Spokane7
65°
February 20, 2011 in City
Police chief, sheriff open to jury inquests
No ‘political will’ among leaders, Kirkpatrick says
Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick endorses conducting jury inquests into cases where someone dies while in contact with law enforcement, but she cautions, “Our politics in this community does not.”
Kirkpatrick first voiced support for the inquests at a city-sponsored public forum on violence and became the first law enforcement official to endorse the idea since Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker in 2006.
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich on Friday said he also supports inquests.
“It’s just another avenue for fact-finding,” Knezovich said. “I don’t have any issues with fact-finding.”
County medical examiners Sally Aiken and John Howard, who are charged with calling the inquests if they see fit, say they have no need for regular inquests. A bill proposed in the state Legislature, Senate Bill 5270, would allow county prosecutors to recommend that coroners or medical examiners call the inquests. Knezovich said he supports the bill.
“It’d be a way to make sure the public can have a little bit more of an idea with what goes on inside these investigations,” Knezovich said. “I don’t know why we don’t use (inquests.)”
Inquests are quasi-judicial hearings where six jurors hear medical evidence about a death and witnesses testify about the circumstances surrounding the event. King County generally conducts them in every fatal police shooting. Montana requires them for all deaths in law enforcement custody. Spokane County last conducted one in 1981.
“The decision-maker(s) in this case as to whether Spokane would use an inquest system have declined to do so, so far,” Kirkpatrick wrote in an e-mail. “That is the political will at this time.”
Attorney Breean Beggs, an advocate of inquests, said the results of the probe into the shooting of woodcarver John T. Williams by Seattle police Officer Ian Birk shows how well they work.
“They did a coroner’s inquest and the jury made some findings,” Beggs said. “The result of that was that he was not being charged criminally, but he was removed from his job. The answer was so much quicker instead of the community agonizing over each event over a matter of years.”
Beggs said that if local officials had called an inquest into the 2006 death of Otto Zehm, the question of whether Spokane police were justified in their actions would already be answered. The case is currently set for trial.
“If you don’t use coroner inquests then you are depending solely on one person, the elected prosecutor, who most of the time is depending on these law enforcement officers to assist him in prosecutions,” Beggs said. “There is a perception from the public that he may or may not be fair. If you have a coroner inquest, you take that whole piece out of it.”
Beggs was in attendance when Kirkpatrick made her comment in support of inquests.
Kirkpatrick expanded that comment this week: “I support the inquest system because it allows for a jury of peers (the community) to weigh in on the evidence of a case. It is a very transparent system,” she wrote in the e-mail. “Under the current system, the public has total access to an entire case once it is forwarded to the Prosecutor’s office. Both systems give complete access of the records.”
Beggs said he is glad Kirkpatrick supports the concept.
“I haven’t heard anyone else in law enforcement or the prosecutor’s office say that it is a bad idea,” he said. “But who had the political juice to do it?”
Beggs believes the answer lies in the Spokane County Commission. In King County, commissioners passed an ordinance allowing for the county executive to call inquests if recommended by prosecutors. The county typically holds inquests into officer-involved shootings; a lawyer for the family of the deceased is allowed to participate.
Howard said a couple of months ago that he only supports inquests – which he has presided over in Pierce County – when such a hearing would assist in finding the cause of someone’s death, which he said is rarely in doubt.
But Beggs said the purpose of most coroner inquests is to determine the circumstances surrounding a death.
“That’s better suited to a jury based on our democratic form of government,” he said. “They hear all the evidence and decide what likely happened.”
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
FreeMeat on February 20 at 1:34 a.m.
Jury Inquiries would ruin the spokane police dept. I dont beleive for 1 minute that Sherrif Ozzie supports that. He has to say that. Here is how our police dept works. They do what they want!! Shoot you if they feel like it!! Go to Dempseys after work and Drink and BS about it all, maybe shoot you and say you were stealing their car. Then when something happens or somebody gets shot or killed they circle the wagons and protect their own at all costs!!
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 20 at 6:54 a.m.
Free…. I do NOT think that there are many off duty police officers “Drinking at Dempsey’s” It just is not cool to be “out” as a Police Officer, as the Olson case showed us… ( that is part of his justification for shooting Shonto Pete”)
When all three of the top enforcement officers say they are “For It” ie Police Chief, Sheriff and even the feckless prosecutor… as well as a LARGE contingent of responsible citizens.. then it should happen as a matter of course. If the County Commissioners are the ones on the dime and in the spot light then we simply need to ask them to step up and give the citizens this tool for reassurance that things will be investigated. Perhaps even the Ombudsman could recommend use of an Inquest as a result of incomplete investigations.
An Email from those of us who think the King County, or even the Montana method is proper and in the community interests would bring better light on this dark corner of our community. They’ll be getting one from me for sure…. John Olsen
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 20 at 7:10 a.m.
Just finished the Email Letter to the politicians in charge… see below:
Greetings all,
I read with great interest the article on “Inquests” this morning in the review… and feel it is time for those who can act to step up to the plate and help heal this rift between our wonderful police officers and sheriffs and the citizens of this Spokane Basin. Having in place a method to examine more fully or re examine any and all cases of death while in custody or being taken into custody is in my view an essential piece of the sad puzzle that is not being solved by our community political leaders.
I have frequent contact with our wonderful officers, and they deserve too the reassurance that if there is a question about an actionable item that it will be given full light and exonerate them in public if appropriate…
“Resolving” OIS and in custody deaths behind closed doors will not work any longer… because even if the officer is exonerated ( as in the Pastor Creach death).. the fact that it was not in the open for all to see leaves a pall on the officer involved. Many of us are fully on the side of the officers… and not having all of the facts in the open leaves the deep dark “Perception” of malfeasance and breeds mistrust ….
