Three members of the Redding Police command staff have filed suit against the department alleging age discrimination. Lieutenants Jeff Wallace and Pete Brindley and Sergeant Todd Cogle are named in the suit. They allege that they were passed over for promotions due to their ages. They’re all in their 40’s. Cited as evidence is a statement in the RPD strategic plan drafted 3 years ago that states a concern that the department will lose a significant amount of senior level experience when their administrators reach retirement age. The report says there is limited rotation and opportunity for promotion. As a result, the suit says Chief Bill Schueler has made an effort to lower the overall age of command staff. It accuses him of manufacturing reasons to criticize the three plaintiffs and quotes him as saying there’s a need for “new blood”. The claim is that promotions are based more on age than on merit. The suit, filed May 8th, seeks unspecified compensation.