Officer Says He Was Pressured To Back Union Claims Union President, Assistant Police Chief Tried To Sway His Actions On Shooting Review Board
A member of a shooting review board says he was pressured to vote in favor of fellow officers as the board investigated police actions during a shootout that left a Tacoma officer dead.
The Deadly Force Review Board was suspended indefinitely Monday while the Tacoma police internal affairs division looks into detective Steve Holmes’ allegation of coercion.
The eight-member board, which reviews all officer-involved shootings, convened Oct. 21 to investigate police actions during a confrontation Aug. 28 with Sap Kray at his estranged wife’s home.
Kray, who was shot and paralyzed, fired a single round that police say killed SWAT team member Bill Lowry. Kray has pleaded innocent to aggravated first-degree murder.
Lowry was subsequently shot in the leg by a fellow officer in the hail of police bullets that followed, Tacoma police said.
Holmes, the Tacoma police union’s appointee to the shooting review board, complained that he was being pressured by union President Bob Blystone and assistant police chief Mike Darland.
According to an internal memo provided anonymously to the News Tribune, Holmes complained that Blystone called him Oct. 24 and told him “to be very careful in the way I vote.”
“There is no question that I was being told that I had better vote to back the union officers at any cost,” Holmes wrote.
The detective wrote that Blystone told him that a union representative who voted against an officer in a previous review board “caused a lot of upset officers and a lot of consternation amongst the union ranks.”
Blystone does not deny the conversation with Holmes. He said that as his appointee to the board, Holmes “is subordinate to me.”
Blystone said he called Holmes to remind him that as the union representative on the review board, he was supposed to be an advocate for the officers involved.
Holmes’ memo also alleges that Darland, co-chairman of the review board, had complained to Blystone that Holmes was “asking too many fault-finding questions” during the review.
Holmes also complained that Darland tried to intimidate him during a board meeting.
Holmes said he asked a question about warning shots and SWAT tactics, after which Darland “turned beet red, gritted his teeth and blurted out ‘Read my lips, Steve!”’
The detective said Darland became so upset that the board had to take a break “so he could get his blood pressure under control.”
“Due to the retribution I knew was coming from chief Darland, I remained quiet the rest of the meeting,” Holmes wrote.
Darland said Monday it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the workings of the review board or any internal investigation.
Darland denied telling Blystone to speak with Holmes. Blystone said he received complaints about Holmes’ behavior and questions on the review board from other union members on the board, not from Darland.