February 10, 2011 in News, City

Spokane sheriff’s deputy fired for bad behavior

Chelsea Bannach The Spokesman-Review

Tags:Deputy Travis Smithmalicious mischiefOzzie KnezovichSpokane County Sheriff’s Office

A Spokane County sheriff’s deputy was fired Jan. 24 after multiple investigations into allegations of criminal misconduct and poor work performance revealed a pattern of bad behavior.

“If you’re a law enforcement officer, you shouldn’t be committing crimes,” said Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

The latest internal investigation of former Deputy Travis Smith’s behavior began last year after Smith stuck a knife into someone’s seat while searching their vehicle.

He had initiated a routine traffic stop and, after finding some marijuana, obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and seized it. A search the next day turned up brass knuckles with a three- to four-inch knife blade attached and a bandana with a swastika on it.

Smith pierced the bandana on the antenna and stuck the knife blade in the passenger seat.

“That’s committing two crimes in uniform,” Knezovich said. “You don’t get to do that. That’s a huge break in public trust.”

Smith admitted responsibility for damaging the property and said he did it because he thought it was “funny,” according to a sheriff’s office internal memo.

The victim did not want to press charges for the two counts of third-degree malicious mischief.

Smith was also fired for failing to write complete reports, “which reflects a pattern of behavior,” the memo said. Three complaints were filed against Smith in just four months, Knezovich said.

In 2010, three sheriff’s office employees were fired and six resigned in lieu of termination. So far this year, Smith has been fired and one person has resigned in lieu of termination.

Last year there were 74 complaints filed in the sheriff’s office, which has 578 employees working in law enforcement and at the Spokane County Jail and Geiger Corrections Center. Of those complaints, more than half were generated internally. After investigations, 44 of the complaints were dismissed.

“If you’re working for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and you have this type of behavior, you won’t work for us,” he said. “I won’t tolerate it.”

