November 17, 2011 in News, City

Knezovich offers to lead Spokane Police Department

Jonathan Brunt The Spokesman-Review

Tags:Ozzie KnezovichSpokane County Sheriff’s OfficeSpokane Police Department

Dan Pelle photo

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich
(Full-size photo)

The search to replace Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick hasn’t even begun, but there’s already a high-profile candidate: Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

Knezovich confirmed Thursday that he’s willing to serve as the city’s interim chief, an administrative role he believes he could fill while continuing to run the sheriff’s office.

“It wouldn’t be any different than leading a bigger force,” Knezovich said.

With change at the top of Eastern Washington’s largest law enforcement agency, Knezovich said the timing is perfect for the city and county to explore combining forces with the sheriff’s office, the second-largest police force in Eastern Washington. With him temporarily at the helm, the city and county would have time to consider crafting an agreement for the city to contract its operations with sheriff’s office, much like Spokane Valley currently does.

He said he wouldn’t ask for additional payment to do the job.

Mayor-elect David Condon said Thursday that he is open to Knezovich’s offer, but added that he’s heard from other potential candidates, too. Spokane Mayor Mary Verner has said she plans to start a national search for a police chief so that a process is underway when Condon becomes mayor. Condon said he’s OK with Verner moving ahead with a search as long as the selection is made after he becomes mayor.

Condon said he wants his transition team to consider whether he should pursue a consolidation with the sheriff’s office.

“Simply put, it’s on the table,” said Condon, adding that he’s also open to considering interim Assistant Chief Scott Stephens for a temporary role as chief while final plans are being assembled. “As a political leader I owe it to myself to understand what it means. By no means is it something I take lightly.”

Consolidation of government services has been a frequent topic among city and county leaders for decades. But consolidation has been less palatable since voters rejected a full consolidation of city and county governments in 1995 and the incorporation of Spokane Valley in 2003. In the last few years, in fact, regionalization has gone in reverse. The city decided to pull out of the county-run district court in 2008 and the county recently has said it plans to leave the city-run regional solid waste system. Just this month, voters rejected a plan to regionalize animal control.

Kirkpatrick declined to comment on Knezovich’s candidacy for her job.

“First I’d like to talk to the (Condon) transition team and let them speak to that themselves,” she said.

Kirkpatrick said consolidating the departments has long been a discussion.

“It’s always a discussion and has been for years among law enforcement communities,” she said. “It’s a topic everywhere in the country.”

Whether or not the police department merges with the sheriff’s office, it is at a major crossroads.

Not only has Kirkpatrick announced her retirement for Jan. 2, but Verner announced this week that she will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the policies and procedures of policing in Spokane to help bring public confidence back to the force after the conviction of Officer Karl F. Thompson earlier this month for excessive force and lying.

Although Condon said he’s open to pursuing consolidation, he added that pushing ahead with a merger early in his term might be too much change at the start. He added that he believes consolidation works better when local governments share control of an organization, such as the Spokane Transit Authority or Spokane International Airport, rather than contractual relationships, like Spokane Regional Solid Waste System.

Knezovich, who backed Condon’s bid to lead Spokane, said he’s had a couple of conversations with Condon on the phone to discuss the idea. He said he also talked with Mayor Mary Verner about it, and she considered appointing a task force to study the concept. Knezovich said once the process moved forward, it could be complete in six months to a year.

Combining forces would eliminate duplications and may allow him to boost services, including restoration of property crime investigations in the city. The city eliminated its property crime detective unit this year, but still investigates property crimes using general detectives.

Spokane Police Guild President Ernie Wuthrich said he hadn’t heard anything about Knezovich being a candidate until a reporter called.

He said he has a lot of questions about how Knezovich could run both organizations and how a merge would work.

“I don’t even know what to think about that,” he said. “I don’t know how that would work. Obviously I don’t think our members dislike Sheriff Knezovich, but I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

He said he’s long known of “informal talks” of combining the agencies. He said if a formal proposal is made, guild members likely would vote on it.

“I think we’d have to,” he said. “It would definitely affect wages, hours and working conditions somewhere in there.”

Wuthrich said he’s not surprised Kenozvich may be looking to combine.

