Spokane7
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April 15, 2010 in City
Zehm grand jury to hear evidence police changed testimony
Feds: Accounts of fatal encounter altered
Otto Zehm
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
Allegations of a cover-up by Spokane police officers over their handling of the fatal Otto Zehm confrontation and the department’s 2006 investigation of the case are being presented to a federal grand jury.
In the ongoing obstruction-of-justice probe by the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI, indications are that some Spokane police officers, including Assistant Chief Jim Nicks and lead detective Terry Ferguson, now acknowledge that the city’s earlier characterizations of the fatal encounter were wrong and that its investigation clearing officers of wrongdoing was incomplete and inaccurate. Federal documents filed this week in U.S. District Court also suggest Spokane police altered witness statements to appear more favorable to the first responding officers.
“The United States … anticipates Det. Ferguson will testify that there were many glaring missteps and omissions during the course of the SPD’s ‘independent investigation,’ ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Durkin wrote in a 74-page filing Tuesday.
The document does not name any officers but indicates that “one or more” of those named in the $2.9 million civil suit are being investigated for potentially obstructing justice. That list includes Nicks, Ferguson, and Officers Steven Braun, Zack Dahle, Erin Raleigh, Dan Torok, Ron Voeller and Jason Uberuaga.
Currently, only Officer Karl Thompson faces felony charges of using excessive force and lying to investigators following the March 18, 2006, confrontation with Zehm, who was struck with a police baton multiple times and jolted with a Taser. The 36-year-old mentally ill janitor, who was mistakenly identified as a crime suspect, stopped breathing while he was hog-tied with a mask on his face. He died two days later.
Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who has issued a departmentwide gag order regarding the Zehm investigation, said she was unaware of the depth of Durkin’s allegations.
“This is the first I have heard of this kind of detail,” Kirkpatrick said. “I don’t know what to say. At this point, they are allegations and that’s why it has to be aired in a court of law for putting facts in context. That’s where issues of truth will hopefully be determined.”
The disclosures indicate that Nicks, who served as interim chief before Kirkpatrick was hired in September 2006, now believes Thompson’s handling of the Zehm confrontation was improper.
That’s substantially different from what Nicks publicly stated for months after the confrontation. He claimed repeatedly that Thompson did nothing wrong and blamed Zehm for lunging at Thompson as he responded to an erroneous report that Zehm had stolen money from a nearby ATM.
Durkin wrote in court documents that Nicks now has told a different story to federal investigators and is expected to testify in the criminal trial, set for June 2, that Thompson used excessive force and that Thompson’s statements to investigators were “materially inaccurate.” Convenience store video also shows that Zehm never lunged at the officer.
In addition, Durkin wrote that Ferguson, who led the investigation into Zehm’s death, has acknowledged that her investigation was “inaccurate” when she wrote to Spokane County prosecutors that she didn’t find “any evidence” of excessive force by Thompson.
The court records also describe how Ferguson and Detective Mark Burbridge either changed or omitted statements by witnesses that indicated that Thompson struck Zehm’s head with a police baton, which would have constituted illegal lethal force.
In one case, the detectives attempted to “discredit” one witness who gave a television interview describing how she saw Thompson strike Zehm in the head with the baton – something Thompson has repeatedly denied.
“They decided, before the interview, that they would try to discredit her,” Durkin wrote of Ferguson and Burbridge. “The Detectives felt that the witness had an anti-law enforcement bias.”
But the detectives proceeded differently with those witnesses “that are felt to be law enforcement friendly,” Durkin wrote. When federal investigators showed the witnesses how detectives summarized their accounts of the confrontation, most said information was left out and that the summaries should be changed to more accurately reflect what they saw.
“The revisions are more incriminating of defendant Officer Thompson’s use of force than is contained in Burbridge’s summaries,” Durkin wrote.
When federal investigators asked Burbridge for the notes from his witness interviews, he told them they had been destroyed.
Federal agents also interviewed Uberuaga, who is a certified defensive tactics instructor and one of the seven officers who responded to the convenience store that night.
Uberuaga gave federal agents two signed or recorded statements that Thompson’s “use of force was unreasonable and excessive.”
Uberuaga wanted to change his statements “upon further reflection and consultation” with Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi. But Uberuaga is expected to testify that Thompson’s recorded statement describing Zehm as aggressive and threatening with a pop bottle “was inaccurate in comparison to the security store video.”
