February 11, 2011 in Outdoors, City

Detective charged with obstructing state wildlife officer

Thomas Clouse The Spokesman-Review

Tags:huntingoutdoorsSpokane Policewildlife

A Spokane Police detective has been placed on administrative leave after he was charged with obstructing a Fish and Wildlife law enforcement officer.

Detective Jeff Harvey, 46, who is vice president of the Spokane Police Guild, was charged with the misdemeanor offense last week in connection with a January incident in which it’s alleged he “did willfully hinder, delay and obstruct” an investigation into illegal hunting.

Capt. Mike Whorton, of the Region 1 office of the state Fish and Wildlife Police, said he could not comment beyond what was in the report.

“This is one individual. It certainly doesn’t reflect on the professionalism of the Spokane Police Department,” he said. “They are working with us on the case.”

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said she placed Harvey on paid administrative leave at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“We will be thorough and complete in our investigation,” Kirkpatrick said. “He will remain on paid administrative leave for as long as it takes to do the internal investigation. The criminal matter needs to be handled independently of us.”

Harvey could not be reached for comment.

The charge stems from an encounter Harvey had with Fish and Wildlife Officer Dave Spurbeck, who responded Jan. 22 to a citizen report of youths shooting after legal hours on Peone Road near Deadman Creek north of Spokane.

While Spurbeck was en route to the area, he called the person who made the initial call and asked that person to get the license plate number of the 2001 Dodge pickup that had come to pick up the youths. The plate was registered to Harvey.

Spurbeck caught up to the Dodge and made a traffic stop on State Route 206 near the intersection of Forker Road.

“Before I could shift my vehicle into park, the driver’s side door opened and a male subject exited the vehicle and started walking back to my patrol vehicle. The driver said something similar to ‘What is going on,’ ” Spurbeck wrote in his report.

Harvey quickly denied that he or any of the youths in his truck had fired shots after hours.

“The subject was very argumentative and would not let me finish talking before he started interrupting me,” Spurbeck wrote of Harvey.

After denying several times that any of the youths fired shots, Harvey refused to allow Spurbeck to ask them any questions. Harvey then stood in Spurbeck’s path, keeping him from approaching the youths who remained in the Dodge, according to the court record.

“As the subject arrived at the door, I put both my hands on his bicep and told him that he needed to get behind the pickup. The subject told me to get my hands off of him. I maneuvered his arm into the goose-neck escort hold,” Spurbeck wrote. “Once I had the goose-neck hold applied, he said, ‘What are you doing? You don’t have a right to touch me!’ ”

Spurbeck then told Harvey that if he didn’t follow instructions that he would be taken to jail.

“Again in a raised voice, the subject said that he wasn’t obstructing, and that he knew what obstructing was,” Spurbeck wrote. “I said other law enforcement officers would have taken him to jail by now. The subject started to comply so I released him from the goose-neck hold.”

Spurbeck then spoke to the youths and two of them admitted to shooting at 4:45 p.m., five minutes after legal shooting hours had ended.

Spurbeck returned to Harvey and asked if he had a concealed weapons permit for the pistols in the truck. Harvey said he didn’t need one and then pointed to a card in his wallet that identified him as an SPD detective.

“I looked at Harvey and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ I was shocked that a police officer would treat another officer the way he had treated me,” Spurbeck wrote. “I asked him why he didn’t identify himself as a police officer. He said something like he couldn’t because of the way things were in the department right now.”

After other law enforcement officers arrived, Spurbeck talked with the youths and showed them a pamphlet that contained hunting rules.

“I told them I was very happy to see them out hunting,” Spurbeck wrote. “I told the boys that I was not interested in writing them any tickets, and that it is great to see young hunters.”

Harvey, too, came over and shook Spurbeck’s hand and said he was sorry for escalating the situation, according to court records.

“In almost ten years of law enforcement, I … only had to go ‘hands on’ one other time,” Spurbeck wrote. “I feel the way Harvey acted was completely out of line for any citizen, let alone a fellow police officer.”

