Clip 14: DISD's top cop quits / Chief turns in gear after report on dealings with vendor, witness
The day after the article laying out his suspect role, the school police chief quit.
by KENT FISCHER and PETE SLOVER
Dallas school Police Chief Manny Vasquez stepped down Monday, a day after The Dallas Morning News reported on his business dealings with a district vendor and a witness in a federal DISD corruption investigation.
Dallas Independent School District officials said they were unaware of the business ventures until reporters began inquiring about them Thursday.
Mr. Vasquez said Monday that he would retire, effective March 1. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said Mr. Vasquez, 55, told the district he will be undergoing a medical procedure this week and would finish out his contract using accrued medical leave and vacation time. His contract, with a $131,168 annual salary, expires March 1.
Mr. Vasquez turned in his badge, gun, car and other equipment Monday, Dr. Hinojosa said. He and Mr. Vasquez characterized the departure as a retirement, although a district memo said Mr. Vasquez was resigning.
Officials would not disclose what medical procedure Mr. Vasquez faces.
"He won't be reporting to work anymore," Dr. Hinojosa said Monday evening. "It's time to bring this matter to closure and to move forward."
Mr. Vasquez said he has a long list of accomplishments in law enforcement, a career that includes 26 years with Dallas police before coming to DISD in 2000.
"I'm proud of my law enforcement career, which includes being wounded in the line of duty," he said. "I've been speaking with my supervisors at the district for some time about a timetable for my retirement, so it only seems to coincide with this particular issue. However, [my departure] is not unplanned or unexpected by the district."
District spokesman Donald Claxton said he could not release any further information about the events leading to the resignation because personnel matters are confidential.
On Sunday, The News reported that Mr. Vasquez had created a business, Security Innovations, on Sept. 19. Among the business's principals was Blair M. Thomas, a former sales representative for Micro System Enterprises, the Houston technology company under investigation for its relationship with ousted DISD technology chief Ruben Bohuchot.
The News also reported that Mr. Vasquez had awarded $100,000 in district contracts to Trace Detection Services, a company that recently formed a partnership with Security Innovations.
This fall, Security Innovations was promoting Trace Detection products to several local school districts, records from neighboring districts show. On Oct. 13, Mr. Vasquez, Mr. Blair and another business partner visited officials in Richardson schools to discuss the products.
Similar overtures were made last month to the Irving ISD.
Dallas school trustee Edwin Flores said Monday that those kinds of business dealings need to be stamped out if the district is to gain the trust of parents and taxpayers.
"There is a mentality [among administrators] that 'everybody else is doing it, so I can, too,'" he said. "That's the mentality we need to break."
On Friday, Dr. Hinojosa said Mr. Vasquez was wrong not to inform his bosses of his outside business dealings. They are good examples, the superintendent said, of the type of behavior he is trying to eradicate from DISD.
Last month, Dr. Hinojosa unveiled new policies that would prohibit business dealings between vendors, potential vendors and district employees. The proposed policies also prevent employees from accepting any gift greater than $50 from outside businesses.
Those proposed policies, which have strong support from trustees, could go to a vote this month.
"We are working to make certain that we have an ethics policy that is to the point and easy to understand," board President Lois Parrott said Monday night.
Dr. Hinojosa proposed the policies after the district agreed to pay a $65,000 settlement to Mr. Bohuchot, the former technology chief now under federal investigation for his dealings with Micro System. Trustees later complained that weak ethics policies prohibited the district from firing Mr. Bohuchot outright.
Mr. Vasquez's resignation leaves a hole atop the fledgling DISD police department, which is only in its second year.
Dr. Hinojosa said he does not have a replacement in mind. He said he will probably appoint somebody on an interim basis and will contemplate where he wants the department to go before hiring a full-time police chief.
"I'm going to be deliberate on this one," he said.
