family members of the patient and the respect for the patient on our Guerny. This is Max and the debth of his sole. Love,respect, honesty and honor. No one is ever beneath him, all are equal. He has spent his entire life helping people. The most unselfish person I know. Someone that will be there if you need him. He is just a good guy who has a beautiful wife and wonderful healthy relationship. They adore each other. Max is NOT the type of man who would make advances like what this person has indicated. Could it be that she is lying? Or distorting the truth? Could she just be angry and needs a way to be heard? I'm curious, does anyone here know her? I can tell you that I know Max, and he has morals and very high ethical standards, no history of harassment.. I would know.. I was single, attractive, worked with him in younger days, spent time with him at social affairs, and developed a friendship because he has always been there for me. We don't see much of each other however I still feel close to him and protective over him because he is that good of a man.

All someone has to do is make an allegation or file a go no where lawsuit and they are able to attack a persons integrity? Such bs that the press picks this up and challenges the reputation of a person who has obviously successfully dedicated his life to public service. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? If the press waits for a case like this to go through the system then they don't have a story because cases like this are usually losers. After they lose the press never gives the result equal coverage or goes after someone for making a false claim. If someone is found guilty it should be reported and everyone would have a right to criticize or if innocent then criticize the accuser. It's just not fair to have your reputation ruined on an unproven allegation. Watch and see what happens and just hope you are never a victim of a false allegation and media attack. In this day and age if you make it up to the management level you better be ready.

If the alleged harassment began in 2005, then this all happened under Chief Vermeer's watch. I find it extremely difficult to believe that any "culture of harassment" would be tolerated, much less pervaded the entire organization. It's regrettable that these allegations could not be privately investigated, as I would hate to see the reputations of Chief Bosel and others be unfairly tarnished if they are found innocent.

In my opinion the MVPD culture is rotten. I've been unfortunate to have had several encounters with the MVPD in the past few years from asking an officer to sign off a fix-it ticket, to being on the receiving end of a psycho ex-neighbor's false-noise complaints, plus a few others (nothing at all remotely criminal). The behavior during the best encounter was just rudeness. The behavior in other encounters included being lied to, bullied, threatened, harassed in my home, and almost run-over. I've never had an encounter were I felt I was treated with respect and dignity from the get go. "Copchismo" is a word that aptly describes the attitude problem I see in the dept, rather than a sincere desire to serve this community. I'm sure there are just a few bad apples (Chief included) among mostly good cops in the dept, but the culture is an entity by itself. It comes from the top. It is rotten, and it needs a reboot.

Dave? How do you have so many bad contacts with police? You must attract a lot of attention because the average person has maybe one contact a year with a police officer and that is usually at the Starbucks line saying hi. Strange how you twisted that into this article. Oh and about this article it sounds like the employee is trying to embarrass the department for a large undeserved separation check.

If they are guilty, I hope she wins.
If they are not, I hope the Lawyer and accuser are made to pay for slander and defamation.

Some people here write as if police departments and personnel are immune from these sort of things from occurring. I would argue that no organization is immune, and perhaps that police departments are even more susceptible to tolerate on-going harassment. They are a militaristic organization and command structure with powers not afforded to the general citizenry. Look how many problems the US military has had with sexual harassment. It's been an admitted and rampant problem for years and has reached the top echelons of power. It has to be investigated and rooted out every time it rears its head.

@Linda

Your narratives perhaps unintentionally only further illustrate something weird going on in the department and makes me wonder what is considered a "good employee" in the department!

I don't find this surprising at all. My interactions with the MV police dept. have been in reporting a sexual assault of a minor. We were treated with disbelief and insensitivity by all involved, most especially the detective department. The police chief was seemingly unresponsive to our concerns. The negative attitude towards women, especially a young, vulnerable teen, seemed pervasive among the staff with which we had communications. I feel the police were as bad as the assailant.