“His department is shrinking with the (West Plains) annexation and the city of Spokane Valley constantly chattering about the possibility of starting their own police department and not contracting with the county anymore,” Wuthrich said. “I think that would be a concern to me if I was sheriff.”

Councilman Jon Snyder said Thursday he hasn’t heard consolidation discussed about the police department since he’s been a council member. He suspects moving that direction would involve substantial policy and operations implications.

“I don’t see how it would not take a lot of effort,” he said.

Council President-elect Ben Stuckart also said he hadn’t heard about the sheriff’s offer.

“There needs to be a very large community conversation about policing and that’s not something to take lightly,” Stuckart said.

Sheriff’s employees generally earn less than police employees. Knezovich said grandfathering current city officers under the current scale and hiring new officers under the deputy scales could save money. But it’s far from clear that the Spokane Police Guild would accept such terms.

Knezovich said he’s open to having an ombudsman with investigative power, and said there’s another benefit to residents to consolidation.

“A sheriff is held accountable every four years,” Knezovich said.

Staff writer Meghann M. Cuniff contributed to this report.

39 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

barrister on November 17 at 7:38 p.m.
delusional…
misjustice on November 17 at 7:39 p.m.
Not only no, but HELL NO!
DickAdams on November 17 at 7:56 p.m.
Double HELL NO!!! Let him go talk to his friend, Tucker. Their two of a kind. (Tucker rhymes with what he should be called)
DickAdams on November 17 at 7:59 p.m.
Mayor Verner should be stopped in her attempt to replace Anne get your gun.
paulti on November 17 at 8:01 p.m.
Seriously??
hammer1969 on November 17 at 8:14 p.m.
The Sheriff is smoking crack! Why would the city council/ mayor give up the ability to fire the Police Chief or not have any control over the costs of law enforcement? Do the city residents want the county commissioners controlling their law enforcement? I think they would rather have their cops in town not runchasing cows in Deer Park. If anything the Police department should be taking over the much smaller and irrelevant Sheriff’s department.
misjustice on November 17 at 8:15 p.m.
@ Dick, I agree…Tucker, Tucker, rhymes with……
Ozman, the leader that didn’t lead on the Creach homicide…
*sigh*
The City has enough problems with police enforcement, we don’t need the Ozman to make things worse! Besides, anyone too eager for the job should be dismissed out of hand.
I don’t like the idea of consolidation, either…talk about a cozy arrangement. It would just be larger rubber stamp for OISs…
Jethro_toll on November 17 at 8:22 p.m.
OZ can barely control his pistol packing preacher killers as it is. Remember the two deputies that tazed that cow like about 300 times to get a little roast beef?
I dont disagree though that we should elect a police chief.
So whens OZ going to get a college degree? He is a likeable fellow but was the model for “hollow man”.
Shadedmuse on November 17 at 8:24 p.m.
If tucker is so bad then why did voters vote for him three times? I voted for Give them hell malone.
Sounds like Ozzy must be parting with their Ozzy sharrons husband.
I guess Ozzy is trying to double dip and collect two salarys.
If Spokane goes with a metro force like NYC Miami-Dade Indianpolis Clark-Vegas, then Spokane needs to go with a Police commishoner who over sees all law enforcment and District attorneys in Spokane County.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 17 at 8:28 p.m.
As an interim move, it might not be so bad. Ozzie’s a very capable administrator. Beware of Verner trying to set the stage for something by doing harmful things in her last 6 weeks. Obama will when he’s booted if he is. Vindictive and unreasable idealogues do this.
Verner…. just leave. No more control for you and your libs.
I have to chuckle at Stuckarts being uninformed. lol He will be kept that way since he has no experience. Besides he’d have to go check with Rush and Snyder anyway. Bad bad choice. The little liberal team is over….hopefully for good. Mike Allen has Ruch beat….back to conservative with a very reasonable plan to stopp the bad things in Spokane and manage the good ideas.
johnclarke on November 17 at 8:41 p.m.
oh, perfect. Tea Party Sheriff.
BlondeSquawker on November 17 at 8:48 p.m.
His name resounds like a snozed-out loogie on the sidewalk.
SpokyDaBear on November 17 at 8:49 p.m.
Cool… Now we will have open season on all Preachers within the City of Spokane.
Everyone of them will be a potential Creach just waiting to get popped!
oink on November 17 at 9:01 p.m.