Find below a link to the article and to ongoing public comment if you care to follow it… at least read the article for us? best regards Dr John A Olsen Shalom Ministries
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/feb/20/police-chief-sheriff-open-to-jury-inquests/?c=263067&comments=1#c263067
—
ChefGus Olsen
Spokane Wa 99218
509 220 4534
lewis8457 on February 20 at 8:21 a.m.
“County medical examiners Sally Aiken and John Howard, who are charged with calling the inquests if they see fit, say they have no need for regular inquests”.
Sounds like the powers that be think the current system is working just fine. Just as long as it is not one of them them or a family member the SPD kills next time.
This came up several months ago and what happened…..Nothing.
Same thing will happen this time they are just blowing smoke.
remember last year when Otto’s trial was coming up and the city council was all concerned about getting the police ombudsman more powers? Then the Otto trial was postponed again and the city council dropped the ombudsman issue like a hot potato.
They have no desire to find the truth they just want us to believe they care.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 8:37 a.m.
Mr. Clouse and Staff Writers:
Very good article. I would like to make one important correction. The inquest system in King County and other areas of the country is “directed” not by an assistant DA, rather by a Judge, generally at a level where the judges hear murder cases. The reason this is important is because the process must NOT be controlled by the prosecutor, nor the counsel representing the family. The process must be an independent review of the evidence allowing an opportunity for the facts to come out in a way they are examined by both parties. There is case law in the State of Washington regarding the use of Judges to direct inquest proceedings without fear of evidence issues during a later trial.
I have advocated for the Inquest Proceeding in OIDs on this blog for quite some time and it is nice to see that some of the law enforcement leadership have paid attention and are at least open to the process.
I will reiterate, that the Medical Examiner has absolutely no say in this matter. As a matter of fact the County Commissioners could have directed the ME to have an inquest in any of the recent cases. The only reason I can think of that the ME would not be in favor of the system is that they envision it would be more work for them, and may call public attention to their own work. The implementation of a legitimate Inquest Process is entirely up to the three elected County Commissioners.
As I have pointed out previously, although the investigation into OIDs, is to an extent, controlled by the Police Unions, the Inquest Process would not be, nor would it be subject to issues of “ a change in working conditions” or any other union issues, as would a Citizens Review Panel or extended powers for the Ombudsman.
I whole heartily believe the process would be a win/win for law enforcement and the community. I feel that if this process were put in place we would see far better OID investigations simply because there would be public scrutiny of the case from the various perspectives. The County Commissioners can continue to hide as they have been regarding the recent OIDs or they can do the right thing, it is up to them. As I have stated before, in the end, an inquest process would be cost effective.
My only concern is that leadership will not take the steps necessary to establish an effective system. Great care must be taken to research and develop an inquest process that first and foremost informs the community, and at the same time sets a standard for fair and balanced independent review. In other words Commissioners, if you do understand the problems in Spokane County and you do want to truly represent the community as you were elected to do, then get some help with this and obtain not only expertise and experience from outside, but also include county citizens and taxpayers in the development and implementation process.
Chief Kirkpatrick and Sheriff Kenzovich, I give credit where it is due, you are absolutely right on this one. Mr. Tucker, I realize you don’t want your office subject to the public scrutiny involved in this process but it is about time you started to take the community into consideration and get on board with the Chief and Sheriff.
D Statler on February 20 at 9:08 a.m.
Actually this idea of a Corroner led inquest could well be the answer to mending the public trust fences. After reading over the Dodd findings.The Corroner seemed to state just the facts involved with the deceased. Making it somewhat easy to distinguish if the information collected is in line with the so-called officially released story. I too am fully behind and support this idea of giving the Corroners the ability to call an inquest and review.
As far as our “politics in Spokane not supporting this”. This is exactly the kind of political statements that we have come to expect lately.Along with not giving the Ombudsman authority to reprimand or stronger powers to investigate.The Chief leaves the atmosphere fertile grounds for public mistrust.The State’s prosecutors seem to be firmly embedded with the Judiciary branch of the Senate.SB5270 doesn’t go far enough to keeping the Prosecutors office honest.Any law changes that will keep them honest will most assuredly be killed on the floor. I am firmly behind a strong prosecutors office that is run correctly.Unfortunately, the prosecutors have created the need for these inquests,reviews and new legislation being introduced to stop prosecutorial miscunduct. With no checks and balances,we seem to be seeing more and more of this behavior. I hope our Commissioners will get behind this inquiry motion.Maybe it can lead to other checks and balances as well. ThankYou
Kivaari on February 20 at 9:23 a.m.
Didn’t the article say Tucker was on board since 2006? It would take heat off of his office. It’s a good idea to have these public hearings. I think in the end it will rarely show anything other then the cops acted in good faith and within the law. The only case that I remember that would have had value is the Zehm case. In the last year nothing I have seen is out of line with standards.
Elkay on February 20 at 9:25 a.m.
The following statement, along with the lagging time factor, is enough for me to fully support coroner inquests:
“If you don’t use coroner inquests then you are depending solely on one person, the elected prosecutor, who most of the time is depending on these law enforcement officers to assist him in prosecutions,” Beggs said. “There is a perception from the public that he may or may not be fair. If you have a coroner inquest, you take that whole piece out of it.”
bszottlinger on February 20 at 9:42 a.m.
