Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank resigned Thursday after coming under a great deal of pressure over his handling of a sexual harassment claim by three female officers against a deputy police chief.
Burbank said he chose to step down after the mayor gave him an ultimatum, telling him to go public with a prewritten apology regarding his handling of the sexual harassment claim in order to avoid being fired, Fox News reported.
Mayor Ralph Becker, who is up for re-election against three challengers, announced Burbank's departure at a press conference. He said that last year, the police chief failed to demote Rick Findlay, the deputy chief against whom the harassment allegations were made, which conflicted with the direction of the mayor's office, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
"I am hopeful that my actions today have another important result: I want every woman in Salt Lake City government to know that we value your public service and that sexual harassment will not be tolerated," Becker said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
In his defense, Burbank said that he had placed Findlay on an administrative leave in November 2013 when the sexual harassment allegations first came to light, while internal investigations into the claim were being conducted. Furthermore, he said that he did not demote Findlay because he wanted to remove him from service. Findlay later resigned in June last year.
"This decision is not in the best interest of the public, it's election politics and it's extremely unfortunate," Burbank said. "I firmly believe that the police department and myself personally have handled sexual harassment with zero tolerance."
Findlay was accused of sharing pictures of three female cops: Officer Tiffany Commagere, Sgt. Robin Heiden and former Lt. Melody Gray.