Testimony before the grand jury will continue next week. Gary Graham, editor of The Spokesman-Review, received a federal subpoena requesting any information identifying a reader who posted two comments on the newspaper’s Web site in March about the Zehm case.
The postings, made under the name “CharlesBillford,” detailed an alleged encounter between Sgt. Torok and his attorney, who was “yelling at (Torok) for lying to the grand jury.” Torok’s attorney, Rob Cossey, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
The newspaper requires only e-mail addresses from readers who leave comments on its Web site. That information, along with the user’s Internet Protocol address, was turned over to federal authorities.
Spokesman-Review attorney Duane Swinton said that the newspaper Web site policy clearly indicates that the company “may have to divulge the IP addresses and other identity information upon receipt of legal process.”
Multiple efforts to reach Thompson’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Doney’s sentence upheld 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on April 15 at 5:14 a.m.
Not sure how the spam advertising got through your filter (ABOVE)…
Mr Clouse…
Officer Torok is/was known to many many of us who are regular bloggers.. and he was more than present on Hard 7 some years ago now…. it would be interesting to investigate his “posts” and see how much of it was done on the taxpayer dollar…. likely it is all retirevable on the archives of Hard 7… There were other officers that posted regularly as well… take a look john
Mr_Bloggy on April 15 at 6:03 a.m.
Ooh. This is getting good. Apparently the feds leveraged some favorable testimony. I’m guessing those tough guys of the SPD got weepy and scared when they realized what a slam dunk they’d be for a conspiracy charge by the feds. They rolled over like cheap meth hookers in an East Sprague motel. The whole Torok piece could get very fun too. Feds are rocking this one. The eventual civil awards are going to be astronomical.
Hey Mayor Verner, still sticking to your story about how Otto was the aggressor and Thompson used reasonable force? Time to get out the checkbook and the official Mayor letterhead and write a big check to Zehm’s family and an apology.
This is going to get ugly for you. Maybe one term ugly.
spokanada on April 15 at 7:25 a.m.
Go Feds! If the SPD won’t get rid of the bad apples then you need to do it for them.
Now lets see if all the Thompson supporters can admit they were wrong.
RIP Otto
spokanada on April 15 at 7:48 a.m.
S.R. Are you trying to bury this story? Why wasn’t Otto mentioned in the headline? Why is the story almost off the “latest news” section?
nancym on April 15 at 8:55 a.m.
Thanks, Spokanada, for calling that to our attention. This story is certainly important and why it was the top article on A1 of the print edition. An automated process shifted the headlines online, but now it is among the top stories. Also, the headline you previously saw was from the print edition, where readers would see Otto Zehm’s name in the secondary headline. Obviously that’s unhelpful for online users, so we’ve updated it.
spokanada on April 15 at 9:01 a.m.
Thank you for reposting the story. As someone under the age of 75, I do not read the actual “paper”. I saw that the story was on A1 but you know better than I about the number of online readers and how popular this topic has been for the past three years.
D Statler on April 15 at 9:06 a.m.
FIRST OTTO, Then maybe our boys will be the next to be set free when the Feds get involved in Spokanes corrupt system.
horse_feathers on April 15 at 9:12 a.m.
I hope Burbridge gets to go pound rocks for his lies.
lewis8457 on April 15 at 9:27 a.m.
Looks like big tough cops are circling the wagons and throwing Thompson to the wolves. Hopefully Dan Torok will be thrown out too.
Uberuaga, who is a certified defensive tactics instructor and one of the seven officers who responded needs to be fired, point blank. He has tactical knowledge but still joined in on the fun, murdering a citizen.
Every officer there needs fired because none of them stopped it. Anyone of them could have said OK guys enough is enough but none of them did. and we are supposed to respect them after hitting a man when he is down? In the civilian world that is a unwritten no, no. It is called honor and respect something neither one of these officers had.
Just because they are cops doesn’t mean they can do anything they want with out consequences.
As for what John said also check the SR blogs around the same time, Dan Torok wrote in a post,” just because they die during a arrest doesn’t mean they weren’t guilty”. Lock and load Feds take these men and gals to the cleaners; Spokane has needed some good entertainment for along time.
Lulubelle on April 15 at 10:23 a.m.
In light of the revelations regarding the SPD “independent investigation” fill with cover-ups and lies, will the Ombudsman now at least ask for investigatory powers? The SPD and the officers involved need to be held accountable. The City can’t wait for another Otto to be beaten to death…..it will be too late then.
