The Denton Police Department has gotten to know acting Chief Jessica Robledo’s leadership style in her five months as interim chief.
A majority of Denton Police Officers Association members support her appointment to the permanent chief position, and sources say that support is reflected throughout most of the department as well.
However, some told the Denton Record-Chronicle that officers initially had concerns about Robledo’s appointment to the interim position in April after hearing about the last police department she oversaw.
Her appointment came shortly after the resignation of former Chief Doug Shoemaker, who led Denton’s department for 16 months after previous chief Frank Dixon was promoted to assistant city manager.
Deputy Chief Brian Cose initially acted as interim while City Manager Sara Hensley searched outside the department for a longer-term interim chief.
Robledo came highly recommended to her, said Hensley, who told the Denton Record-Chronicle that she didn’t know Robledo personally before the interim discussion. But Hensley said she knew of Robledo, and they had mutual connections.
Hensley previously served as the interim city manager of Austin. Robledo served in the Austin Police Department for 30 years and was an assistant chief there.
The appointment brought up questions for officers, sources told the Record-Chronicle, as they were met with an interim chief they knew little about.
“Initially, there were talks and concerns about the appointment of Chief Robledo because of the things we heard from Pflugerville,” said Yancy Green, the president of the Denton Police Officers Association. “There was a lot of movement in a short time frame. Therefore, officers were uneasy and on edge.”
A long-term member of the Denton Police Department echoed that sentiment.
“I think everybody was concerned when it was announced she was coming in,” he said. “The only information we could find was half of the side from Pflugerville. When you Google it, it pops up about the investigation and her leaving and a severance package.”
Don’t judge me by a Google search, Robledo said in a July interview with the Record-Chronicle.
If officers did look her up, a report from Austin-based KXAN-TV about Robledo’s retirement from the Pflugerville Police Department in 2021 is a top result. After she served for more than four years as Pflugerville’s police chief, the outlet reported, city leaders approved a severance and release agreement for Robledo with mixed reactions.
Some Denton officers became aware of a 42-page climate survey conducted by Griffiths Consulting in which Pflugerville officers were interviewed about Robledo. About half of the Pflugerville department participated in the survey, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
The respondents to the Pflugerville survey painted Robledo in different lights. Some respondents described her as overtly angry, belittling and demeaning. They feared her, the survey states. Others characterized her as a frank and passionate mentor up against a male-dominated culture.
“Don’t mistake my passion for pissed off,” Robledo told the Record-Chronicle she is apt to say.
Robledo was recruited to be the interim chief in Pflugerville in 2016 with city leaders directing her to diversify the police force and implement more modern policing standards, the Statesman reported. She was appointed to the permanent position a short time later.
It’s common for officers to ask for change, Robledo said, and then complain about the change. Some took an immediate dislike to her.
One of many examples of immediate hurdles, Robledo said, was during her first meeting with one sergeant. Robledo said he became offended by her asking questions. She wanted him to educate her as opposed to questioning his authority, Robledo said. She said that a young officer told her that when she turned away, the sergeant flipped her off.
Rather than the disrespect to her, Robledo said she was more concerned about the damaging impression it would leave with the officer about the kind of environment they were working in. She told the sergeant he needed to apologize to the officer and he did, she said.
As for being characterized as belittling, Robledo said she was dealing with men who had been in their positions for a long time and were not used to being held accountable.
Robledo told the Record-Chronicle that her identity was a point of contention for some when she was chief in Pflugerville. Robledo said that considering she is Hispanic, a woman and gay, they had their pick of reasons to be prejudiced toward her.
The Statesman reported that at the time, the department of 78 officers was 91% male and 12 officers were members of minority groups.
One survey respondent referred to the Pflugerville Police Department as a “boys club.”
“She is very passionate. ... A lot of people take her communications as being upset,” a respondent said. “I continue to grow and get feedback from her. she will tell you when you fall short in your job. I have not seen her upset or talking. When any officer leaves [a conversation with Robledo] it is with a hug and a conversation about doing better. I don’t know if the message is different because it comes from a female instead of a male.”
However, another respondent said that this culture didn’t exist within the department and that Robledo used this as an excuse “to manipulate people and cover up how poorly she treats people.”
Some respondents said she would curse at them. They said she would jump to conclusions and make emotional decisions when officers’ actions came into question. She was quick to believe allegations against officers, some respondents said — even though some were later discovered to be unfounded — and weaponized Internal Affairs against them, which created a culture of fear.
In regard to any of the claims against her, Robledo said she herself was never the subject of an investigation.
When the Record-Chronicle requested documentation of any and all complaints filed against Robledo and any investigations pursuant to the complaints, Pflugerville returned only the climate survey.
Though she might not have been the subject of an investigation, the Pflugerville department’s culture was. The city manager at the time hired an outside investigator, the Austin Institute, to evaluate the department’s workplace culture after a female officer’s complaint, the Statesman reported.
A female officer complained that a small group of male officers and a female dispatcher targeted her and sought to prevent her from being selected for specialized assignments. The female officer claimed this same group had an agenda to remove Robledo, the Statesman reported.
The Statesman reported that the investigation found there was a hostile work environment, gender bias and discrimination created by the three male sergeants, one male corporal and female dispatcher.