Kivaari:
The only thing Mr.Tucker( said he did any way) with respect to inquests was in 2006 regarding Zehm, was contact the ME and ask if she wanted to have an inquest. According to him she said NO. Well, it wasn’t up to her then and it isn’t now. He has a JD so he must have known that then, and I know he knows it now. Keep in mind Mr.Tucker didn’t even see fit to show up at the meeting discussed in this piece.
The fact that you don’t see anything out of line in the last year doesn’t surprise me. I think it would be pretty hard to find anything you would feel was “out of line” when it comes to issues involved with the investigation of law enforcement officers.
I’ve been meaning to ask you this, do you have Kivaari triggers on your weapons, and are they any good?
bszottlinger on February 20 at 9:43 a.m.
Elkay:
Great Point!
de3 on February 20 at 10:03 a.m.
Great article, great information and a great idea leading to improved information sharing with the public.
It is amazing that in Spokane, there is not been such a jury inquest since 1981. Wow.
And thank you to the sheriff and police chief for supporting this.
zelda on February 20 at 10:12 a.m.
>>Beggs believes the answer lies in the Spokane County Commission.<<
This is precisely why the inquest idea won’t go anywhere. Many things can be considered during an inquest that are somewhat tangential from the issue at hand. All sorts of ghosts and skeletons are rattling around in the attic and it is in the political interests of some elected officials to keep things safely locked away. Pardon the mixed metaphor, but it’s Pandora’s box.
As Chief Kirkpatrick said, “Our politics in this community does not” endorse conducting inquests. And that’s that.
Elkay on February 20 at 10:14 a.m.
Brad,
Your post at 8:37 gives great insight. Hopefully people in the right positions will follow through. (But that probably sounds naive, huh.)
bszottlinger on February 20 at 11:03 a.m.
Zelda:
I understand your pessimism, however the Commissioners would not have to be concerned about those issues if the inquest process was limited to OIDs and the occasional Murder or Death case that needed public scrutiny out side of an Officer Involved Death ( unless of course there was some “tangential” involvement on their part). The concern that they might have would be a prosecutor that utilizes the Washington State Grand Jury System or Inquiry Judge Proceeding to look into issues that might involve aspects of corruption or misconduct. I doubt they have to worry about that with Mr. Tucker in office.
I hope you will help out by assisting in making the Commissioners, who do read these blogs, understand that this process does not involve looking into their past personal and business transgressions and would only serve to put them in a better light with the community.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 11:23 a.m.
One other thing. I would like to point out. This article, written by Mr. Clouse and Staff, is contrary the editorial position of the Spokesman Review. It was a story that did not have to be written and did require some journalistic investigation. I commend Mr. Clouse for writing the piece and would hope that the SR Editorial Board will rethink their position. Besides, what do editorial boards know anyway. :)
Ron_the_Cop on February 20 at 11:26 a.m.
Brad,
I concur that perhaps an inquest process as you describe would bring the transparency to these OID that we all seek. I’m not a big fan of civilian review panels/boards for many reasons to varied to discuss here.
Steve Tucker is so incompetent that it rises to a level of malfeasance in office. Why the voters continue to return him to office is beyond me. Tucker more than any law enforcement leaders in our community could have raised the professional bar on these investigations but has chosen to remain largely invisible. I have alleged before that Tucker has rendered criminal assistance by his neglect:
http://tinyurl.com/47aqyb9
Kivaari I agree with Brad that all is not well with OIS investigations. I’m not saying that any weren’t criminally justified. These incidents must be a search for the truth to identify when mistakes are made and to correct them through police policy, practice, procedure and training to prevent them from occurring again. Bottom line is bad tactics and poor judgment/decisions do not rise to the level of criminal violations but do significantly impact subsequent civil judgments. This is a police leadership responsibility that I’ve found very lacking especially with the police command staff of SPD
The one incident I’ve thoroughly researched is the Creach OIS investigation. One of my principle findings in my Report and Analysis - Creach OIS Investigation that I recently provided to Sheriff Kenzovich, WSP Sgt. Ken Wade and other law enforcement officials now that the SCSO is beginning its Internal Affairs review/investigation:
The OIS investigation as prepared by SPD is so flawed and incomplete that it poses a serious legal liability for the citizens of Spokane County It left so many unaddressed and unanswered issues/questions as to actually raise the question of whether it is an attempt on the part of law enforcement to cover up a policeman’s crime. If that is not the intent of this embarrassingly poor investigation, the only other conclusion I can draw is that it reflects professional incompetence that the public cannot accept. As a member of the public who served as a police officer for 35 years, I certainly do not accept it.
Det. Ron Wright (Retired)
Kivaari on February 20 at 12:05 p.m.
BSZ, My opinion is based on the basic information regarding the shootings in the last year. I didn’t even start watching the Spokane situation until last August. I had been off-line for the last 8 years and didn’t read the Spokane newspaper.
Kivaari is Finn and doesn’t mean trigger. I doubt if there is a Kivaari brand of triggers, at least I have never seen a brand with that name. Although triggers and Kivaari do go togther.
Based on news reports and a couple of the reports on Creach and Dodd, I didn’t see anything inconsistent with law or SOP.
I do not support the police blindly. When they are wrong let them be dealt with according to law.
The Zehm case was well before I lived here, and what I learned is that the officers and ems screwed up. Administrators at SPD screwed up in their desire to insulate the city from lawsuit. When I commented about the difficulty of charging and convicting Thompson and Torok that isn’t support, that’s reality.
In the Olsen/Pete affair, I think charging Olsen was right and found the jury acted odd by not convicting him.
