Naked City

Just when it seemed there couldn't possibly be any more allegations of misconduct against Austin Police Dept. Assistant Chief Jimmy Chapman, another complaint has made its way to Internal Affairs investigators. In an Oct. 13 memo obtained by the Chronicle, APD Detective Neil Neyens alleges that Chapman engaged in retaliation and intimidation by transferring fellow Detective Howard Staha to the Major Crimes Task Force in January 2003, where Neyens was working.

Just weeks before, Neyens' wife Lucy had herself made a complaint with IA that Staha forced her to perform oral sex on him in the early Nineties (before the Neyenses were married) in exchange for continued police protection for her son, who was then a confidential informant for the department. (See "Unfinished Business at APD?" May 16.) Lucy Neyens' complaint was eventually brought before the Office of the Police Monitor's citizen review panel this spring; the panel in June recommended that the case be reviewed by Police Chief Stan Knee for several potential policy violations. Still, the outcome of that recommendation is unknown; according to the OPM Web site, resolution of the case is still pending.

In his memo, Neil Neyens wrote that he has been "hesitant" to come forward with his complaint -- alleging that Staha's transfer to his unit was a deliberate effort to intimidate both him and his wife -- "for fear of additional retaliation by ... Chapman." But since Chapman is currently on restricted duty pending the outcome of an ongoing inquiry into whether he lied under oath this summer, "I feel more comfortable pursuing this allegation," Neyens wrote.

According to his memo, after Neyens found out that Staha was going to be transferred to his unit -- where officers regularly work undercover and with confidential informants -- he approached Cmdr. Robert Dahlstrom, now an assistant chief, and Lt. Manuel Peña on Jan. 14 with his concerns. Dahlstrom and Peña "said they were aware of my wife's allegation against Detective Staha and informed me that ... Chapman made the transfer and that there was nothing they could do to stop the transfer from occurring," he wrote. Neyens says he told Dahlstrom and Peña that Staha's transfer to the unit would "create a hostile and unbearable work environment for me," and that Neyens "would not be able to work [in that unit] under such conditions because of the nature of my wife's allegations."

Neyens says that Dahlstrom offered to transfer him into any other unit within the organized crime division, but that that wouldn't solve the problem -- officers in that division share "close working conditions," and frequently engage in "multi-unit operations," meaning that Neyens would still have to work with Staha. In his memo, Neyens wrote that after Staha was transferred to the unit, he transferred out, to an assignment in Central East Austin.

"I feel that ... Chapman transferred ... Staha to the Major Crimes Task Force in order to intimidate and retaliate against my wife, Lucy Neyens, and me as reprisal for her allegation against ... Staha," Neyens wrote. "I feel this matter merits investigation and is a violation of the [department's] General Orders and possibly State and/or Federal Employee Rights Laws."