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Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has fired one of her sergeants for his involvement in a 
DUI hit-and-run this last September. Washington State Patrol troopers say Sergeant Brad Thoma was legally intoxicated when he rear ended another driver in September then drove away from the crash without exchanging information about the fender bender. Because it was the veteran sergeant’s first offense he was able to enter a deferred prosecution program. Under that agreement Thoma can only drive vehicles with a special device that would test Thoma’s breath for the presence of alcohol. The car wouldn’t start if the ignition interlock detected alcohol. However Chief Kirkpatrick wasn’t willing to equip Thoma’s patrol car and other police vehicles he might drive with the devices/Jeff Humphrey, KXLY. More here.
Question: Did Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick make the right move in firing Sgt. Brad Thoma?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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keithincda on December 22 at 12:11 p.m.
uh, duh! Finally.
hmoffsuite on December 22 at 12:17 p.m.
Knowing the reasoning behind the decision, I agree that it was appropriate.
spokelooneh on December 22 at 12:17 p.m.
Good move. Although I expect the officer will be filing a lawsuit over his termination.
Fixer on December 22 at 12:39 p.m.
Yes, it’s a good decision. Thanks to Jeff Humphrey for outlining the Chief’s decision-making process in this case.
JeanieSpokane on December 22 at 12:43 p.m.
Yes, finally! Any other non-police person would have served jail time.
Phaedrus on December 22 at 2:50 p.m.
No brainer.