Soooo……. Who would investigate who the next time a cop or sheriff kills or just puts the beat down on one of US??
I’m thinkin we just leave it up to mother Tucker
Lewis on November 17 at 9:01 p.m.
mr two face god that is just what we need
we could do better with a cartoon character like Elmer Fudd
D Statler on November 17 at 9:02 p.m.
I voted for Ozzy. I agree that he could have / should have done a better job with the Creach shooting. The vacation move was rediculous. The Dodd shooting was rubber stamped also. I can not see how any investigator could not look at shot #3 as murder.In the least excessive force and poor judgement were used in both shootings. As for tasering the cow.There was promotions handed out to now DETECTIVE Simmons. The drug and gang task force is out of control also. Passing out drugs for information under Ozzy’s watch is illegal or should be.
After seeing this mis managed,some what corrupt organization in action. Ozzy will not receive another vote from me. You can all pencil in UNDOOLY in your next ballot for tuckers prosecutor position. I guarantee I will do a better job. ThankYou
skierdc1 on November 17 at 9:11 p.m.
Wait a second…. isn’t he the hose-head who let the deputy who killed a preacher go on vacation for a week before making a statement?!? This would be the worst thing imaginable. So it will probably happen then.
Shadedmuse on November 17 at 9:12 p.m.
Daizee, what are you smoking? when your smoking the funny stuff please turn of the computer before you start smoking, because your comments are getting more crazy then Soccer Suze.
Are the Feds letting you access the internet in your Federal jail cell in Pittsburg? when do they transfer you to DC jail Cell to stand trial for weekend crime spree?
Slightlyworried on November 17 at 9:38 p.m.
Is it April’s Fools already?
misjustice on November 17 at 9:41 p.m.
Naw, it’s the winter of our discontent!
Ron_the_Cop on November 17 at 9:43 p.m.
Read my comments to the Mayor a number of months ago. I could feel this coming in my bones. I agree with Condon we need to deal with the issues of SPD first before we begin any discussions on any merger of services.
I’m not against some consolidation but there are definitely more pressing issues right now.
Sunshinegurl on November 17 at 10:05 p.m.
Scary.
valleyman on November 17 at 10:10 p.m.
This is a good idea and for those of you who don’t think so, no amount of factual information will help you. But I’ll give it a go anyway…
1) You whine about the SPD not being accountable - The sheriff has to be ELECTED every 4 years. You don’t like the way things are going, hire a new sheriff… Do you currently get any say so in the SPD Chief?
2) Saving money with lower pay scale… Hmmmm… I guess your constant rants about paying the police too much really don’t matter…
3) You whine about the SPD no longer investigating property crimes or enforcing traffic laws… The sheriff has offered to do that… Again, seems like a no brainer, that is unless you don’t really want these things….
4) You want an ombudsman… The Sheriff has said he would support this… That is unless you really don’t want one…
5) You say you want a weaker Guild… The Guild as it currently exists couldn’t hold the kind of power it does now under the sheriff department system. That is unless you really do like the guild.
6) As for the Creach shooting and the Dodd shooting and ANY OTHER SHOOTING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED OR EVER WILL… You’ll never feel the police are in the right, so the constant yapping about how unjustified these were really does fall short of the mark.
Slightlyworried on November 17 at 10:17 p.m.
@Valleyman:
When I see someone vomit on the sidewalk I don’t think to myself, “Oh look, a warm meal!”
SpokyDaBear on November 17 at 10:19 p.m.
@Valleyman…. guess you think Otto Zehm did deserve to be beaten to death by your A number one Thompson…..
So quit complaining about people bringing up serious concerns..
Pssstt Valleyman.. the grownups are talking…
SpokaneIsFun on November 17 at 10:34 p.m.
Unbelievable. You would think this city has learned it’s lesson. NEW LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED. Now the new mayor is talking about stepping in the same old dog sh_t all over again. WHY?
Is this city cursed?
zelda on November 17 at 10:53 p.m.
This arrangement would greatly simplify the current who-investigates-whom process, i.e, when the sheriff deputies shoot somebody, the city police investigate and when the Spokane cops kill somebody, the sheriff’s department investigates and somewhere in the bureaucratic melee, the State Patrol get involved, and when the State Patrol shoots somebody, does the FBI handle that? My head hurts.
