Details emerge in former UTPA police chief's dismissal

EDINBURG — Former University of Texas-Pan American police chief Howard Miller was fired for falsifying records and berating officials after an inspection of the campus, according to documents released by the University of Texas System.

According to the 43-page report detailing Miller’s termination, an internal inspection revealed that the former chief did not have a current firearms qualification score on record. Inspectors also discovered that Miller, who was fired more than a year ago, lied about earning a passing score on the school’s annual pistol qualification exam.

Witnesses told UT System officials Miller never attended the exam.

A termination letter addressed to Miller — and signed by UT System Director of Police John Slettebo — said that a complaint filed by inspectors against the former chief alleged that he “questioned their authority, background and experience” when the group met after an inspection of UTPA’s Police Department.

“You … criticized the UT System Police Academy and made the statement that your department does not need to send cadets to the academy,” Slettebo wrote in the letter. “You made comments criticizing … the Office of the Director of Police and the UT System.”

Publicly criticizing or ridiculing the UT System Police or other employees violates the agency’s code of conduct.

“Your conduct on Sept. 10, 2008 was unprofessional, belittling, argumentative and defensive,” the letter states.

Upon Miller’s termination, the former chief was stripped of his eligibility to work for the public university system again.

In a hand-scrawled note addressed to the UT System, Miller states he was not given the opportunity to address his accusers before his dismissal.

“I haven’t had due process or access to my personal computer to properly respond,” he says in the short, messy letter. “This is retaliation, retribution under duress.”

The former chief could not be reached at his listed Edinburg address. UTPA officials declined to comment on the case. The school system had until now remained tight-lipped about Miller’s investigation, only saying that the termination was a personnel matter.

Miller’s license as a non-commissioned peace officer with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education remains valid until Oct. 2, staff at that agency said. He must still take a training course to reinstate his eligibility to work as a police officer.

Officials with the state commission said Miller has not worked as a peace officer in Texas since his termination on Oct. 3, 2008.

Miller was hired as UTPA’s police chief Nov. 1, 1992, and was in charge of a staff of 40, according to the university. Assistant Chief James Loya oversaw the department immediately after Miller’s termination until the school named a new chief last year.

Roger Lee Stearns took the helm on April 13, 2009.

In September, the UT System announced a formal review of its 14 campus police departments. The probe came nearly a year after Miller’s dismissal. UT officials said last week that the evaluation was still ongoing. They declined to disclose any preliminary findings.

The review followed several shakeups at a number of campus police departments throughout the UT System.

David Hernandez, former police chief at the University of Texas-San Antonio, resigned in July after an employee complained of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. A UT System report blames the Police Department’s command staff and UTSA’s employment relations office for mishandling the complaint. Neither referred the complaint to the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity Services, which handles allegations of sexual harassment.

Colleen Ridge, former police chief for the University of Texas-Dallas, was accused of using a state-leased vehicle for personal use, making unauthorized purchases and using state resources to benefit her side business. Ridge denied the charges and resigned in May 2009. Since then, several other UTD Police Department employees have resigned or been fired.

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.