23 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

PhiltheBibliophil on February 11 at 1:10 a.m.
The Fish and Wildlife Officer is lucky to be alive!
Orphan on February 11 at 5:38 a.m.
Were the kids target shooting or hunting.
Harvey lied to an Officer that is a crime.
Were the pistols loaded and if so were did the kids have access to them, another crime.
If he was a citizen he would be charged with resisting an Officer an other crime.
This is the VP of the Police Guild with an attitude like this there is little wonder why the patrol officers have the attitudes they have leadership examples come from the top.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 11 at 5:54 a.m.
The comment stream on this topic has again been “edited out” and begins anew …. why oh why do the first postings on an article of some fair interest and effort by the bloggers get “deleted” effectively by just reposting the article as a new string?
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/feb/10/spd-detective-charged-obstructing-investigation/
take a look… j
misjustice on February 11 at 7:54 a.m.
Just wondering??????? If ALL officers are alike and corrupt as most of you believe, then who stepped up and reported this man? Seems to me there are good officers out there too.
Also, the woman that called in said they were shooting “after dark”. The story said 5 minutes after dark. Do we actually know when “dark” is? Do we carry around a sunrise/sunset calender saying the sun goes down at ??:08 pm so I better not be shooting after ??:03 pm?
Just saying…………. What the officer did wasn’t right, but I think he shouldn’t have been stopped in the first place IMHO.
hawken on February 11 at 7:56 a.m.
Gus,,,, I totally agree. This frustrates me every time the SR does it. In my view, it shows a lack of regard for all whom have stated an opinion on civic matters.
DickAdams on February 11 at 8:15 a.m.
I`d like to know who is not frustrated with the Spokesman?
lewis8457 on February 11 at 8:22 a.m.
Gramma the person that turned this in was the game warden office, sent it to our county prosecutor and they filed charges which in itself is a miracle.
So the game warden was the cop here so no one at SPD can carry your victory crown.
Who is to say the boys shooting after hours isn’t a normal thing? who is to say the person that called in already had a few run ins with Harvey, and felt threatened?
If he acted that way to a fellow police officer imagine his reaction to a common homeowner complaining about his boys repeatably breaking the law?
toliveanddieinla on February 11 at 8:30 a.m.
can you say corrupt and above the law we need to fix this or we all will be looking over are shoulders cops=scum and p.s. i dont wanna hear cop lovers here i sick of them need to cleanup this police force and get rid of retarded prosecuter tucker ty have a nice day
horse_feathers on February 11 at 9:06 a.m.
Harvey has been on paid leave before, he knows the drill.
He broke a mans arm in the late 80’s while on duty and spent several months on leave before being brought back by the then newly hired Police Cheif Terry Mangun who said at the time that Harvey made a young rookie mistake and should be given a 2nd chance.
How’s that 2nd chance working for you now SPD?
D Statler on February 11 at 9:10 a.m.
OZZIE firing officers, Tucker filing charges against the VP of the GUILD !! Did I wake up this morning or am I dreaming still? It appears somebody at the Commissioners office made a phone call and said enough is enough. Just the same, Thankyou to the powers that be for taking the first steps to restoring faith in our Forces. :^)
bszottlinger on February 11 at 9:52 a.m.
horse feathers:
That’s one, but my sources tell me there are more, and those would make you wonder, as I’m sure you do, if the reports he files are truthful. I understand he is one of the founding members of what has been referred to as the “Cowboy Clique”. Kirkpatrick is very aware of these guys, just doesn’t know how to handle them. I just hope she does it right this time but I’m not holding my breath. The sad thing is that a few of the younger officers look up to these guys, and that is killing the police department, makes for a great story but doesn’t say much for the town.
TheRoyLarsen on February 11 at 10:01 a.m.
Run for your lives…..
bszottlinger on February 11 at 10:06 a.m.
And with that Your Honor, I rest my case!
Kivaari on February 11 at 10:26 a.m.
After reading this case report, and presuming the game officer is truthful, this detective would be lucky to just lose rank and two weeks pay. Stupid behavior. It will be good to see this detective face some justice. Even if he gets a deferred sentence, lost pay and demotion, it will send a message. One of the biggest problem with Spokane citizens is they do not seem to report bad behavior. If you are a witness to bad driving, excessive force, verbal abuse then you need to report the incident. Not on the SR blog site. When I was an officer I reported other officers (I “wrote them up”). It doesn’t make friends with your co-workers and can come around and hurt a career. But, it is the right thing to do.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 12:29 p.m.
Kivaari Did you ever figure people might be scared to complain about the cops? After all police word in Spokane is golden, and in their eyes we are all dirt bags.
So whom do we complain too? The WSP? Mayor? Sheriff? SPD? Each one of these agencies has failed the people of Spokane more then once. Are we supposed to blindly just cast all that aside and think they care?
Sorry Kivaari this is Spokane we can complain to the SPD they will throw it out then we go to Tim Burns he will work hard for us and go to the police they will close the door in his face. Case closed.
