By James Coulter
Lake Wales, Florida – More than one week after a being suspended and relieved of his duties, Lake Wales Chief of Police Christopher Velasquez has been re-instated by the City Manager.
At their most recent city commission meeting on Monday evening, Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton announced he was rescinding his memorandum made on Mon. Mar. 11, 2024 relieving the police chief from his position.
Slaton mentioned that, upon his request, he and Chief Velazquez met earlier that day. They both had issues to navigate, and that they will continue to navigate, but otherwise, Slaton decided to reverse his decision to suspend the police chief. His announcement was met by thunderous applause within the city commission chamber.
“Chief Velazquez was cooperative and eager to ensure any issues that may have caused concerns in the past will not be repeated in the future,” Slaton said. “Our citizens need stability in our local government. Chief Velazquez will remain chief of police of the lake Wales police department, and we will continue to support each other as we support the community.”
Last Monday, Slaton had released a memorandum announcing that he was suspending Chief Velazquez due to allegations concerning perceived “nepotism within the department” and “lack of transparency.”
Specifically, the city had received a complaint from the Poor Minority Justice Association alleging that “recent lieutenant promotional decisions were impermissibly motivated by race and that at least one candidate was ineligible for promotion at the time of his interview.”
Chief Chris Velazquez, following the announcement of his reinstatement, thanked both the city manager and commission for giving his job back and the citizens within the audience and community who supported him during this situation.
“I would like to say thank you,” he said. “I would like to apologize for any kind of a challenges that we have gone through as a city or department. But I want to thank you for your support. For 31 years, I have put this uniform on every day and I have been proud to wear it. I will continue to do that, I will continue to serve, and I will continue to do my job with honor and integrity, and there is no really greater honor than to serve and protect you. For that, I thank you for that privilege.”
During public comments, a local resident, Al Goldstien, commended both the city manager for his decision to reinstate the chief and the chief for his service to the local community.
“Thank you for getting this situation worked out. I think it will work out for the city and I know it will because we have two great gentlemen,” he said. God bless America, and God bless these two gentlemen.”
Original Memorandum: Lake Wales City Manager To Suspend The Police Chief & Replace Him