@Elise if some of us sound surprised, it's because in a smallish town like Mountain View, many of us have met and know several in our police department on a first-name basis. You know, Cops and Gobblers, that kind of thing.

If the allegations are true, then obviously it's a horrible situation for the entire community and HUGE changes need to be made.

@Dave, you have almost been run over by the MVPD?!

@ elsie, "a good employee" is obviously someone that shows up to work on time, follows procedures, treats people with respect..etc..we all know what a good employee is. I know that there are people in the public safety industry that can be very rude and almighty (being that I was in public safety for a number of years)and I also know that there are people out there who feel they have received the short end of the stick when it comes to promotions etc. This gal, I believe, is looking for a hand out and is just bitter. I hate people like this honestly. There are people out there who are really mistreated and harassed in all avenues of business who deserve the chance to fight back. If this did occur, then it should have been addressed long ago. I can only speak of Max as a person and as a professional and as a man who serves those in his community from history and present. As a previous 911 Dispatcher for this city as well, I know Max as being one of the good guys..the one that puts things in prospective, the one that sees good in everyone regardless of what jerks people can be. You have to be a certain kind of person to be a 911 Dispatcher and after working in 2 large cities as a dispatcher, I decided it wasn't the job for me. The women dispatchers can be so mean! just my experience. I will never ever put myself in that position again. EVER. Now, there are wonderful 911 Dispatchers too... but trust me.. sometimes being tough and being in a tough position doesn't mean its ok to be aggressive towards your co-dispatchers and the general public calling in for service. It was just a turn off to me. In this case, the truth will come out, unfortunately it has to come to this level of exposure. I feel bad for my friend, he doesn't deserve this.

@Linda

Are all "gals" good employees? How do "good guys" put things in perspective? Do they do so by telling "the gals" to not let all that crude and unprofessional behavior (i.e., harassment) that the city discovered get to them? Please do enlighten us more about what has been going in within the police department. I find your comments a fascinating read that puts this article in better perspective.

@Le Dude. Thank you for your comment. I, too, was a bit confused about Linda's comment. If Dispatch was such a negative experience, I don't doubt that some in the Police could be bad apples as well. I regret that the woman filing this claim is being denigrated because she waited to do so. I know that sexual harassment is extremely stressful and shameful for the victim, and often it takes a long time to get the courage to fight back.
A lot of the world - and a lot of professions - are examples of "the good old boy" network. Perhaps Max Bosel didn't participate, but perhaps he INSTEAD just "looked the other way"? Linda defends Max as nearly perfect, and I'm glad she had that experience - but evidently others have not. Unfortunately, Linda verbally attacks the woman in the complaint, and I think that is over-reaching.
This is best left to the court to decide.

Chickens coming home to Roost. You cant keep doing people wrong and get away with it forever. The city will defenitely settle out of court to avoid an extensive and detailed investigation into the inner workings of MVPD. This agency has been insensitive for YEARS to women and minorities. They truly dont want to peel back all the layers of that (onion) and expose this agency for what it truly is. City council members need to also realize they will never know all of what goes on inside the agency because they are (outsiders). MVPD settle and move on because you never know who Lohman has on the witness list, and U know She knows all your "Dirty Secrets"

It is not listed in this article, which is no surprise, but did you notice that the other journalist that covered this story asked her lawyer when she filed her complaints with city? The lawyers response, "I don't know." Come on, really?!?!? It clearly says that the dispatcher was disciplined and then she made these aligations. I work as a workers compensation investigator and one of the questions we always as the employee during a claim is if the employee is be investigated for misconduct or has been disciplined. If the answer is yes, as it is here, then we look harder at the claim. Nine times out of ten we fine the employee is looking for a way out payout. Tip to small paper jourmalist, you need to ask the hard questions when someone gives you the short answer. When they do they are covering up the big picture.

Lawyer says "Trust me" really if you hear a lawyer say that expect the opposite.

Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?