I am happy to see the police special training of lying at will and keeping a straight face is coming along nicely. According to the document SR posted Harvey lied through his teeth the whole time even the ages of his kids and where he lived.
Silly me always thought special training meant tactical training and hostage negotiation training, special stuff like that. I guess that stuff is only on TV.
Kivaari on February 11 at 1:03 p.m.
Lewis, I say BS. You complain to the chief or sheriff of the agency. If no one complains, nothing changes. I complained to the WA game department, the WSP, and several local agencies. In each case I was satisfied with the results of the investigation. It did lead to discipline and transfers. I had family members complain to me about other agencies. In one I told them to call dispatch and ask to speak to the shift commander. He did, and it did result in disciplinary action against a racing deputy. So when you tell me you can’t complain, I say bunk. I know how the system works, and it does work, most of the time. Next time you see hot rodding cops, call the non-emergency dispatch number and speak to the watch commander. Send a letter to the chief. If you are not satisfied with the response contact the appropriate council.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 3:18 p.m.
well i will certainly try that next time i know calling crime check is a waste of time.
Thayne on February 11 at 4:03 p.m.
kivarri, recently there was a Sheriff’s deputy that was found not guilty of police brutality even though there were numerous complaints from different witnesses. Over the last few years cops have been caught driving drunk in a police car, obtaining the services of prostitutes while on duty (in their cruiser) , shot a man with their service revolver, while drunk (not on duty), I could list many other things like Otto Zhem, Mr. Creach and the gentleman needing help, who was tasered instead and fell to his death. For a relatively small community we have had an inordinate amount of very questionable police incidents. Most of the citizens are getting tired of seeing bad cops not held accountable for their actions. It just makes the job of the good cops that much harder. I believe it’s a combination of poor leadership, training and recruiting.
Kivaari on February 11 at 4:46 p.m.
You listed cases where you have some concern, but what was the outcome? Were on-duty officer(s) driving government cars arrested for DUI? Were they punished? Was the officer(s) using a prostitute punished? Pete was shot by an off-duty SPD officer with a service pistol (semi-auto), he was forced to quit, was tried and found NOT guilty by a jury. Zehm was a serious screw up and I hope justice can be served. Creach caused his own death. I don’t know enough about the TASER/suicide case to comment. Training seems to be fine. It is implementation. In the cases involving on-duty DUI and prostitutes, I believe all of those officers were fired. I haven’t seen anything about it in several years. I can remember a WA governor getting caught behind an Olympia tavern in a state car license WSP 1, with an underaged girl. He didn’t get into much trouble either.
Kivaari on February 11 at 4:49 p.m.
Did the JURY find the deputy NOT GUILTY or did the sheriff let him off? If a jury came to that verdict, why is it a police problem? Maybe the charges were unfounded or not bad enough to convince a civilian review board (jury) of wrong doing. It seems like the state or feds didn’t make their case.
lewis8457 on February 11 at 7:08 p.m.
Kivaari the point is nothing happened to these officers they are still alive and well and working for us down at the old SPD. They don’t go to court, OK some do ( I guess I can’t remember any) but not the ones who kill people, and isn’t that the ultimate sacrifice?
Is it too much to expect their actions to be judged by a jury of their peers like the rest of us? Or are they above the law and death really means nothing to them as long as it is not their own?
Don’t play your question games here like you need information look it up. Research every incident Thayne speaks of and get back to us. Other wise drop the oh your telling stories prove it to me bit. It gets old, it is documented besides bits has been playing that game since he figured out how to type more then 10 words at once..
Kivaari on February 12 at 7:13 p.m.
Lewis, If Thayne brings up those cases he should give some of us late coming folks some background. I didn’t follow Spokane news much until August. Doing research for obscure cases is to time consumptive. Especially since I never raised the issues of DUI cops and visiting prostitutes on duty. I would be all in favor of firing any cop found driving drunk on duty. Or firing any of them visiting a prostitute on or off duty. The cops that shot and killed people recently are working because they didn’t break the law or SOP. Why break their rice bowl for doing their jobs? If they violate the law then they should be fired, tried and let the jury decide. But they need to be guilty of a crime and not your anger or distrust of them. If I was an employer and a janitor showed up drunk, I’d fire them as well. I don’t care who you are, if you come to work drunk or reeking of booze or pot, you’re out the door. And don’t try driving away since I’d call the cops as well.
lewis8457 on February 12 at 11:45 p.m.
how did your rant turn into janitors going to work drunk? I don’t even drink. I get it you hate janitors. Kind of silly to hate all janitors just because you don’t like me isn’t it? Kind of how I supposedly hate all cops just because I don’t like a few?
Maybe if you did some research and were on the same page as the rest of us you would understand why shooting a guy 3 times in the chest with a rock in his hand tends to upset us to say the least.
I suggest instead of calling us out you go back and read up on the SPD and Sheriff from say 1993 to present.