Liberty_Bell on April 15 at 10:29 a.m.
Tampering with evidence? Of course the term illegal, could only confuse those from those Washington State Police Academy graduates, with the Sheriff and Chiefs Association, ran by a Klansman too!
Also shown Best in that United States District Court, where cluelessness is a requirement for employment!
TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on April 15 at 11:19 a.m.
and don’t forget to screen them all, even now for steroid use.. get their medical records etc… the tape shows “Roid Rage” in my opinion…. any ONE of those men should have called the rest to a halt…it was a “crowd” behaviour… take a look at the recent event back east with the college reveler waving his arms in joy while moving toward and armed officer on a horse and then being beaten without surcease till he stopped moving…. OTTO lives… john
spokanada on April 15 at 11:23 a.m.
i think steroid testing should be negotiated into the next contract if it isn’t in there already. It would be interesting to see if the union would agree to the tests.
Another_Perspective on April 15 at 1:02 p.m.
If you take the time to download and read the entire motion by Durkins, you will be aghast to read that everything the SPD said and did was a complete lie.
A firing squad would be too good for any of them.
Pat O'Leary on April 15 at 1:51 p.m.
The whole damned pack of them are guilty of obstruction…and that would include our worthless county prosecuter, Steve Tucker. Get all of these maggots off our payroll and put them in prison where they belong. And for this lack of confidence in the chief, I would agree. However, I have even less confidence in the members of the Police Guild. It is time for the citizens to start running the police department rather than the cops. When will this disgraceful SPD be brought to heel? Disgusting!
Gabriele on April 15 at 2:41 p.m.
This should be a story to stay with. The only thing is we all know how it ends, dont we? The Police will get away with it as always. The funny thing is that one corrupted entity (The FEDS) trying to bring down another one (SPD). HaHa. The only way they get so many injust convictions is because off their lying and cheating in the first place. And what’s really sad is the fact that the law always stands behind all their lies and cover-ups, but never for the accused. Maybe we should ask them to reopen a few thousand of cases to be investigated. I bet you the jails and prisons wouldn’t be so overcrowed anymore. I hope Mr. Zehm will get the justice he deserves, at least he didnt had to die in vain!!!
spokanada on April 15 at 3:07 p.m.
Gabriele, how is the FBI corrupted? please explain.
TheRoyLarsen on April 15 at 3:12 p.m.
I’m new to the posting area but I’ve seen over the past few years that, prior to the actual court event of an officer on trial, the newspaper has presented a seemingly solid case against the officer providing details of what might be offered at trial. Yet, when the evidence is presented in court before a jury, the officer is acquitted. In fact, in the last case, the jury believed the accused officer over other officers. How is that?
ChefGus/ John Olsen on April 15 at 3:48 p.m.
I took the time to read the entire “document” herein referenced .. and it is very clear and damning to say the least… the complicity and or lack of due diligence on behalf of the truth in this investigation, and the attempts to subvert justice and avoid responsibility here include the Mayor and the Entire City Council at the time… and ongoing…. I guess we might need a new jail after all to hold all of the people that are culpable here…. Our upper level governmental representatives should be absolutely ashamed of their trying to make Mr Zehm responsible for his own demise… reprehensible and stupid and going to cost the taxpayers a bundle yet again…. where is Alice?? john
Gabriele on April 15 at 4:18 p.m.
Spokanada, I think I explained already. Actually I need to update the list. Not just the FEDs but all other 3-letter offices (such as DEA, CIA etc.) in my book are good for lying, witholding or manipulating or tampering with evidence, changing or falsifying testimonies, (you name it they did it).
And if you ever had any run-ins with them, you would agree with me and no further explanation would be needed.
PlanB on April 15 at 5:05 p.m.
A ray of hope for justice…
liarsinnews on April 15 at 8:33 p.m.
Rocky Treppedi,the city attorney who counter sues anybody that files a suit against the city should be at the top of the list to send down the road. Here is a guy, Rocky Treppedi, that publicly stated that governments are required to hand out too much information and trying to persuade the AG to have the state public disclosure act changed. This guy has cost the taxpayers, as a city attorney, millions of dollars. Give him the boot. I wear my OTTO pin proudly. I feel so angry seeing the storm troopers beat the poor handicap gentleman without mercy.
koolbreez on April 15 at 9:30 p.m.
