Henderson Police Chief LaTesha Watson placed on unpaid leave

Henderson Police Chief LaTesha Watson is now on unpaid leave, a high-ranking city official said Thursday.

The city had been paying the chief, who makes $190,000 annually, since she was placed on paid leave on March 14. Her deputy chief, Thedrick Andres, was named acting chief in her absence.

The change to unpaid leave took effect at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, when her three-week opportunity to sign a separation agreement expired, according to Bristol Ellington, deputy city manager and chief operating officer for Henderson.

Ellington, who is also Watson’s direct supervisor, said he expects the chief’s employment status to be resolved by the end of next week.

No additional information was available, and Watson could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Two days before she was placed on leave, an independent investigator recommended city officials seriously consider firing her after internal investigations revealed issues.

In its report, the investigating firm, Littler Mendelson P.C., found that the chief disregarded Ellington’s orders, sowed mistrust and division among employees, attempted to influence employee communication, and engaged in a promotion process that led employees to question whether the results were predetermined.

City officials wanted Watson to resign on May 9, but she did not sign the separation contract that was presented to her last month. If she had, she would have received more than $24,500 for paid time off, but would have been barred from making any claims against the city.

The contract also contained a nondisparagement clause that would have allowed the city to fine her $5,000 for each violation.

Watson, who was sworn in to her first police chief job in November 2017, was hired as an outsider and a reformer after her predecessor, Patrick Moers, was ousted amid a sexual harassment investigation.

She previously served as deputy chief at the Arlington Police Department in Texas.

In November, two Henderson police unions filed a complaint with the state-run Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board accusing Watson and Andres of union busting. The complaint is pending with the board.

Last year, she faced internal investigations that cost the city more than $50,000. Most of the investigations revealed no policy infractions on the chief’s part, but other findings revealed issues with leadership in the department.

She told the investigating firm that she was informed the department lacked respect and professionalism and ran on a “good ol’ boys” system, one investigative report said.

“As such, she expected there to be resistance when a black female was brought in as chief and set on making changes/improvements to the department,” the report said.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.