Police investigation cites history of misconduct

An internal investigation into the conduct of a former Post Falls police officer reveals that his actions were called into question multiple times, leading to his May 2006 firing.

The internal memos were attached to a $500,000 tort claim former officer Erik Andersen filed against the city alleging wrongful termination.

Post Falls police Lt. Scot Haug recommended Andersen’s termination after Post Falls resident Barbara Baker complained that Andersen threatened her with a Taser during a traffic stop, according to a memo from Haug to Chief Cliff Hayes.

Haug said the March 2006 incident was the third complaint about Andersen’s conduct. The memo said Andersen received a letter of counseling for “inappropriate use of handcuffs” in a June 2004 stop of a bicyclist riding at night without lights.

Haug said Andersen received a verbal reprimand for “inappropriate force” for the January 2005 arrest of Bradley Platt, who is suing the city for $500,000 for injuries he sustained during the arrest. Andersen “did not accept any responsibility for his actions,” Haug wrote in the memo.

He said the officer later lost three days of pay for insubordination and retaliation against co-workers who participated in an internal investigation into the incident.

Hayes said last week that he reviewed the video of Platt’s arrest and “didn’t find the officers had done anything wrong,” but Haug had a different response, according to the memo.

“Even when his improper conduct is on videotape and his supervisors express concern to him about his actions, he does not recognize the deficiency,” Haug wrote.

Haug also wrote: “If Officer Andersen is unable to recognize inappropriate conduct, how can he correct the problem?”

Hayes declined to comment on Andersen’s tort claim or answer questions about Platt’s lawsuit against the department.

As for the different opinions he and Haug expressed regarding the video, Hayes said Haug “is entitled to document his opinion in his recommendations to me. Certainly, I respect it.”

Andersen says in his tort claim that his firing was based on “erroneous findings by Chief Hayes.”

In a May 2006 memo to Andersen, Hayes wrote that the officer was being fired for inappropriate use of force, improper use of a Taser and unprofessional conduct after pulling over Baker for speeding in March 2006. Hayes noted that “use of force issues are high liability areas for the city” and described Andersen’s conduct as “unacceptable and an embarrassment to the department.”

Baker filed a complaint about Andersen’s conduct the same day she was issued a citation.

Contacted Tuesday, Baker said she wasn’t aware Andersen had been fired as a result of the incident.

“I was married to a policeman from California and had never been treated that way, ever,” Baker said. “I have never seen anyone treated that way.”

In his claim against the city, Andersen’s attorney said the officer was being held responsible for the conduct of an intern who assisted in the stop.

Attorney Rick Cuddihy said in the claim that Andersen and intern officer Greg Marshall pulled Baker over on Greensferry Road. The claim says Marshall “took an unreasonable amount of time during the initial contact” with Baker and that she became upset.

When she tried to force open the door, the claim said, Marshall reportedly tried to close the door because of the narrow roadway and because the car was blocking part of the lane of traffic.

According to Andersen’s claim, he moved around the car with his Taser drawn because of the conduct of Baker and Marshall.

Baker later complained that Marshall shut her leg in her car door and that Andersen had threatened to “Taser her and take her to jail.”

Haug’s internal investigation was criticized by Andersen’s attorney who said the department failed to interview Marshall. The claim noted that Marshall’s father, also a Post Falls officer, took Baker’s complaint but should have referred it to another officer.

Cuddihy said Tuesday that Andersen, who now lives in Louisiana, did not want to comment on the tort claim or Platt’s lawsuit. He said the city has not responded to Andersen’s tort claim and that he is in the process of drafting a complaint.

“There’s always two sides to a story,” Cuddihy said. “Until everyone has a chance to see all the facts, people don’t have the whole truth.”

Cuddihy said Andersen “did nothing in violation of the law and city policy, and he was wrongfully terminated.”