Oh, I feel sorry now for the men in blue. But I feel more sorry for all the citizens of Spokane who have to deal with these guys constantly. I drive slow, mind my own business and stay focused. It would be nice if we did not have to worry about our police harassment. My real hope is that our new Ombudsman will take control of the situation. My dad was a cop and he would say, “That’s enough.”
koolbreez on April 15 at 9:38 p.m.
And also maybe our cops better get urine samples. ooooooh. : (
PlanB on April 15 at 11:51 p.m.
Hey Thompson, it sure sucks for you that there is conclusive video evidence that contradicts your made up story. Lucky for you the constitution doesn’t allow for “cruel and unusual punishment”.
Another_Perspective on April 16 at 2:04 a.m.
Noted that the Feds are going after Thompson violating Otto’s Civil rights, and not murdering him.
Tucker should be implicated in the conspiracy to fail to bring the murderers to justice. He is just as guilty and should be swinging with the reat of the them at the end.
D Statler on April 16 at 8:58 a.m.
Tucker will never be held accountable. I witnessed his administration make a 18 month deal in a juvenillefacility to a oxycontin addict that admitted doing FIVE violent first degree home invasions. Then turn right back around and send three innocent young men that were working and going to college for 20 to 42 years. This policy of prosecuting just the cases he wants must stop.They have also shown from their own actions that they will do anything.Including lying, changing dates and times the day of trial,using false testimony of snitches to win at all costs. I am certain that Tucker will at minimum, be voted ouy in November. I am certain that Otto has been vindicated of any wrong doing that fatal night.The only thing left to do is make sure that this trajedy can never happen again in Spokane.
lewis8457 on April 16 at 9:46 a.m.
They make too damn much money to lose the job so they lie.
I wonder what happened to the allegations by the FEDS that Rocky has been prepping witnesses?
brentandrews on April 16 at 12:15 p.m.
Very good work, Clouse.
D Statler on April 16 at 9:03 p.m.
Hey Lewis, Preping witnesses is the preferred tactic at the prosecutors office.I have personally witnessed Detective Doug Marske threaten a defense witness with perjury charges if he testified.This is documented in court records and NO charges were filed against him.I guess Rocky and the boys swing both directions.By the way, the prosecutors office must not be too overworked.TWELVE deputy prosecutors showed up in judge Eitzens courtroom together to coerce her into ruling in their favor.The devil has many faces! Like I said before, Otto first,then maybe our three innocent boys can get justice next.
Patriot61 on April 17 at 2:00 p.m.
It amazes me that everyone here fails to acknowledge that Zehm only needed to do as he was told and he would have been unharmed. He refused to comply with directions and the officer believed he was dealing with an individual that posed a threat. Until you’ve been in the position of this officer and forced to make a decision in seconds with minimal information your opinons lack credibilty and are purely emotional. Inflamed by video clips and “investigative” journalism. What a croc! In a matter of seconds officers are to determine if the suspect is doped up or just mentally challenged ? “Excuse me sir are you drugged or mentally challenged?” “Believe it or not some behaviors of the mentally challenged can mimic behaviors of someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol.The force used by the SPD was not what killed Zehm. It was the events after he was restrained. The accusations that law enforcement in this community is “dirty” or “corrupt” make great reading but lacks any real legs. They perform a thankless and increasingly dangerous job that never lacks critics. Why anyone would want to place themselves in the crosshairs of the liberal media or the ever increasing number of wackos who would do them harm is not only admirable it is nothing less than courageous. They do not ask for you to stand up with them or even beside them. But while you stand behind them as they provide you with protection up to and including the possible loss of their own lives temper your vicous tongues. Instead, try, just once, to imagine yourself having to make life and death decisions in split seconds, based on limited information, knowing full well that your actions will scrutinized and second guessed by an endless number of critics. Could you? Would you? For most of you in this forum I think not. You lack the inner courage to do so. Instead you sit safely in your home and and make accusations and slander the very people that keep you safe. Sleep well and know that though you dislike them the people behind the badge are outside your home right now keeping even you safe.
Liberty_Bell on April 18 at 5:02 a.m.
That an interesting comcept patriot61;
“To do as he’s told;?”
Yea sure thing, and would that be like the Tacoma Police Chief Brame telling his wife “to do as she’s told” with the police departments assistance in his murder of Mrs. Brame?
