By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review
With the city’s top law enforcement official embroiled in controversy, it seems the number two officer is stepping down.
The open position of police captain was posted on the city’s website Thursday.
Mayor Roger Tobler said current Boulder City Police Capt. Vincent Albowicz will be stepping down but will remain with the department as a sergeant. He will remain captain and will run the department until police Chief Thomas Finn returns from vacation Dec. 17.
Albowicz could not be reached Friday for comment.
City Manager Vicki Mayes could not be reached Friday afternoon for comment.
The move comes after Albowicz and Finn received a vote of “no confidence” from the Boulder City Police Protective Association on Nov. 21.
“The votes were taken to confront the toxic leadership environment and lack of accountability by Chief Finn and Captain Albowicz,” a press release released by the police union states.
Albowicz was named by Finn in a department-wide email as the idea man for deleting emails in early June tied to the upcoming Mongols Motorcycle Club gathering.
The job opening gives a timeline for the recruitment with a first review Dec. 20, an interview in early January and a start date of mid-January.
Tobler said that the timeline seemed strange with Finn on vacation, and the City Council’s Nov. 27 vote to have Finn investigated for allegedly erasing public records. Additionally, Mayes is retiring Dec. 12.
“Yeah the thing seems really weird with the chief being gone, and with all the stuff going on we might be better waiting until (incoming city manager David Fraser) gets here (Jan. 14),” Tobler said.
However, Tobler said that he hoped the interim city manager and human resource department would make sure Fraser would be part of the final decision on hiring the new captain.
“I would hope, before any decision is made, they would wait for the city manager,” Tobler said. “I believe that’s what the council believes should happen.”
What role Finn or any representative from the police department would have in the hiring is also unclear.