Dodd’s case was clear cut to me. A “knife call”, and a suicidal suspect. Go figure, the cops acted in good faith. I have a brother-in-law that had a similar case with a suicidal man. He and his partner killed the “knife attacker”, that was armed with a can opener. The decedents family, had reported the ‘knife attack”, and they supported the officers.
Corporon, running around shooting, is obvious. I was surprised at the poor shooting. Properly armed officers should have stopped him with a couple of rifle shots, instead of the use of handguns and the spray and pray method.
Groom, was pretty clear cut. From what I saw the responding officers could have written the text book on how to do the job.
Dennis, it is early, but even Barrett admitted that both she and Dennis knew the cops were there. Instead of Barrett trying to defuse things, she basically aided him in his desire to die. Dennis had expressed suicidal thoughts. If the cops know this, and they did, Dennis got his wish. Blame Dennis, Barrett and the RP. If you think you can work things out, don’t call the cops. If you do, don’t blame them when they do the job.
Houlihan, was a screwed up DVA suspect. Don’t blame the cops for shooting an armed man that has just recently taken shots.
The drug dealer negligently shot by the WSP Sgt. didn’t need shooting. The trooper screwed up. By saying that, is it supporting the police? Was it a criminal act on the troopers part? I think it is a great civil case that will earn the addict some drug money. Hopefully, she will not raise her child as an appendage to her druggie lifestyle.
The pedestrian issue is beyond my ability to form an opinion. I’d hate to see a good cop lose out. I want justice, however it plays out. It’s a real oh, sh** case.
.
Kivaari on February 20 at 12:49 p.m.
Ron, I fully agree that these cases need better police work being practiced. In Creach even my small town training left me wondering why the investigation was so limited, based just on the interviews and the prosecutors ruling. I didn’t see the whole thing.
I see no criminal intent by the officers in the cases this last year. Not having been there for any of them and just using what is commonly known, I see how the incidents played out and were both legal and within SOP.
I don’t see the police using alternative approaches such as less lethal weapons. In several cases, Dodd and Dennis in particular, I wondered why no shotgun loaded with rubber baton loads was used. From what I read, both times the officers knew about the “knife”, and went to the scene without having a rubber baton gun deployed.
Our protocol in my small burg, said if we had enough officers on-scene, we could introduce the special purpose 12 ga. At Dodd they were closely following him with the car. Did they have a baton gun? If not, why not? If the chief or sheriff says we don’t have them in each car, I ask why not? There has to be enough guns in evidence lockers in the area to come up with the needed hardware. Each of our cars had either a 9mm subgun or .223 rifle, .22 l.r. rifle and a dedicated 12 ga. rubber baton gun. We did not issue buckshot or slugs.
With the advanced warning the officers had at Dennis, where was their beanbag/baton gun? Do supervisors carry them? If so, why?Are they locked up at the station? If so, why?
In the Groom case, I can see why the two officers first on-scene carried rifles. It was a man with a gun call. Things went down too fast for the backup officers to get on scene to try to contain things. I can’t fault them based on what has been published.
No one has shown me a compelling reason what was wrong in any case except Zehm.
Where I grew up and worked more officers were killed in the line of duty, then were bad guys. In each case where I have a personal link, having family and friends involved, I know that those officers were correct in the actions taken.
Spokane is a tough town. It has a well deserved record of having corrupt cops. Much like Tacoma PD. During my last 4 years on the PD I ran a program where I had to interact with cops from all across the state. The Spokane crowd was not a friendly crowd from my perspective, but most big city cops, looked down their noses at us small town guys. I always suspected the arrogance displayed at the conferences was a symptom of that long standing attitude.
I’d like to know what the Spokane area cops have for everyday equipment. Does each car have a rifle, baton gun, .22 rifle, good aid kit, fire extinguisher, TASER, large OC and more?
My question to chiefs is, if not, why not?
zelda on February 20 at 12:53 p.m.
Brad — I speak more out of a sense of reality than pessimism. What I meant is that allowing jury inquests wouldn’t so much expose commissioners’ business dealings as inject the possibility of peeling the lid off policing practices that aid and abet certain business interests.
I’m all for holding elected officials accountable and improving the system through positive involvement, but the re-election of Steve Tucker proves to me that having good legal chops is not a criterion for that office in the minds of most Spokane voters. Recall is a possbility but a remote one.
Spokane County has tipped beyond reason to support any carbon-based life form with opposable thumbs and an (R) behind his/her name on the ballot. Any hint of progressivism was demolished in the last election. Given the state of the economy, I can understand that. People are scared.
Bottom line: The commissioners have more to gain by keeping things the same than by upsetting the apple cart. They see their job as reinforcing business interests which is conflated with “job creation” and LE reform isn’t on the short list.
So what if a few upstanding citizens get mowed down now and then along with the “undersirables”? Citizens have to accept a certain degree of collateral damage. It’s just a statistical anomaly, after all. (Now I’m being cynical but I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s viewed.)
bszottlinger on February 20 at 12:59 p.m.
Kivaari:
This might be of interest.
http://www.kivaari.com/
Regarding the other issues, I’ll stick to Inquest Proceeding topic, at least at this point. I will point out that just press accounts alone don’t show the whole picture, and that is why an Inquest Process would be helpful for everyone including retired cops, lawyers, John and Jane Q.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 1:02 p.m.
Zelda:
You may well be right. I hope not, but we shall see.
Kivaari on February 20 at 1:27 p.m.
Zelda, It isn’t a lack of progressive ideas causing the problems. It is because of progressive policies that our cities are faced with the issues associated with drugs, booze and petty crime.
Being tolerant and seeking diversity encourages all of the social filth seen on the streets of any moderate sized city.
