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7/7/18 – Having been on the job for less than 3 months, interim Chief Bob Fisher already finds himself on the chopping block. This despite the fact that Fisher’s Department is running smoothly and he enjoys the support of the vast majority of his officers.

Fisher’s proposed replacement, as published on the City council agenda for Tuesday, July 10, (view) is retired Fontana Police Lt. Robert Ratcliffe. According to press reports and court documents, Ratcliffe’s previous actions in Fontana appear to have created a financial nightmare for the Fontana School District: press reports point to $8.8M in damages – and counting.

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RATCLIFFE KNOWINGLY RECOMMENDED HIRING AN ALLEGED SEXUAL PREDATOR IN 2008, ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS

In 2005, Robert Ratcliffe was a Sergeant with Fontana Police Department, in charge of hiring. He hired officer John Garcia, who previously had worked for Riverside PD. After a few months on the job, Garcia was accused of having driven a female police cadet, who he was assigned to train, into a remote area.

An article published by the “Center for Public Integrity” on December 10, 2015 (view here) describes the following events:

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“According to a court transcript, she (the cadet) said that after inspecting the area together, Garcia, her mentor, began joking about wrestling and allegedly began grabbing the 18-year-old’s wrists. He allegedly pinned down her arms with bear hugs while trying to kiss her, according to a court transcript, and she pushed him and knocked the radio on Garcia’s belt, causing it to crackle. The officer stopped, she said, and although she was shaken, she got in the police cruiser with him to return to town.
The next day, as documents show, she reported the alleged attack to superiors and an investigation began. Her testimony on the matter came in litigation against the officer by other women.
Garcia claimed that “he was simply going over defensive tactics techniques” with the cadet, a skeptical police investigator later testified. And in the end, although prosecutors decided not to pursue a charge of battery recommended by the investigator, Garcia was told he had failed a period of probation with the Fontana PD and quietly left the force in 2006 after about a year on the job.”

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In 2008 Garcia re-applied for a job in Fontana, this time with the Fontana School District Police. It was once again Robert Ratcliffe who was in charge of hiring, this time as the District’s Chief of Police. According to the above article, Ratcliffe said he was aware of the cadet’s allegations, but nevertheless recommended Garcia’s hiring.

When Ratcliffe made the decision to re-hire Garcia, he knew about the outcome of an internal investigation that appears to have sustained the allegations and recommended Garcia be criminally prosecuted for a sex crime.

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After Garcia was re-hired, many school District employees came forward in the following years, and accused Garcia of various sex crimes, even to include rape. Nevertheless, according to the above article, Ratcliffe found it to be appropriate to put Garcia in charge of an at-risk teen program, called FLIP :

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“Cpl. Sean Shanen wrote in an interoffice memo in 2011 that Garcia allegedly showed him cell phone photos of nude women and boasted of sexual exploits with “FLIP moms” whom he had met through the program for at-risk students. The FLIP program, which puts kids through exercise drills and lectures by cops, also assigned cops to make home visits to check on kids and home life.”

In 2012 Garcia was eventually terminated, but to this day he has never been charged with a crime. He has denied any wrongdoing.

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A LIABILITY NIGHTMARE

So far, according to articles by the Press Enterprise (view here) and the above mentioned one by the “Center of Public Integrity” (view here), as well as the Fontana Herald News (view here), Ratcliffe’s poor judgment in knowingly hiring an alleged sexual predator has mushroomed into a liability nightmare: according to the articles, $1.8M have already been awarded by juries, quite possibly with much more to come.

It was also reported that Garcia himself agreed to $5M in punitive damages. and that an additional $2M were awarded to the plaintiffs in attorney’s fees. This adds up to a total of $8.8M, largely for substantiated claims that find their origin in Robert Ratcliffe’s unconscionable decision to knowingly hire an accused sexual predator.

$ 8.8M is many times more money than Mr. Ratcliffe will ever have earned during his entire lifetime. Let that sink in for a moment.

