Following a joint investigation by the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office, former Eureka police officer Daniel “Danny” Kalis has been charged with numerous crimes including false imprisonment, possession of heroin, possession of more than an ounce of marijuana, petty theft and vandalism.
The DA’s office first began receiving reports of Kalis’ alleged criminal conduct in January, according to a press release. The department gathered evidence over the next two months. The EPD initiated its own investigation in March, and on March 7 Officer Kalis was place on administrative leave. On March 16 representatives of the two agencies met and, after discussing the status of their individual investigations, decided to join forces.
Following an “extensive investigation,” the DA charged Kalis with the following:
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Possession of a Controlled Substance (Heroin)
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Unauthorized Communication with a Prisoner
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Possession of more than 1 ounce of Marijuana
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False Imprisonment
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Possession of Controlled Substances without a Prescription
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Unauthorized Disclosure of DMV Records
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Unauthorized Access to Computer Network
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Petty Theft
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Vandalism
According to the press release, the investigation continues and additional charges may be filed. Kalis is scheduled to be arraigned on May 16.
Officer Kalis was fired resigned from the Eureka Police Department, effective April 1, according to EPD Chief Garr Nielsen. “Such allegations, if proven, cast a pall upon a noble profession which derives its legitimacy from the public trust,” Nielsen said in the release. “The violation of that trust impacts the profession, our organization and the dedicated men and women who place themselves in harms way to ensure the safety of our communities.”
Members of the community with information regarding potential criminal actions conducted by Officer Kalis are urged to contact Eureka Police Department Senior Detective Todd Wilcox at (707) 441-4315 or Humboldt County District Attorney Investigator Wayne Cox at (707) 268-2591.
This article appears in The Hill.
This is unfortunate. Good work, Chief Nielsen and EPD. As painful as this is, you did the right and difficult thing. Thank you.
Dear North Coast Journal Editor (whoever you are these days),
Allegations and evidence which led to two separate criminal investigations, multiple charges filed and then a police officer’s dismissal don’t occur in a cultural vacuum. Although The Eureka Police Department initiated its own investigation beginning in March and then combined forces with the District Attorney’s office who, until March 16th, had been conducting a parallel investigation on its own. Who is left to investigate a potentially compromised internal EPD culture which incubated this alleged criminal misconduct of Officer Kalis?
The two criminal investigations that led to Officer Kalis’ firing indicate that emotional and perhaps physical damage was experienced by at least one individual and that security breaches of state and local law enforcement and other public databases also occurred (i.e. unauthorized access and use of private D.M.V. information). Given that additional charges may still be filed, a full investigation into the role played by the EPD culture which led to Officer Kalis’ individual actions as alleged can not yet be known, especially if no one is looking or everyone is looking the other way.
Over and above the alleged criminal behavior of this individual officer, there remain ethical violations at several levels should one or more of these charges be proven. Given that Officer Kalis operated within a larger police department leadership structure, the EPD culture itself must also be audited and a formal report of detailed findings presented to the public. As with any breakdown in an organization which is funded by and which serves the public, as we sit back to assess the damages, steps must be taken to fully understand the complexities of entrenched cultural values within the Eureka Police Department at all levels. In the wake of these shocking events, the community deserves to be assured that the same culture that resulted in charges filed against one officer aren’t inadvertently encouraging other police personnel to behave in the same manner.
To begin, we must pan-out our focus and fully investigate how the department’s current ‘administrative operations’ (processes, procedures, training, etc.) and its ‘cultural operations’ (leadership style, codes of conduct, performance reviews, promotions) may have directly or indirectly resulted in the alleged egregious behavior of one of its officers. Until a separate investigation is called for and the results are reported publicly, there remain no assurances that Officer Kalis’ actions were in any way out of the ordinary given EPD cultural norms which have become entrenched over many years.
I’m asking that a full investigation be conducted into the Eureka Police Departments’ culture and leadership. Sooner rather than later.
Respectfully submitted,
Jackie Wellbaum
635 G. St. #B
Arcata, CA 95521
Jackie- I’m sick and tired of people constantly bagging on our police. These men and women do an extraordinary job for what I consider low pay. They are in physical danger everyday.