The crime cores are being policed, when they need to be cleaned up. Don’t allow drunks, prostitutes, drugs, or panhandling anywhere. But don’t ask the police to fix things without providing alternative solutions to dealing with the street people.
Cops respond directly as they are conditioned to respond. If the city wants to use the jails, the cops will comply. If the city wants to move the street people out, don’t just move them to become a problem elsewhere. Provide shelter and treatment.
Don’t let judges give low sentences to sex offenders. Demand that jail space for drunks and addicts, become mandatory treatment. Decriminalize substance abuse crimes, to civil offenses with mandatory treatment. Don’t tolerate bad cops, judges, mayors or county councilmen. If the people don’t like how the cops are doing things give them the tools they need.
Cops are social workers with very limited options. Do you think it is fun to deal with the same dirty faces over and over again? Look at the case where the 25 year killer was arrested for the 67th time in the last 4.5 years. That isn’t a police problem, it is a social issue above the police pay grade, that the “system” needs to solve.
zelda on February 20 at 1:28 p.m.
Brad, Ron and others — Thank you for trying to effect change. Some days it feels like this area is populated with a swarm of Travis Bickles, now in their 50s and 60s.
Kivaari on February 20 at 1:31 p.m.
BSZ, I am all in favor of inquests. When the public (me) only has the media side of cases and a few published reports it doesn’t tell the story. Most of the time where I watched inquests, it really didn’t do much, except let the public know more. That in itself is a very good thing. Usually it is just a PR stunt to satisfy political issues, and that’s OK.
davidw on February 20 at 2:03 p.m.
Just signing in to my newsroom work station for a Sunday swing shift, figured I should immediately scan the comment thread on this story in case it had become another sad example of the hateful name-calling this type of issue tends to evoke.
Instead, I feel compelled to express my appreciation for the mostly thoughtful, on-point and civil discussion that’s developed. Thank you!
David Wasson
deputy city editor
Kivaari on February 20 at 2:13 p.m.
Since the cases become public record once it is turned over to the prosecutor, why isn’t the entire report made available online? Why does the prosecutor not simply post it where everyone can read it? Making it difficult, at least to me, to get more then bits and pieces doesn’t make sense. It is public information. Although I favor a political inquest to soothe the public, in reality they don’t do much more then fill a political void. If the departments are not learning from the cases, sometimes mistakes, then we need to see new leadership. Had every case in the last year been made fully open for review, and easily accessed, I think the public would not be so angry.
The public IS too impatient when they want the whole story within hours or a couple of days of the event.
Just think about the Zehm case. If the bosses at city hall had been forthcoming early on, justice would have already been served. An inquest would have exposed all the stupid actions of the police and fire department.
Get the city to fork over a fair amount to Mrs. Zehm. Fire the offending officer, retrain the others, and discipline the command staff that knowingly did the cover up.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 2:20 p.m.
Kivaari:
I would like to point something out, but let me preface it by stating that I do not know Mr. Wright, never met him, nor do I always agree with him.
Mr. Wright spent the time, energy, and expense to obtain all of the reports concerning the Creach case with the exception of one report made by Detective Hammond on 1/26/11. (which I am anxious to read) Mr. Wright unlike others gained a complete understanding of the law enforcement perspective regarding the case and subsequently produced a written product documenting his review of the case. He also sought input from a number of other individuals with experience in OIS investigations including but not limited to myself. Having read his review I find that I agree with him on the vast majority of issues he brings forth, and there are a number of other issues I wish he would have brought forward that are perhaps mine alone. I don’t know if you have noticed but some of the issues he brings forth have been addressed by law enforcement since the Creach shooting in other OIS cases.
I fully anticipate that Mr. Wrights credibility will be attacked, he is well aware of that and is willing to put up with it. My point is this, the basis for his assessment is not simply from media accounts but from the actual police reports. The Creach investigation was not a good investigation, and was handed off to the prosecutor prematurely. Mr. Tucker never should have accepted it the way it was presented and should have demanded further investigation. Many of the issues Mr. Wright brings forth in his report would have been addressed by counsel for the family in an inquest, now they will only be addressed in the civil litigation unless the Sheriff does as he should and deals with them in the Administrative Investigation.
Regardless of what one thinks of Mr. Wright’s motivations, his politic positions, or him as an individual, the community should be thankful someone made the effort to point out some real problems in Spokane county.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 2:27 p.m.
Mr. Wasson:
We aren’t all wing nuts cop lovers or cop haters, just concerned citizens. Now would you mind reevaluating the SRs editorial position regarding inquests. Just think of all the work you would be able to hand out to Clouse and Cuniff. :)
Ed Byrnes on February 20 at 2:47 p.m.
Finally a ray of hope for transparency, accountability and direct citizen involvement in such an important aspect of governance!
Brad is right on target about how inquests will avoid the change in working conditions issue that citizen review or expanded ombudsman powers would raise. This is the most vexing issue around citizen review across the country.
Such inquests would work better than citizen review panels, which I have long advocated for, provided they were truly an open and independent process. Here is what I am recommending in the interest of justice:
1. To maximize transparency an inquest should be held on every OID in the county;
2. I agree with Brad that a judge should lead any inquest;
3. Every citizen who is registered to vote should have an equal probability of being selected for the jury pool;
4. The inquest proceedings must be open to the public, and the reports must be easily available to the public.
A public process lead by an independent party that involves us citizens would go a long way toward healing our community because citizens will have access to the process and findings, and LLE will enjoy the benefit of public exoneration through a credible process.
Local law enforcement leaders are publicly in support of such a process. Citizens who have often disagreed in these forums are as close to unified as I can ever recall. We MUST press our county commissioners to move this forward.
