Stan Sniff himself in 2009 said the following:
“This is one of the few professions in which tenured employees can destroy their careers with but a single misstep in ethics and integrity. … Hear me clearly at the start of your careers. Violations of integrity and ethical standards are literally `death sentences’ to law enforcement careers.”
My how times have changed with Stan Sniff, look at 2018 now. Crooked donors, crooked employees, corruption…
Our first full piece on Leonard Purvis featured this:
Missing from the article are two key points:
- Amazingly right before the auditors showed up to the Hemet Station, the staff was cut from 24-31 deputies down to 16. It is believed and is the opinion of this blogger and several unnamed people with direct knowledge that this was done to tank the audit and make data metrics near impossible.
- The Captain of the Hemet Station? None other than Leonard Purvis who is reported to be in line for a friend-of-Stan-promotion to Chief Deputy.
You will recall that Purvis was the Chief of Police in Banning whose tenure was marred by failure. He was terminated / resigned (depending on who you talk to) in a cloud of issues that were well documented in the local papers. Then he was re-hired by the Sheriff.
Once I had written this piece about Leonard Purvis, people started coming out of the woodwork as Leonard Purvis, similar to most management personnel close to Stan is almost universally loathed. Even worse is the fact that Leonard Purvis appears to have gone out on stress leave twice. This is something that is frowned on in the rank and file. My post on Leonard Purvis dated 2/14/2018 was a preamble to a bombshell.
Enter Purvis, who got hired to replace Horton. Purvis continued Horton’s regime of re-hiring officers who had been terminated from other jurisdictions. Purvis also oversaw terminations en masse from the Banning PD, cuts in levels of service which included practically closing police HQ in Banning to the public “because of budget cuts”. Sound familiar? He appears to have learned well from his good buddy Sheriff Sniff how to retaliate against the innocent to try and gain leverage in budget battles.–The resulting decimated morale in Banning PD (sound familiar?) led to a spate of employment practices lawsuits that were bankrupting the city. In addition, it is reputed that Purvis was in a constant state of war with the City Council over his budget. (sound familiar?)
–One of the absurdities of Purvis’ tenure as Chief of Police in Banning was the purchase of an armored car. Why a City of 30,000 needed this is beyond me. It kind of reminds me of Hemet’s military vehicle except that this model appears to be obsolete militarily.–The City Council ultimately got their fill of Purvis who tapped out around about 3 months after the above email was sent confirming that the process had been started to disband Banning’s police department. The details and circumstances surrounding the settlement between the City of Banning and Purvis are outside the scope of this post.–
With the allegations of an attempted underhanded takeover of Banning PD not going away, we reached out to Banning Police Chief Alejandro Diaz.
Former Banning Chief Purvis, now Captain of the Hemet Sheriff’s Station
Diaz says he recalls a meeting with Purvis at his home in San Jacinto sometime during late 2013, shortly after Purvis had been ousted from his position as Chief. Diaz explains as reason for the meeting, that he delivered two assault rifles to Purvis, which belonged to him but had still been kept at the Department.
Diaz states that he had a “long-winded” conversation with Purvis and his wife, during which both stated that a takeover of Banning Police Department by the Sheriff’s Department was “inevitable”. Diaz recalls Purvis suggesting that he should apply with RSD and assured him he would be hired as a Sergeant.
Best buddies: Sheriff Stan Sniff and his henchman, Captain Leonard Purvis (2013)
Diaz says that Purvis proceeded to tell him about a plan that had been set in place between him, then City manager Andy Takata and Sheriff Sniff. The plan was to decimate the Banning Police Department, and get the Department to such a minimal number of sworn personnel that it would be impossible to come back. This would eventually force the City council to disband the City’s Police Department and hand it over to the Sheriff.
Diaz recalls Purvis indicating that for his part, he (Purvis) would be hired by Sheriff Sniff and assigned duties in Banning as a lieutenant. Diaz states that he was further told by Purvis that Andy Takata, the then City Manager, had the role of convincing the council to reach out to Sheriff Sniff for an estimated cost for services as well as convincing Council of the ”benefits” of contracting police services to the county (view Takata email here).
Diaz says he vividly remembers Purvis expressing his profound regret over the fact that the takeover attempt was eventually foiled, when word of a secret meeting between Sniff, Takata, and then Beaumont City Manager (and convicted felon) Alan Kapanikas got out to the Banning Police Officers Association.
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