Well, this would certainly cut down on the cross-hatching of investigative teams. If anybody gets shot by LE in Spokane County, the sheriff’s department investigates itself with limited assistance from the scarcely available county prosecutor.
This is nuts.
Slightlyworried on November 17 at 11:07 p.m.
Zelda brings up a really good point. With Ozzie running the whole show, cover-ups would be stream lined. Tucker could be declining to charge police corruption in days instead of months.
Sunshinegurl on November 17 at 11:11 p.m.
Valleyman
1) I don’t see how SPD reporting to an elected sheriff is better than having SPD report to an elected mayor?
2) Is the guild going away in this scenario? If not then the pay rate is a moot point as the sheriff would not have the ultimate say in pay/benefits.
3) I don’t see how contracting with the sheriff will change the workload or budget enough for property crimes to be a priority. (I personally don’t care about traffic or property crimes but I guess others do)
4) we have an ombudsman his name is Tim Burns. The powers that were given to him have slowly been eroded away by the guild, I don’t see Ozzie having any power over that; there is litigation and investigations going on that will ultimately decide the fate of the ombudsman. I don’t see how this would even fall under the sheriff anyway, I think Burns reports to the mayor, not SPD.
5) yeah right…Ozzies going to weaken the guild, hahaha
6) I don’t know where u are going with this?
hammer1969 on November 17 at 11:57 p.m.
If anything a 600 man union is going to be way more expensive!
Dazzeetrader11 on November 18 at 1:52 a.m.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong considering the present dwarf is leaving the dept to one of the “geniuses” who are in the present force right now. I’d rather have Ozzie thanone of the locals police city force…at least for a while. There is much waste right now.
Surely Ozzie didn’t do a goood job on the Creach affair…no doubt. I’m thinking though…for six months or so, it might not be THAT bad. The present structure is very weak. How or if there might be a merger will be defined over time. Ozzie’s making his move because well…frankly Ozzie builds kingdomes. He likely thinks it would open the door to his big jail, big shooting range and his regional center.
Obviously there no money for it and the public vote wouldn’t tolerate it. I do think as a temporary measure, it’s ok.
Lewis on November 18 at 3:46 a.m.
valleyman really you think a cop shooting a old man at the 4 foot mark was good policing?
since the spd get paid more you think they will take a pay cut, more likely the sheriffs will get a nice pay raise.
at the 4 year mark if no open runs against ozzie we are stuck with him, so how does that work for us again?
i never voted for him last election i wrote in the Creach name.
valleyman on November 18 at 7:40 a.m.
Glad I got you folks talking… Too bad it involved little to no thinking with the exception of Sunshine who at least managed to string a couple coherent sentences together and repeat my main points while attempting to disprove them.
You have two choices now:
1) more of the same
2) something different
I’d hope you were all intelligent enough to pick something different and that means letting the sheriff run things.
liveinfearoftheSPD on November 18 at 12:27 p.m.
@valleyman
I am sure that nobody wants more of the same. As to something different being the correct choice, I am sure, after reading your posts, your “different” is at an opposite end of the compass as to my “different”
misjustice on November 18 at 6:55 p.m.
Ozman would just more of the same…
misjustice on November 18 at 6:56 p.m.
Oops, just BE more of the same…
scaleram on November 19 at 12:01 p.m.
Ozzie is one of the best law enforcement administrators I have ever seen. He would be a great choice.
brianrbreen on November 19 at 12:40 p.m.
@valleyman
I’m with Ron_the_Cop. At some point down the road consolidation might be a good idea, but this isn’t the time.
One of the things that you overlooked in your positives that I think some of the SPD people don’t understand is that the Sheriff can pick and choose who he wants from the 240 or so SPD cops. It isn’t an automatic transfer. The ones that past Chiefs have been forced to rehire because of agreements between those officers and the city attorneys office or won the position back through arbitration, would probably not make it on. The same is true for those that might not be able to pass the physical or the ones with substantial IA files. It would be an effective way to do some weeding, but, although considerably more difficult, it would be a shame if the city can’t do at least some clean up on their own.
smittysturn on November 19 at 2:07 p.m.
IDIOTS! Every last one of ya who speak without knowing any facts. That is all.