The inquest process would also allow our ombudsman to renmain focused on other citizen complaints since OIDs would have a credible process in place for addressing them.
Ed Byrnes
Ed Byrnes on February 20 at 2:51 p.m.
Having seen Mr. Wright’s work on the Creach case and another case, and with similar caveats as Brad, I echo Brad’s expressed appreciation for the hard work Mr. Wright has done on behalf of our community.
Ed
Ron_the_Cop on February 20 at 3:15 p.m.
Thx Brad for your kind words.
Kivaari the Creach case may follow the same path as the Zehm case. The burden now will be on Sheriff Knezovich in his IA review whether it will be a real search for the truth. There were many issues and inconsistencies in the SPD OIS investigation that were left unaddressed when it was given to Tucker.
In the Zehm case mistakes were made. Police leadership should have recognized those mistakes and taken corrective action to prevent further incidents, apologized to the family and paid a just settlement. This was a wrongful death. Instead the powers that be in the City attempted to sweep this under the rug to minimize the potential civil liability. MISTAKE - the feds have their nose now under the tent and are onto the cover up that took place after the incident.
No one’s perfect and mistakes will be made. The important thing is to recognize when mistakes are made and take appropriate action. This is a primary responsibility of police leadership who I hold most accountable for their lack of leadership. And of course Tucker for not demanding better in these OIS investigations.
In reviewing the Creach OIS as I said above, “As a member of the public who served as a police officer for 35 years, I certainly do not accept it.”
In a follow up email to Sheriff Knezovich after I presented my report to him, I concluded from the SPD emails I secured that KREM2 used in their Cage Fight report:
http://tinyurl.com/4jgjuyb
*****
… As I said in the meeting these emails corroborate my belief that this investigation was incomplete and was handed off prematurely to Steve Tucker for political reasons re the pending election. Lt. McGovern was very forthright in his email responding to Chief Kirkpatrick’s email order to hand off this report that there would be no more delays. I did not include these emails in my report/analysis:
I do not know what was discussed at the 09-15-10 meeting that was attended by you, Tucker, Driscoll, Nicks, Stephens, McGovern, Goodwin, Barbieri, Johnson and Chief Kirkpatrick attending by phone.
It is my opinion that the objections expressed by Lt. McGovern were overruled by senior police commanders. Yes, Lt. McGovern may have agreed to hand off this report during this meeting. He may have decided to withhold any more objections as being a moot point from my experience in attending such meetings with the Brass.
Ron_the_Cop on February 20 at 3:16 p.m.
Mr. Wasson,
Thanks for your comments re this thread. I have one question for the S-R. Why didn’t it pursue/report this story that KREM2 broke? These emails are available to all by filing PDRs.
How can the people hold their public officials accountable if the media fails in its responsibility to the people to inform them on significant issues of the day? An yes you are the paper of record in this region and not all the people watch KREM2:-)
Kivaari on February 20 at 3:38 p.m.
Ed, What bothers me about Spokane, is why has it taken the city and county so long to get to where they are? The county government is too slow to respond to the known need for change. The SPD senior staff seems intent on running the department like a 1935 RICO operation. Having worked in LE I have watched many good officers get chewed up and spit out, while the scum rises to the top. Going along with the underlying corruption becomes a survival technique that just screws with a good mans mind. Spokane’s hierarchy is comprised of people with dirt on too many other people. That is why people were promoted for doing cover ups. Police unions are often made up of the same kind of officer. Hide the dirt, protect the indefensible, and lose the public trust. Having coroners inquests is just one thing that can establish a public trust in the “system”. When staff screws up and the agency sees it, get out in front of the bad news and take corrective action fast. Yes, the city or county will lose money in civil claims, but it will earn the citizens trust.
zelda on February 20 at 3:48 p.m.
@kivaari — At the risk of getting off topic here to plumb the depths of social problems, I would like to point out that the S-R did a fine piece of journalism a few years ago exploring some of the consequences of Spokane County pursuing the building of prisons on the West Plains.
Their analysis showed that many of the offenders once released remain in the Spokane area because of the prevalence of low-wage service jobs, which are just about the only ones they qualify for with a criminal record.
That isn’t necessarily detrimental to society provided the region has enough higher-wage jobs and growth to offset the influx of released prisoners with low or no skills. Unfortunately, many of the jobs with good wages have vanished making those with criminal records a larger proportion of the population. (It’s debatable how many of them are former mortgage brokers, har-har.)
But I agree with you that decriminalizing some drug possession (particularly MJ) might help because it unnecessarily stigmatizes those convicted and make them less employable.
But ultimately I don’t find “more prisons” to be a satisfactory solution. Neither is whole-hearted endorsement of “more drug treatment” because the long-term success rate, esp. for meth, is dismal (dispite what the treatment industry says).
Crime is a hydra. No one thing is going to address it completely. There’s a lot of despair on the streets these days and I don’t think having the prosecutor and some LE officers acting as a praetorian guard is an acceptable situation.
So…Brad, Ed and Ron — carry on. You’re doing good work and I really hope it makes a dent.
And S-R and Tom Clouse — thank you for keeping this issue alive for debate and discussion.
davidw on February 20 at 3:53 p.m.
@bszottlinger
None of the SR editors who oversee reporting and newsgathering efforts, which includes me, are members of the newspaper’s editorial board. In fact, this issue should help illustrate the commitment to separation that The SR has between its newsroom and editorial board. I was mildly surprised, as were my reporters, at the editorial board’s position on the topic but it has no bearing on our ability to continue to pursue developments we see as newsworthy, such as Chief Kirkpatrick’s comments at the community forum.
