Action Taken on Lake Wales Police Chief?

10 Tampa Bay News reported last evening they had received a letter which described disciplinary actions taken by City Manager James Slaton towards Lake Wales Chief of Police Chris Velasquez over the mishandling of a recent promotion within the Lake Wales Police Department. 10 Tampa Bay made it clear they had not verified the letter’s authenticity and had not spoken with Slaton or Velasquez but published the story when they received a copy of the letter from Clayton Cowart, the leader of a Winter Haven based activist group.

Cowart accused the LWPD and the Chief of racism in the process but the letter describes Slaton’s concerns over nepotism and a lack of transparency and seems to indicate that this most recent event was part of a larger problem of poor handling of internal administration and public relations by the Chief. The letter then states Velasquez will be placed upon unpaid leave for three days beginning Monday, March 18, and Slaton will initiate a search for a new Police Chief in April.

Neither Slaton nor Velasquez have made any public comment. Lake Wales Voice reached out to Mayor Jack Hilligoss early this morning. He said Slaton had informed him, and he believed the rest of the City Commissioners individually, when the controversy over the promotion first came to light. Slaton informed the Mayor that he was initiating an investigation into the recent promotion because there did seem to be problems.

“I know this had to be a very difficult decision for our City Manager to make,” Mayor Hilligoss said. “I respect both of these men and feel like they both have served our city well. I have a high level of confidence that Mr. Slaton did a thorough investigation and made the decision he felt had to be made. With the information I have, that is the best I can say at the moment.”