The survey consultants came to the same conclusion and advised that Robledo should no longer be chief:
“A healthy structure in an organization is built through the vision and guidance of leadership. The base of any leadership structure is trust. No matter the reason for it, a lack of trust in the leadership will never allow healthy structures to grow. Trust is the base of the structure that the Pflugerville Police Department needs to rebuild certain processes within the organization. The current leadership of the department doesn’t possess that trust from the employees and therefore cannot be effective. Unfortunately, the only solution is for the Chief of Police to leave the organization. The department will then be able to take steps to build the systems that will provide a stable employment base.”
Regardless of the differing perspectives on why, Robledo said she agrees that the department had become toxic. Thus, she resigned.
Green, president of the Denton officers association, said that despite what officers may have heard about Robledo’s leadership in Pflugerville, he encouraged officers in Denton to give Robledo a fair shot.
The night Robledo was appointed to the interim position, she said she met with officers to dispel any concerns they may have with a stranger coming in. She said she has an open-door policy with officers.
That pretty much immediately put any chatter to rest, public information liaison Amy Cunningham said.
One anonymous emailer claiming to have affiliation with the department sent emails to the City Council in July alleging that Robledo was fostering a similar toxic work environment as Pflugerville in Denton.
The emailer responded to but did not address the Record-Chronicle‘s request for an interview and did not identify themselves.
Hensley and Robledo said the emailer would not come forward to them.
Hensley said she has the utmost confidence in Robledo. The characterization of Robledo in the Pflugerville survey is nothing like what she has witnessed with Robledo, Hensley said.
Members of the department who spoke to the Record-Chronicle also contradicted the anonymous emailer’s claims.
Regarding the emailer and survey, Green said that so far, the association has not had any major complaints that haven’t been addressed or handled professionally.
Before Robledo’s appointment to the permanent position, Green met with Hensley. He said they discussed the emails and the Pflugerville survey. Green advised the city manager that he wanted to poll association members regarding the appointment, and she agreed.
Green said 69% of the association voted in favor of appointing Robledo as the permanent chief.
“Based on this vote, I believe the membership is happy with the leadership style of Chief Jess,” Green said. “… I cannot speak for every member of the department. However, personally, I believe the members are ready for stability. We are ready to serve the community.”
Though he was initially concerned, the long-term department member said none of what he feared might happen had come to fruition.
“She’s not burning the house to the ground,” he said. “Changes have been made, she’s shuffled some people around, and, yes, people are being held accountable. I think that’s where the anonymous emails and things were coming from is a small percentage of people that are on the receiving end of that stuff.”
Robledo sincerely cares about the officers on an individual level, he said.
“If she was what she was painted out to be in the Pflugerville report,” he said, “that doesn’t match the day-to-day interactions you see or have, and just the one-on-one personal comments about, ‘How are you today? How’s your family?’ And things like that. It just doesn’t match up.”
While there might be naysayers, the long-term member said he thinks a majority of the department is happy with where the department is at and desires leadership stability to progress.
“I think there was concern that if we ended up having to go back through this [chief selection] process again, here’s another six to eight months where we’re all holding our own. There’s things that we want to achieve as individual officers and as a department. Is all that going to get put on hold if we have to go through a search again? I think there’s a little bit of that in there: A desire for stability and let’s get a game plan and let’s get going.”
Assistant Chief Tony Salas, whom Robledo recently promoted, said Robledo has been making a lot of progress already.
Salas has been at the department since 2005. Salas grew up in this department, he said. Denton has been his personal and professional home for almost 25 years. The culture has always been good, he said. The assistant chief told the Record-Chronicle he wouldn’t have taken the promotion if he didn’t believe in Robledo’s vision for the department.
While Robledo is passionate, candid and straightforward, Salas said he’s never witnessed any belittling or bullying behavior like the Pflugerville survey described.
She has been prioritizing officer well-being and looking for ways to make the department as efficient as possible, Salas said. That includes looking into how the city jail is run, how fleet services are handled, the quartermaster processes, officer recognition, recruiting and training. Not one area is not under evaluation, Salas said, but all the changes have been positive.
She doesn’t need this job, Salas said, but she has a passion for wanting to help the agency.
Robledo also said she didn’t come to Denton because she needed to. She came out of retirement, she said, to establish stability in the department, invest emotionally in the officers and mentor future leaders of the department.
Some people don’t know how to take her, Robledo said, and she might upset some people along the way. Her heart is in the right place, though, she said. She said she plans to be accessible to officers and continue building trust.
“A police chief doesn’t have an easy job,” Green said. “They are expected to answer for everything that the PD does. It is all but impossible to lead an organization of our size in a responsible way, while making everyone happy.
“There have been some growing pains, but those are to be expected with any change in leadership no matter the profession. So far, I have not received any major complaints from our members. Chief Jess has an open-door policy, and I have used that door a few times addressing various things. Most, if not all, with a successful outcome for the members.”
After 17 years as an officer, Green said he has come to expect change. This change is something officers are excited about.
“I cannot predict the future,” Green said. “However, we as a department are excited for growth and expansion that has been conveyed from Chief Jess. And we are ready to serve the community.”
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