On a somewhat related matter, I thought I’d mention a couple of things for the benefit of those suggesting that simply obtaining police reports after they’ve been turned over to the prosecutor provide as much opportunity for public scrutiny of the process as an inquest:
That argument is sound in theory but falls short because of the aggressive tendency on the part of city to heavily redact documents before releasing them. Everything in an inquest proceeding, on the other hand, is fully open to the public.
In the Zehm case, for example, the identities of the witnesses interviewed by police at the Zip Trip where the fatal encounter occurred were redacted (with the city citing privacy concerns and state law that gives them the option of concealing identities if they choose to do so). Blocking those identities prevented any chance of independently verifying whether the witness statements to police were accurately reflected in the final reports. What’s particularly noteworthy is that when the FBI (which we’re told had to fight to get unredacted copies of the reports) later contacted those witnesses, some said the comments attributed to them in the police reports were different from what they’d told officers.
@Ron_the_Cop: Not sure what KREM story you’re referring to. Email me a link, davidw@spokesman.com.
Kivaari on February 20 at 4:09 p.m.
Zelda, You have that right. We just haven’t found the right balance of enforcement, jails, treatment and other resources to deal with the issues. I don’t have a clue what the balance would look like. I just know it doesn’t look good the way it is. My idea on treatment is an open book, in that I think we need to try a bunch of proven techniques. One state has built a soft jail for DUI offenders where the stay is one year minimum. It works, but with it comes the loss of a wage earner for many families. With the state creating another welfare family, while working to salvage a persons life.
Back on topic, just why has Spokane county been so slow on instituting changes in the OIS or in custody death issues? In this day and age there isn’t much new to be discovered about dealing with police brutality and corruption. When still working I did see officers at the command level that were absolutely backwards when it came to management and public relations issues. I did work for a police administration publication and would be taken aback by how ignorant chiefs were around the country. It shows, since a fish rots from the head down and something stinks in Spokane.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 4:58 p.m.
Mr. Wasson:
As you may have been able to put together from my posting history, I am the preverbal smarta$$. My post was intended to demonstrate to the board how much more in tune the reporters and people in your position are to what’s going on in the community. This piece is a very good example of the freedom you and your staff have in issues like this. If you don’t have any influence over the editorial board, I understand, but if you have any influence over Doug Clark would you call his attention to the fact that I have not yet received the drink he owes me for maximizing the posts on some of his columns.
You are absolutely right about the police documents released to the public. One only gets one side of the story, and it is important for the public to see witnesses examined beyond the police report. The Inquest Process would provide that opportunity.
Kivaari on February 20 at 5:03 p.m.
David Wasson, I am so used to how agencies in my county did things. We had to give full disclosure on reports, except juvenile names, or in on-going investigations. If the case was closed as far as investigation goes, it was open to the press and anyone walking in off the street. We even had a “public” posting system where the only thing redacted was the juveniles. If we tried to hide stuff, as some agencies tried, it came back and bit them. The local newspaper actually had reporters that could go onto the computer system used by our countywide dispatch center. They had to follow the same rules as patrol officers as to what was accessible, and use good judgement. If an officer screwed up, it was in the next days paper. I am convinced it made the police more accountable and reduced abuse. Spokane needs to catch up.
With all of the controversy surrounding police shootings and deaths like Zehm, it just seems nuts that the police and prosecutor have been so secretive. If the investigation is done right, there wont be any doubt as to what a witness said or wrote. Hiding the names from other agencies is nuts.
zelda on February 20 at 5:06 p.m.
@David Wasson — Thanks for the additional info about redacted police reports. I appreciate the perspective and challenges reporters face.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 5:55 p.m.
Mr. Wasson:
A clarification, as an editor I am sure in reviewing my last post you noted my use of the term preverbal rather then proverbial. I believe I was using the correct term when all of my smarta$$ remarks are taken in context. Either that or I am the proverbial smarta$$ who can’t spell.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 20 at 6:03 p.m.
My thanks as well Mr Wasson…. the “Editorial Board” although very competent is rather “thin” and is comprised of aging white males…. nuff said… not a lot of diversity of opinion as there was when Smith was Editor.. (they even had Women on the Editorial board).. Understanding that… they still make this forum available for those of us who wish to speak or rebut …even the letters to the editor now do not go unchallenged and you can comment on them through the “Opinion” link, but not the Letters link.
The Commissioners are on the dime here… you have ALL three of the top law enforcement folks wanting and wishing for the same thing as the people… so there is likely no rational excuse for Not implementing the Inquests…. when indicated… or for all of the force involved deaths… My view remains that it will be better for the morale of the officers as well… ( unless they are doing something they should not be doing)..
It is time to move forward..
Do Not forget the NAACP forum tomorow nite at East Central at 19:30.. and the KHQ Forum at the Lincoln Center on Wednesday at 18:30… both open to the public…. come on down an lets meet up…. john
bszottlinger on February 20 at 6:28 p.m.
ChefGus:
Sir, you have offended me! I am surprised a man of your stature would be putting down someone like me. “aging white males…. nuff said…”
eagleproducer on February 20 at 6:49 p.m.
Leave it to a carpetbagger like Kirkpatrick to interpret what “our politics in this community” constitute.
The solution proposed in this article is a step in the right direction, but what I’d really prefer is a group of professionals capable of and dedicated to policing themselves.
I offer the same to my fellow teachers.
misjustice on February 20 at 7:15 p.m.