One bad officer should not taint the reputation of the department as a whole. That’s just sure ignorance.
Hlen, you’re an idiot.
Bue Lke, Tinidad, Ereka, Acata and the county sheriff’s office had been loaded with bullies, thugs, and gangster types for years.Each of these have reluctantly given up their own only when they couldn’t cover for them.
I damn near takes an fbi investigation to break Internal Affairs cover-ups and only THEN is there a crack in that “hin Blue Line” that’s more criminal syndicate than public service organization.
People do not understand until they themselves witness the tyrany of an abussive cop.We aret that they are the model citizen and we must remember they are human and succum to the presures of seeing all the abuses and they get mad and sometimes take it out on the puclic or their wifes. Yes when we have our officers breaking the law even one action has to happen not this wrist slapping crap. Why do people make excuses for cops who break the law… like thsy do not get paid enough. Well the gradification of helping someone would be great rewards and 36 to 40 000 per year is good pay..
We wouldn’t be reading about this today had Chief Garr taken action when he had the opportunity to fire Officer Kalis over a year ago. Officer Kalis was caught have sex with an informant on duty in in police vehice along providing false ID to a Fish and Game Officer when he was cited for fishing without a license on a day he called in sick to work. But Chief Garr or should I say Chief Corrupt chose to keep Officer Kalis on so he would be beholden to him. Also, Officer Kalis wasn’t put on administrative leave until Chief Garr was out of town and Lt. Johnson was left in charge. Word is Chief Garr wasn’t too happy when he got back to town that his pal was under investigation.
Just a few things to think about.
I just made a post about this and it is gone. but We have Joe Garcia here in Del Norte, He has been breaking the law for years. People have told the sheriif fand he turnes his head. He now has 9 drug and gun felonies. Oh it is scarry. Had a heart attack on the job from his abusive life style at 36 year lod.. Plenty of people know. have sold or used with him but people keep quite, Scared I guess. or they have something themselves to hide…
Insider at 8:12 is right on the money. Kalis was investigated for providing false ID to a Fish and Game Officer while he called in sick to work. He was supposed to be fired but Chief Nielsen wanted to “keep” him only so he could count on him to be beholden to him. Nielsen was out of town when the Kalis incident came to light and Nielsen was pissed that someone else acted and placed Kalis on leave. There is a lot more but no one seems to be interested in what is really going on,
I hope they hang him with all these charges. Cops need to remember that they are there to serve the public, not to power trip. While there are a lot of great cops it always takes one bad apple to rot the rest. I’ve only seen a handful of good ones in Humboldt. The rest are just bullies who abuse their power. The DA needs to send a message to our community that this behavior will not be tolerated.
Oh noes a cop is a criminal too. Big deal, they all are. I think the real crime here is all the spelling errors in some of these posts. People, when the red line appears under a word that you just typed all you have to do is to right click on the word and the correct spelling appears in the box. All the cool kids are doing it and you should too.
I’ve got to agree with you on the spelling errors Jed. I hate to say it, but when the comment appears as if it was written by Mickey Mouse, I have a hard time paying attention to the message.
Actually Helen, police officers are among the most highest paid public workers in most cities along with firefighters; many officers garner at least $100,000 in salary and overtime alone, and this is not calculating benefits.
The officer is accused and therefore the entire police department is guilty of every crime under the sun. If this is true then what does it say about the community that employs them. A society of fools. Allahu Akbar
“A society of fools” followed by “Allahu Akbar”? My goodness.
Corruption is ubiquitous among police officers, politicians, and any other homo sapien with a small amount of authority. This is no surprise.
I find that three of the charges have no forebearance on the officer based on privacy or lack there of BUT the rest of the charges reveals behavior of an individual with criminal intent! Which proves my point! “Just cause someone can piss clean in a cup? Doesn’t make them honest! I wished I had never voted for Ronald Reagan! Sorry Carter, please forgive me!
Guess you weren’t at the meeting where the chief said he recommended termination but was overruled by the lawyers in the first Kalis incident. Why would he want Kalis beholden to him when he has disciplined and fired others? That is idiotic. Believe it or not, the labor attorneys decide punitive actions not department heads.
“COMMENT / BY J.D. / TODAY, 7:21 A.M.
