DHS Police Chief resigns

DHSPD Chief Mondary tenders resignation

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The Desert Hot Springs City Council will be holding a special meeting Friday morning regarding Dale Mondary, the Chief of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department currently placed on paid administrative leave.

Details surrounding this meeting are currently limited, the meeting will be held Friday at 7 a.m. at the City Council Chambers. Doria Wilms, the public information officer, and assistant to the city manager, confirmed a news conference will be held following this special meeting.

News Channel 3’s Jeremy Chen will be at the meeting, watch News Channel 3 starting at Noon for coverage.

Mondary was placed on administrative leave on April 29 while the city investigates sexually suggestive messages allegedly sent by him. A third party firm out of Riverside is conducting the investigation, there is currently no timeline for its completion.

“That’s what these investigations allow us to do, is to look at situations as they come through,” Wilms said in April. “He’s on paid administrative leave. That doesn’t say one way or another what the outcome of the investigation is at this point. We’re just looking at the allegations determining what is true what is false.”

The community has expressed mixed emotions on the issue, with some expressing disappointment in the chief, while others believe it’s an issue that should remain private. The same week Mondary’s suspension was announced, supporters held a vigil outside DHSPD headquarters.

News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia spoke to a friend of the woman on the other end of the messages, who said this had been going since September 2017 when the accuser reached out to Mondary to ask for him to sponsor her in the police academy.

The friend said Mondary started messaging the woman on Facebook and the messages soon turned “dirty.”

The back and forth remains alleged, there has been no official confirmation that the person exchanging messages with this woman is actually Mondary.

We have reached out to Mondary multiple times since April, but he has not responded back.

Deputy Chief Jim Henson is currently serving as the Interim Chief of Police while the investigation is conducted.

Mondary became DHSPD Chief in January 2015 after working with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for 24 years. Mondary’s employment agreement, signed in June 2016, it reads, “an employee may be put on administrative leave at any time for any reason during the term agreement at the direction of the city manager.”