Beach town hires Garivey as police chief

Former Freeport Police Chief Raymond Garivey is recognized for receiving a lifetime achievement awards from The Blues police magazine April 14 at The 100 Club of Brazoria County dinner in Lake Jackson.
JESSE MILLER JR./Facts file photo

The Facts
From Facts staff reports
​​​​​​​Oct 21, 2022

Four months after choosing to retire as Freeport’s police chief while the city discussed his fate amid complaints of inappropriate behavior with women, including two newspaper reporters, Ray Garivey is a chief again.

Jamaica Beach City Council in Galveston County voted Monday to hire Garivey to replace Police Chief Brad Heiman.

Garivey left Freeport after a Facts reporter alerted supervisors at the newspaper of comments by the chief that made her uncomfortable. Facts Editor and Publisher Yvonne Mintz, in a letter to Freeport Mayor Brooks Bass, noted a woman reporter no longer with the newspaper made a similar complaint in the recent past.

On June 23, two days after Freeport City Council convened a closed session during which Mintz’s letter was a subject of discussion, Garivey submitted his notice of retirement to City Manager Tim Kelty. Garivey offered 30 days’ notice, but Kelty made the departure immediate.

Asked about Garivey’s past, Mayor Clay Morris of Jamaica Beach declined to comment but told Galveston County Daily News reporter Trace Harris, “we’re happy he’s on board and look forward to the energy he will bring.”

The complaint in June followed two previous disciplinary actions against Garivey in Freeport, personnel records obtained by The Facts showed.

Garivey received a two-day suspension for violating the city’s zero-tolerance drug policy in July 2019 and received verbal counseling in late 2018 for communication with a woman working for the city on a contract basis, documents showed.

“On December 5, it was brought to my attention that in September, there was an inappropriate exchange of text messages between Chief Garivey and a contract employee of the City from his City-issued phone, in which the Chief was clearly the instigator of the exchange,” Kelty wrote in the report.

“While the exchange was not ‘illegal’ or profane, it was clearly not related to city business, and the content of the exchange was clearly a breach of the above-referenced policies.”

Garivey expressed regret and recognized his conduct was inappropriate, the document states.

“Employee understands that any further violation of city policies will result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination,” it states.

Reached by the Daily News, Garivey did not comment on any specific allegations but said, “No one is perfect, and I have asked for forgiveness from God and my wife. This is an amazing opportunity in a great community.”

His Freeport legacy had been built on his community policing efforts and support for children with cancer, starting when he made 6-year-old Abigail Arias, an honorary officer, after hearing she wanted to be a police officer when she grew up. Garivey swore her in as Officer 758 in February 2018; she died of her rare form of kidney cancer in November 2019.

His efforts on children’s behalf led him to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award this spring from the online Blues Police Magazine.

Garivey will be given an $80,000 salary in his capacity as Jamaica Beach police chief.