Don’t ya just love the Ku Klux Act of 1871, exposing reality for millions in damages in corrupt cops all across the State of Confusion!
Or was it the Everett Police Officer up on a murder charge for another suspect, who refused to “do what he was told?”
And that Ku Klux Kase, filed for 15 million?
Just do as your told? Wow what a concept in a free Country, is that like the Patriots from 61 who attacked Ft. Sumner, on the 12th of April 1861, “just do as you were told: and you too can become a traitor!
The Supreme Court Opinion on using “UNLAWFUL AUTHORITY” are issued every day, in case that Washington State Constitution is still confusing after all these years!
Keeping you safe? Yea, the Klan in Action, keeping America Safe all throught the Night!
D Statler on April 18 at 8:32 a.m.
Patriot,you make a great point about split decisions.I can understand how mistakes can be made.It’s the part where seven more officers show up and let a hanicapped man suffocate that was wrong! Maybe even the part where stories were changed to try to hide negligence.Or maybe the part where the police guild sets back and lets a few bad apples make the rest smell bad. Please forgive me for being cross. I have a son that is in prison for a crime that others confessed to. I will never assist another police officer in trouble again. I might not even call in help for them.I WILL PROTECT MYSELF AND FAMILY !!!
Maybe being a PEACE officer instead of a POLICE officer is the answer here!
baskinn75 on April 18 at 9:40 a.m.
It’s too bad that it has has taken a tragedy like this for the feds to finally get involved. The SPD has had more then enough “ACCIDENTAL” and “UNEXPLAINED” deaths that have occurred in just the past ten years. Whether it occur during an arrest or while in booking, most of the incidents have been disregarded because the person may have a drug or criminal history. Truly SPD was never Voted in, there was no election made or any designation given to them for them to play GOD. When was it up to them to decide who may deserve a second chance, live or die, as if they are doing Spokane residents a favor by removing “The Scum”. When is it excusable for ANYONE to disregard that the person was a mother, father, brother, or sister. They too have friends and family that have lives now disrupted due to their absence. Everyone comes with a story, one never knows why people are in the situations they are in. Whether it be self induced or that they have become a victim of some terrible circumstance. People have forgotten that alcoholism and drug addiction is a DISEASE that can be treated. Not one of us are accepting the circumstances surrounding Zehm’s death. Why should it be any different for us if the person has a physiological handicap(chemical in balance, drug addiction) rather then a mental one. We should all be responsible for not holding The SPD responsible before now.
arroyoribera on April 19 at 11:32 p.m.
This may clarify the bit about SPD Det.Dan Torok and now-retired Internal Investigations official Jim Faddis as well as other SPD officers blogging under pseudonyms in defense of their murder of Otto Zehm and their lies in covering it up. The Blog was the Spokesman-Review’s Hard 7. The blog meister was Frank Sennett (now Time Out Chicago president and editor-in-chief). The date was late August 2007. A blogger named Dan and his tag-team buddy Kevin were actively defending the Spokane Police in a series of scandals, including the Otto Zehm murder in which Torok was a key player, Toroks killing of Jerome Alford, the violent arrest of Dan Treecraft at the Alberto Gonzalez protest, and the FBI/SPD/Spokane Sheriff’s office operation against 17 youth in Riverfront Park on July 4, 2007. Also participating in the blogging was Officer JD Russell. Suddenly in one string of exchanges involving “Dan”, “Kevin”, Frank Sennett, myself, Chef Gus (John Olson), and others. In a very long and interesting exchange, Sennett confronted “Dan” who was forced to publicly came clean as being Officer Torok. “Kevin” also was outed as being the SPD’s Jim Faddis. Questions were raised and continue to be raised about Torok and Faddis blogging while on duty. Clearly, as the grand jury and other information is revealing, they had an official cover-up to carry out so perhaps that is how they and their superiors justified the activity. When Frank Sennett left Spokane for Chicago in late 2007, the Hard 7 blog was shut down and with it the public record of many hard-hitting, direct and open engagements between undercover police and citizens were removed from the Spokesman-Review. On Jan 4, 2008, SR and 7 editor Ken Paulman wrote and promised, “This unfortunately means all of the archived comments aren’t visible, but we’ll see about getting them back online soon.” http://old.spokane7.com/blogs/hard7/archive.asp?mon=Jan2008 To my knowledge Paulman and the S-R have not kept that promise. This should be a demand of the blogging community and the larger community since the S-R is and pretends to be the paper of record for Spokane. These exchanges — which reveal the attitudes of arrogance, defiance, and impunity expressed by Torok, Faddis, the Spokane Police Guild, and the Spokane Police Department as much as any other available evidence — are crucial parts of the public record, given that on March 24, 2007, just 5 months before being outed at Hard 7, Torok had killed another innocent Spokanite, Jerome Alford, in an obscure part of town with no witnesses (with a very suspect cover story by Torok about being punched in the face and therefore shooting Alford in self-defense) and given that another of the Zehm murderers, Jason Uberagua, went on to lose his position on a federal drug task force after allegedly raping a woman after a bar scene with Spokane Sheriff”s deputies in the Spokane Valley on October 11, 2007. Can we get a witness from the S-R? Replace the comment history from Frank Sennett’s Hard 7 blog. David Brookbank http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/torok-a-troubling-choic
Hcklbery on April 21 at 12:06 p.m.
