Redlands has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a former Police Department employee who claimed she was exploited for sex by a deputy police chief who has since retired.
The settlement with former Community Service Officer Julie Alvarado-Salcido was approved June 24 on a 3-2 vote of the City Council, with Councilmembers Marc Davis and Denise Davis opposed. It is the third settlement in the last two years to resolve lawsuits and legal claims alleging a culture of sexual harassment and cover-up in the Police Department, bringing the total amount in settlements to $3.7 million.
At the center of the allegations is former Deputy Chief Mike Reiss, who allegedly targeted female employees for sexual favors. Reiss was still with the department when Salcido filed the suit in August 2022, but retired in March 2023 amid the allegations and litigation.
Salcido alleges she began a quid pro quo sexual relationship with Reiss two weeks after she was hired in 2015 as a fingerprint technician. Reiss, then a lieutenant, invited her out for drinks at the Doubletree Hotel in San Bernardino, then allegedly induced her to perform oral sex on him in the backseat of his car, according to the lawsuit.
In December 2016, Reiss again “induced” Salcido to perform oral sex on him in his car while the two were en route to a SWAT training event in Menifee. And in August 2019, Reiss again persuaded Salcido to perform oral sex on him in Salcido’s basement office, according to the lawsuit.
“Although we are pleased that this case has come to a resolution, we are mindful that the healing process has only just begun for our client,” said Salcido’s attorney, Cristal L. Cabrera, in a statement on Tuesday, July 1. “Everybody should be respected at work and not have to worry about being propositioned for any sexual or unwanted romantic relationship while at work.”
Comments and quips from other officers about Salcido’s body and the size of her breasts ceased after they realized she was “in the pocket” of Reiss, which Salcido understood as certain female officers an other employees engaging in regular sexual activity with ranking officers in exchange for favorable working conditions or other perks, according to the lawsuit.
Salcido claimed she saw the same conduct occurring with other high-ranking officers in the department, but went along with it out of fear of losing her job, according to the lawsuit.
“Ms. Salcido wanted to keep her job because it was her dream to become a custody officer for the County of San Bernardino. For these reasons, she suffered the advances of Lt. Reiss so she could keep her job with hopes of eventually becoming a police officer,” according to the lawsuit.
Salcido resigned in November 2019 after three weeklong medical leaves she attributed to stress-related conflicts at work, including with forensic specialist Geneva Holzer, whom Salcido accused of being incompetent and hired only for her looks. Holzer fired back with a harassment complaint against Salcido that triggered an HR investigation, according to the lawsuit.
Redlands spokesman Carl Baker declined to comment this week, and said the settlement agreement is still being completed and has not yet been executed by all parties. Reiss could not be reached for comment.
Salcido’s lawsuit was not the first alleging pervasive sexual harassment in the department by Reiss and other officers, nor was it the last.
In April 2021, police Officer Laurel Falconieri and Detective Leslie Martinez sued the city alleging “pervasive sexual favoritism” within the department, especially by Reiss and Officer Eddie Herrera. In July 2023, the city settled the lawsuit for $1.7 million, with Falconieri receiving the lion’s share of the settlement — $1.15 million — and Martinez receiving $550,000.
In April 2023, Holzer, the forensic specialist, filed a claim against the city alleging Reiss and Sgt. Kyle Alexander tried to destroy evidence of sexual misconduct she had discovered — semen stains on Salcido’s office chair. When she reported the discovery to Cmdr. Stephen Crane, he failed to report it up the chain and was complicit in covering it up, she alleged. Holzer also claimed she was sexually harassed by Reiss for more than two years.
The city rejected Holzer’s claim, and she filed a lawsuit in September 2023 that remains pending.
In July 2023, Deputy Chief Travis Martinez, the second-highest-ranking member of the Police Department, filed a claim against the city alleging, among other things, that he was retaliated against after he reported Salcido’s claims of sexual harassment by Reiss to the FBI. He believed the city erred when it did not put Reiss on leave and investigate after Salcido filed her lawsuit, and instead filed a motion in court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Martinez said he did not learn about Salcido’s lawsuit until a sergeant informed him about it in January 2023. Believing the city would not take appropriate action, Martinez took the allegations to the FBI’s public corruption unit, but that probe was dropped due to a lack of evidence, Cabrera said.
Martinez subsequently was placed on administrative leave in October 2023, and remained on leave for more than a year before the city negotiated a separation and retirement agreement with him in April for roughly $872,000.
Sgt. Patrick Leivas, who informed Martinez of Salcido’s lawsuit and complaints, filed a lawsuit of his own in August 2024 alleging hostile work environment and whistleblower retaliation for trying to address the problems within the department.
Daniel Moussatche, a Riverside attorney who is representing Holzer and Leivas in their lawsuits and initially represented Travis Martinez in his claim, said the city’s latest settlements involving Martinez, and now Salcido, are indicativhttps://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2023/06/30/redlands-settles-police-department-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-for-1-7-million/e of the problems that remain at the Police Department.
“The Redlands Police Department has problems that are costing the community millions of dollars, and they are doing nothing to fix the problems,” Moussatche said. “It’s fundamentally a cultural issue within the department.”