Mr. Wasson:
I belive that this is the story on KREM-2 that Ron is talking about:
“Spokane Police emails reveal “cage fight” over pastor shooting report ”
http://www.krem.com/home/Internal-police-emails-reveal-cage-fight-over-pastor-shooting-report-106795423.html
Brad; Clark always welches on his promise to buy a round of drinks…
; )
greenlibertarian on February 20 at 8:52 p.m.
One of the most educational threads I’ve read on the S/R blogs in a long time. The lack of vitriol was also noticeable, and appreciated.
I agree that Kirkpatrick’s comment was a bit smarmy.
Knowing several Criminal Defense lawyers socially, we’ve talked about the SPD and SCSO intransigence against allowing the public/inquest/ombudsman to really dig into these issues, despite many officers who would welcome a fair and open system of evaluating possible misconduct. The not breaking blue culture is deeply ingrained at the middle and highest levels, unfortunately. The close ranks mentality is all too prevalent. But it doesn’t have to be that way, nor should it.
DickAdams on February 20 at 9:08 p.m.
Reading Spoturkey`s comment, regarding his :”fellow teachers”. Sounds to me like digested food through the bull.
bszottlinger on February 20 at 10:25 p.m.
If enough pressure is put on the County Commission to enact an ordinance mandating Inquest Proceedings in OIDs my only concern would be that steps are taken to insure that the process includes involvement with the community in formulating the system. It is obvious from reading this article and others that there isn’t a real understanding of the law regarding inquests not only by the public, but also the law enforcement community and although King County provides a good model as to how it could work in Spokane County there are a number of things that could be done to improve upon it, and incorporate some of the things that have worked well in other jurisdictions. As I have indicated before, writing an inquest ordinance for Spokane County is relatively easy given the structure of Spokane County Government but coming up with a process that maximizes the issues of transparency and independence is slightly more complex. It really does require the Commissioners and local law enforcement to reach out to the public and other individuals outside the community with experience in this area. As an example a recent SR article regarding inquests points out how the Nevada system provides representation for a family that is indigent and unable to afford counsel. There are a number of ways this could be done in Spokane County with very minimal cost. I’m sure Mr. Beggs and the folks at the Center for Justice will look into some of these areas and attempt to have them implemented while at the same time try to thwart any attempts to simply set up something that is nothing more then to placate the community concern. If this does get off the ground the community and the press will need to be vigilant as Mr. Clouse was in this case where he noted Chief Kirkpatrick’s response to a question during the forum and then pursued it by contacting her and the Sheriff who have now publicly stated their favorable position regarding the implementation of an inquest process.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 21 at 5:15 a.m.
BSZ.. sorry to have offended you… I did not mean to imply that YOU were a member of the SR Editorial board… and i am not critical so much of what their editorial opinions are… as i am of the fact that at least on the surface there is not a perception by most of us that they have any input from women… or from the community of other in a direct way, other than what they get from paying attention to these blog posts…. best j :))
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 21 at 5:16 a.m.
Hoping some of you can make it to the NAACP forum tonight at East Central Community Center at 19:30.. open and welcoming to the public…. Gus
bszottlinger on February 21 at 8:45 a.m.
ChefGus:
I was of course just kidding. As an aging white male I think it is important to note that age and experience will over come youth and exuberance every time.
bszottlinger on February 21 at 8:59 a.m.
As an aging male, I had better point out that Ms. Cunnif’s byline was added to this story. I don’t want anyone to accuse me of being a chauvinistic aging white male. My guess is that she is the one that talked to the cops and Clouse talked to the others. From a journalistic perspective it’s always better to have a good looking young girl on the police beat then some guy, they always get more info from those young male cops.
Good Job Ms. Cunnif!
Elkay on February 21 at 10:04 a.m.
Haha!!! Got that right!
TheRoyLarsen on February 21 at 10:09 a.m.
I’m thinking about having that Dave McGovern come work for me.
Ron_the_Cop on February 21 at 10:25 a.m.
TheRoyLarsen,
I concur of all the law enforcement officials having control over the Creach OIS, Lt. McGovern’s email I linked to above stand out. He is one of the few that was serving the people’s interest in this investigation in actually searching for the truth.
SLEO on February 21 at 1:37 p.m.
The Creach family also thanks Mr. Wright for his time and personal sacrifice in putting his report together. We are encouraged by the many people who have shown their support and have stepped outside of themselves to make that support known. THANK YOU RON THE COP!!!
Ron_the_Cop on February 21 at 3:09 p.m.
Thank you SLEO.
Mr. Wasson I sent you the direct link to the breaking KREM2 report re the “Cage Fight.” Zelda linked to the correct story. I have the same emails that I quoted above between Chief Kirkaptrick and Lt. McGovern re the Creach OIS investigation report.
Just wondering why no story by the S-R? This appeared significant and newsworthy to me but of course what do I know.
bszottlinger on February 22 at 7:20 a.m.
I have to second Ron_the_Cop’s assessment of Lt. McGovern. I had earlier admonished him to take an even firmer stance regarding submitting the case to the prosecutor. In retrospect, I understand why he didn’t protest more then he did. It must have been obvious to him that even though his position was the correct one regarding prematurely submitting the case, he was outgunned by the Chief. My humble apologies Lt. McGovern for my earlier admonishment.
Hcklbery on February 22 at 10:04 a.m.
A desperately needed function in Spokane County.
They also need just as much a forum of fair hearing and handling of police abuse complaints that places the officer in greater harms ways of scrutiny with consequences if found to be at fault with the malice of un-professionalism and/or wanton abuse of discretionary authority.
This would spell the end of the culture climate currently prevalent within the Spokane county law enforcement ranks of being above the law or out of the reach of public influenced accountability.