House cleaning time;
The whole of the leaders of the police dept need to be “retired” and fresh blood brought in.
Ron_the_Cop on April 21 at 2:04 p.m.
Folks may be interested in my post in the more recent thread re the federal judge not throwing out the false statements charges against Ofc. Thompson:
To All:
As I said up thread my opinion re Zehm et al is changing re the changing police statements now coming to light in the Zehm case since the feds are now doing their job and used a grand jury to compel testimony under oath.
If folks are concerned about the “cover up” of Zehm’s death, they should be much more concerned about the death of Jo Savage that was also “covered up” by law enforcement all the way to the WA AG’s Office. The Savage death cover up is much more troubling as there is a ticking time bomb/deathtrap that City Elected/Administration are refusing to deal with. They are burying their heads in the sand.
Why didn’t the feds do their job in these other cases? The S-R has failed and actually mislead the readers on these other important issues. Why?
As I mentioned in an answer to another commenter in another thread:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/apr/14/police-union-has-no-confidence-kirkpatrick/?comments#c141541
“With regard to your other question you might want to read the comment I just posted in the other thread. It may give you some of my insight as to where the solutions lie. Sorry but I don’t have more time to answer more specifically as I have to teach tonight in my college class, “Community Oriented Policing”:-)
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/apr/15/union-says-members-lack-faith-in-police-chief/?comments#c141505
This is a very difficult walk to walk to restore the trust in the police department. I do sympathize with the rank and file of the PD but there are significant issues with City management that must be first addressed/fixed before meaningful change can occur with police management/leadership.
Also I wouldn’t be too hard on Tim Burns, the new police ombudsman, yet. I met with him several times and find him to be very sincere and willing to heal the division between the police/community. The question is whether the “powers that be” will allow him to be that broker of meaningful change/transparency?”
The issues with the police department are only symptomatic of the deeply rooted corruption of Spokane City Government. Until this corruption is excised, issues with the police department will only continue.
As for Chief Kirkpatrick she can no longer be an effective leader as long as she’s actively in the running for other positions. She’s beginning to remind me of “ticket punchers” in Vietnam. She may be well intentioned but lacks substance in critical areas of police management. There are similarities with how Obama perhaps rose too a [sic] quickly to a position of great responsibility without gaining sufficient administrative experience first.
As an Letter to the Editor suggested today she should be given several months to find another job, if she’s using Spokane as a stepping stone for another position. This is not fair to the men and women of Spokane PD nor its citizens/taxpayers.
As I concluded in my recently completed RICO case:
“This is the very corrosive impact organized crime has on government. In my 35-year career as a criminal investigator, this is certainly one of the most blatantly criminal enterprises I have ever encountered. It’s hard to find words to adequately describe it. This is no appeasing of organized crime. It must be thoroughly destroyed.”
Read more here:
RPS Bond Frauds and Jo Savage Manslaughter RICO Case
http://tinyurl.com/26mjhvv
Table of Evidence
http://tinyurl.com/ybgkjqe
Of course do read the latest pieces by award winning investigation reporter Larry Shook at:
www.larryshook.com
American Serbia
Fire and Fraud in Spokane
Det. Ron Wright (Retired)
Past two-term President Riverside Police Officers’ Assn.
Riverside PD, CA
Now retired in Spokane by choice for all it’s fine attributes except for its government.