22 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Cheezwhiz on February 10 at 9:20 p.m.
Wow! The Sheriff is finally going to get tough? Clean up the pig sty? Good start, but it needs a lot more than this.
lewis8457 on February 10 at 9:43 p.m.
Sure but the vinyl wearing cop who shot a preacher at 4 feet away is still on the job.
Ozzie can try but he has a union to fight. He is in the same fight KirkPatrick was in before she woke up…a losing one.
They are both are puppets nothing more nothing less.
I will give him credit for trying but when your in a stinking sec pool, the only thing you can do is jump ship, before it takes him down too.
Cheezwhiz on February 10 at 9:52 p.m.
Lewis, I often wonder if the Union is as powerful as the cops and media try to make them seem. I think the cops are using the Union as a tool for their corruption. If a cop breaks the law, there shouldn’t be any union strong enough to fight the firing of that criminal. I am pretty sure Ozzy has much more power than the Union. Tucker and Kirkpatrick too.
lewis8457 on February 10 at 10:30 p.m.
Cheezwhiz if so we haven’t seen it yet.
Remember back a few years the cop who had sex in his squad car and got fired but the union hired a moderator and they made SPD hire him back a year later?
After Jay Olsen shot Shonto and left him for dead he never called 911 but he did call the guild president.
And the list goes on……..
ericdx on February 10 at 11:08 p.m.
He will just go get a job for SPD. He will fit right in there…
rpmarp on February 10 at 11:09 p.m.
Lewis, I’m wondering if maybe you mean a mediator. Why don’t you hold off on further comments until you take a refresher course in English?
BitofBacon on February 10 at 11:13 p.m.
bob m- I think you’re being kind of rough on Lewis. It was a truly fascinating conversation between him and Cheezwhiz for awhile.
Scoutster on February 11 at 1:25 a.m.
BitofBacon….
I’d like you and other cops to comment honestly about the Guild and their power and responsibility. If you have a mind to…
Thanks.
Diana on February 11 at 6:40 a.m.
bob m, perhaps if you look up the definitions of mediator and moderator, you will note that they mean essentially the same thing.
It is you who needs a refresher course in English.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 7:19 a.m.
bob it doesn’t matter what word i used the cop got his job back because of the union that is the conversation here will you join in or just throw mud like all the other cops?
lewis8457 on February 11 at 7:26 a.m.
Scoutster the silence is deafening isn’t it.
Bits er Dan I notice all of our cop related killings were done by men. maybe we should fire all the men off the police force and hire only women.
BitofBacon on February 11 at 7:48 a.m.
Scoutster-I’m not a cop.
BitofBacon on February 11 at 7:49 a.m.
Lewis-you’d better research that last comment a little better. I think you’ll find different.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 8:47 a.m.
Bits, really why don’t you enlighten me?
Cheezwhiz on February 11 at 9:55 a.m.
Lewis, I think he may be talking about Eagle Michael, who was a deaf Native boy, who had a learning disability. He was armed with a BB gun. Killed by a female.
Typical of BitofChicken… He comes in to make his one or two squawks of attack and then runs off, without giving a scrap of information or any substance. He gets off on stirring the pot and is totally useless for providing any solutions or information.
Basically he sits on a fence post, clucks, crows, and interrupts any meaningful conversation, and then runs away to do the same thing somewhere else. Really not much good for anything, till you pluck his feathers and throw him in a pot for one meal, and even then he’s tasteless and very hard to choke down.
Cheezwhiz on February 11 at 10:15 a.m.
Oops, I forgot to mention that Eagle Michael was blind too. Killed by a female SPD cop.
September 27, 2003 — (quote) Fifteen-year-old Couer d’Alene Tribe member Eagle Michael was shot dead by Spokane Police Officer Michelle Madsen. The Officer alleged that Eagle Michael pointed his BB gun at her. Per published reports, Eagle Michael attended the Idaho School for the Deaf & Blind and was wearing a hearing aid when he was shot. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=092903&ID=s1417811
BitofBacon on February 11 at 12:38 p.m.
Yep, that’s what I’m here for-my own amusement. Besides, why do the work when I can get someone else worked up about and find it for Lewis?
BitofBacon on February 11 at 12:42 p.m.
By the way, I read the article and didn’t see where it mentioned anything about him being blind, just hearing impaired. Perhaps you would like to find that for me, too. Or not, I don’t really care.
Cheezwhiz on February 11 at 12:56 p.m.
Well BucketofChicken, you’re saying that you’re lazy too? I agree.
BitofBacon on February 11 at 1:03 p.m.
Not lazy, just smart. Get to work. Show me where he was blind.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 3:31 p.m.
Bits-o-chicken smart? you never say anything with meaning just the usual sarcasm it just shows how ignorant you really are.
I take it back the SPD women cops are most likely bad eggs too. There happy with yourself?
So I guess all we can do is fire all the officers at the SPD and replace them with game wardens. You see I don’t hunt and own acreage so I love game wardens.
arroyoribera on February 13 at 12:29 a.m.
The article quotes Knezovich as saying, “If you’re working for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and you have this type of behavior, you won’t work for us,” …“I won’t tolerate it.”
That is far from clear from the facts of the case and the history of the Sheriff’s office.
The article states that there were 3 complaints in 4 months. Presumably this did not include the final two violations prior to firing.
It sounds like “I won’t tolerate it” needs to be defined more precisely. This deputy had “this type of behavior” and was in the field interacting with Spokane area citizens for several months despite the Sheriff’s knowledge that he had “this type of behavior”.
Every arrest this deputy was involved in should be scrutinized for misconduct, coercion, lying, false reporting, and evidence tampering, etc. An outside agency — preferably the Washington State Patrol — should immediately review the situation to avoid any conflict and surprise down the road, not to mention miscarriages of justice.
It would also be interesting to hear what the FBI has told the Sheriff, who indicated along with Chief Kirkpatrick at the Spokane City Hall forum this past week that they routinely consult with the FBI on matters of importance.
Hopefully the Spokesman (and if not the Spokesman, The Inlander or KYRS) will follow up and provide more details on the previous complaints against this deputy.
Following the still bitterly controversial killing of Pastor Creech, this is a further example in a long list of examples of why independent civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s operation is urgently needed.
Perhaps if Sheriff Knezovich were on the job and not doing extensive PR and politicking in the community on behalf of his Medical Lake Jail complex (a 1/4 billion dollar to 1/2 billion dollar boondoogle depending on which version of the numbers one looks at) and other matters, it would not take him 4 months to fire a rogue, corrupt cop and perhaps he would be aware when he has deputies engaged in unreported and controversial off-duty employment (such as the killer of Pastor Creech). Questions have been raised about the conduct and associations of deputies in the past that have apparently been resolved “in house” when closer public scrutiny would be to the benefit of all, for example, the Jason Uberuaga incident in October 2007. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=12094
The community would welcome Knezovich’s statement of voluntary acceptance of community oversight. Such an act of civic-mindedness would be worthy of another star to add to those he so proudly wears on his Sheriff’s uniform.