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ONCE AGAIN, INTERIM CITY MANAGER CLAYTON FAILED MISERABLY AT DOING HER JOB

A simple Google search for “Lt. Robert Ratcliffe” would have raised an immediate red flag.

But once again, Banning’s interim City manager Rochelle Clayton, best described as an incompetent, scatterbrained crybaby, failed to unveil the important facts about Ratcliffe – those that have cost the taxpayer millions. Clayton’s staff report should have made mention of Ratcliffe being a potential liability for Banning, based on his questionable track record – but it doesn’t.

This is not the first time Rochelle Clayton neglected to conduct a simple Google search prior to making her recommendations. A few months ago, she recommended the City hire auditing firm BKD, even though documents posted all over the internet showed that BKD had recently been sanctioned and fined by the SEC for serious ethics violations. Duh!

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Likely also because of her sloppy research, Clayton is now making the false claim that Ratcliffe retired as a Police Chief, when in reality he retired as a Lieutenant, according to reports, (see article here).

Substituting make-belief for facts seems what Ms. Clayton always does best. Because that’s what you do when you live in La-La-Land.

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ROBERT REDCLIFFE AS BANNING INTERIM POLICE CHIEF – CAN HE SUCCEED ?

To run a successful Police Department, a Chief will need to achieve the following :

1. trust and confidence of the citizens in the community

2. support, trust and confidence by his own rank and file

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There is every indication that because of his track record, having allegedly exposed the taxpayer to an estimated $ 8.8 M in liability – and still counting – the citizens of Banning will likely feel highly uncomfortable with Robert Ratcliffe.

Banning is not a wealthy City that can afford the risk of paying out multi-million dollar awards. As a matter of fact, paying out the awards Robert Ratcliffe reportedly has created for the Fontana School District, would wipe out Banning’s entire reserves and most likely lead to bankruptcy.

Consequently, this means the first component of a successful leadership by a Police Chief (public confidence) cannot be achieved by Robert Ratcliffe in Banning.

But what about the second component? The men and women of Banning PD. How do they feel about having an interim Police Chief replaced by another interim? The Banning Police Officer’s Association has indicated that they are not prepared to comment publicly on the proposed change.

However, councilman Peterson says that he attended a meeting with BPOA President Albert Felix and Mayor George Moyer. Peterson says that during the meeting it became clear that the Association was comfortable with Robert Fisher as interim Chief and did not desire a change. In the same meeting, Mayor George Moyer is said to have assured the Association that the City council “will not replace an interim Chief with another interim”. But that is exactly the opposite of what City leaders are now proposing.

We believe that it is very likely that the second component of a successful leadership by a Police Chief (confidence and support by the rank and file) may also turn out not to be achievable for Robert Ratcliffe..

A Leader who does not have the full confidence of his rank and file is a always failed leader. Just look at Sheriff Stan Sniff. His men and women have abandoned him and are supporting Chad Bianco instead. This is why Sniff’s legacy is one of failure. Will Robert Ratcliffe’s legacy in Banning be any different? We doubt it will be.

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CONCLUSION

Maybe Mr. Ratcliffe should have done his homework on Banning before applying here. If he would have done so, he would have quickly realized that his baggage precedes him, and that Banning is not in a financial position to take the risk of paying outrageous judgements, like the ones the Fontana School District has been ordered to pay.

Had he done his homework, Mr. Ratcliffe would have also realized, that with a reported track record of creating $8.8 M in liability, he can never earn the trust of the citizens here.

Finally, he would have realized that the majority of Banning Police officers are happy with their interim Chief, and that his emergence would unnecessarily disrupt a working relationship.

Like when he hired John Garcia, Mr. Ratcliffe may have also made an error in judgment when he applied for interim Banning Police Chief.

Should he come to Banning, we predict his legacy will be short lived, as he will fail from ‘day one’.

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