Corruption is ubiquitous among police officers, politicians, and any other homo sapien with a small amount of authority. This is no surprise.”
including newspaper editors.
How pitiful and immature that the “above the law” malcontents are still around. You’re going to accuse Chief Nielsen of keeping Kalis on to have him be beholden to him? Really? Chief Nielsen has been under more scrutiny, at work and off duty, than Obama. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to align himself with this guy. But he is probably smart enough to cover his ass and make sure he is taking correct personnel actions in cases like this. That would include consultations with Human Resources, the City Manager and the City Attorney to name a few. The nameless,shamless accusers have presented nothing to back up their claims, of course, And I wanna know how they know took place behind closed doors with Kalis’s previous misdeeds, since personnel actions are confidential matters. More gossip and mud-slinging no doubt. Besides, for a suspension to stick, shouldn’t the chief be the one to do it instead of some good-ol-boy-wanna-be-chief who waits til the chief goes outta town to do it?
The EPD is seriously corrupt. It’s like the wild west out here or something.
In the T-S, Nielson is quoted as saying:
”It’s one of those things you just hate to see happen, but we have to remember that police officers and public servants are human beings and we’re all fallible,” Nielsen continued.
”At times, things like this are going to arise and we just have to work past them and prove constantly — every day — that we are worthy of the public’s trust.”
Seriously? We’re not talking about a guy with a bunch of unpaid parking tickets. That “happens”. We’re talking about a violent thug abusing police authority and acting above the law. That isn’t something that we just need to accept. That is something that we need to fire the chief of police over.
The ones who should be fired are those who acually worked around Kalis and knew or heard things but didn’t speak up.
The Chief talking about integrity is just about laughable.
Garr is a dishonorable dishonest sorry excuse for a Chief that there ever was.
He could not tell the truth if his livelyhood depended on it. And soon it will.
Tough to tell the truth when you have lied so much you cannot remember which of your ends is up. Luckily someone does remember.
You are to be exposed for what you are:
a philandering no good lying piece of crap.
“A Eureka police officer charged Thursday with nine criminal counts had a prior run-in with law enforcement and faced allegations of domestic abuse, according to court records. It also appears Daniel Jason Kalis, 36, of Eureka, worked as a police officer for five months with a warrant out for his arrest.”
More troubling bad news and prior alleged wreckage left behind in Officer Kalis’ wake appeared in today’s Times-Standard paper.
Thadeus Greenson’s article has his surprising report of the alleged incidents and behavior:
“Accused Officer On the Job with Warrant Out; Officer Faced Misdemeanor Charges in 2010; Ex-wife Files for Restraining Order”
Ongoing comments are also at the
Humboldt Herald website.
Understandably, EPD is somber over this troublesome officer and episode. It’s a difficult time. Thoughts go out to those good and upstanding officers who are there.
This chief has undergone more scrutiny than any public official in Humboldt County, including being followed when off duty by emplyees, being suctioned by private investigators hired by emplyees, grand jury investigations based on the most outrageous allegations, which have been comprehensive and cleared him of any misdeeds, city wide investigations which have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and based upon frivolous scurrilous accusations, has been the subject of a salacious blog perpetrated by his employees, and yet in spite of the hatrers best efforts they have found nothing. So continue your wild and delusional accusations, you won’t get your old corrupt, heavy handed, Gestapo EPD back. To suggest that he souls have any reason to cover for a dirty cop is ludicrous when he has spent four years trying to clean up a shit hole.
And it is the responsibility of the district attorney to check for warrant on the people they arrest. It was their decision to let him walk and their failure to check him for warrants. You would think the prosecution attorney in the case for which the warrant was issued would have known he failed to appear.
Hippies need to be flea-bombed and hair shaved. Kick there asses like you get in a boot camp. Sick of all the bums!
In addition to this article, the Times-Standard update by Thadeus Greenson“Kalis Arrested: Former Eureka Police Department Officer Booked, Released Monday,” is here.
The new column of the local blog, the The Humboldt Herald, with further comments and opinion,
is easily found here.
that is my brotherinlaw u fags are talking about shut ur mouths and mind your own dam buisness hes dealing with enough stress and u gyes are stupid as hell