A Matter Of Opinion

The Golden Goose fund

Posted by Gary

Sept. 14, 2009 11:48 a.m. • 9 comments

Thoughts on this fund tapped by Spokane police over the years?

Spokane police spent $5.3 million on cars, travel, gasoline, weapons, training, clothing, electronics and office equipment over two decades, using a private account operated by the department’s Special Investigations Unit – outside of public scrutiny and in violation of city and state laws.

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Jeffrey_Grey on September 14 at 1:02 p.m.
Over the last year or so, I’ve gone to bat for the SPD and the city government several times on this website.

It’s getting harder and harder to muster the conviction required to say, “Come now, it’s not all *that* bad!” and do so with a straight face.
zelda on September 14 at 1:40 p.m.
It’s always nice to have a handy slush fund and a nice ride.

Thanks, S-R, for pounding the beat on local government highjinks. I was about to say, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” but the flames are there for all to see.

I suppose a lot of readers will shrug this off, thinking this sort of thing goes on in all police departments. Maybe it does. But I like to think that SPD isn’t taking its cues from New Jersey.
lewis8457 on September 14 at 4:05 p.m.
just another example how out of control this situation is. with the mayor and chief of police holding hands nothing is or will be done about it.

also in the paper yesterday was a story about the city attorney (Rocky) prepping the defense witnesses for the Officer Thompson trial since the feds are interested i hope they will spend some time looking at the Jay Olsen trial too.

the police can kill, steal and lie and nothing is ever done how can that be?
lewis8457 on September 14 at 4:15 p.m.
i hope the voters remember this when the cops go out for another tax to buy their toys.

i always wondered how they could afford all the stuff they have now i know. i wonder if they killed Otto with one of the tasers they bought with stolen money?
Rifleman_Dodd on September 14 at 10:36 p.m.
“in violation of city and state laws.” Well the immediate answer is to arrest them, charge them and try them. Oh I forgot Guilty Cops always get a bye in Spokane.

I’d like a total exposure of where the money came from, who decided to buy what with it, and where is that property right now.
nslopeofw on September 14 at 11:10 p.m.
Although a bit of this was spent on unknown stuff, and the no bid stuff was against the law, not one cent of this money came from the taxpayers.

All of this stuff seems reasonable to me:

•Clothing and windbreakers for bike patrol, $721.64.
•Tasers, $45,447.
•Pistols, $2,027.
•Jackets and pants with DEA logos, $4,487.25.
•Police uniforms, $1,507.
•Computer with memory card, $7,819.
(THIS IS A BIT EXCESSIVE)

Upgrades to weapons, a bomb truck, etc., these are all great things for cops to have. The basketball team, and no receipt stuff needs to change, and looks like it will.

I’m no fan of the “above the law” cops around here, but this “slush fund” comes out of the police busting bad guys and taking their stuff.

Having the city in control of this fund really isn’t that great of a solution, either. What’s to stop them from wasting it on a bunch of crap?

Just because there are a pile of losers on the force, doesn’t mean they are all bad, and using the criminal’s stuff to pay for equipment seems like a pretty good idea.
lewis8457 on September 14 at 11:22 p.m.
It seems to me the idea they are above the law and can get away with murder we have finally been shown how they can get through the courts unscathed, which is something I have always wondered if the judges were crooked too. But as it turns out the city attorney preps the defense witnesses before the trial and gives the defendant confidential information.

I hope the feds nail rocky ass to the wall then maybe when a bad cop is on trial we can see a guilty verdict come down.
spokelooneh on September 15 at 2:04 a.m.
Asset forfeiture as a result of law enforcement action is an ugly situation. Assets can be seized and held, even if the charge (IF ANY) against the accused perp is found not guilty, or the case dropped.

Transparency in this matter is sorely lacking. Thanks, S/R for digging into this matter.
dougf on September 17 at 2:21 p.m.
I agree that the purchases (basketball uniforms being an exception) seem mostly reasonable. But these assets come into the city’s hands through a law that justifies itself on the basis of public interests. The assets and any income derived from them must be handled in full public view for there to be any accountability. The individuals within the Police Department or any other agency do not own those assets, the people do, and the people have a right to know what’s done with them.