Pace’s request sets off lengthy review of Spokane Valley police

Spokane Valley councilman Ed Pace says he did not intend to start a lengthy official investigation costing taxpayers thousands of dollars when he sent a query to city staff about alleged surveillance by the Spokane Valley Police Department last summer.

Pace was at a meeting of the Spokane County Constitutional Republicans at Shari’s in Spokane Valley on July 9, when other meeting participants said they noticed two Spokane Valley Police vehicles and an officer in the parking lot.

In an email sent to Pace after the meeting, one participant wrote that he thought one officer was using a body camera to take pictures of all the license plates in the parking lot, and that the vehicles were there for close to 45 minutes.

Pace said he never noticed anything himself.

“One person felt like a camera was pointing right at the meeting through the window,” Pace said. “I was just acting as a councilman, asking city staff to look into what was going on.” Pace emailed deputy city manager Mark Calhoun, who forwarded the inquiry to Spokane Valley Police Chief Rick VanLeuven who took the appropriate steps toward a full investigation.

The Valley contracts with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office for police services. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said that neither Sheriff’s deputies nor Spokane Valley police officers have the body cameras or dashboard cameras that allegedly were used in the parking lot.

“But these were very serious allegations and possibly federal law violations,” Knezovich said. “We take that very seriously and we investigate.”

Knezovich said it troubles him that Pace didn’t put an end to the speculation at the meeting. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Citizens Advisory and Review Board finalized its investigation in December.

“I know that Mr. Pace is pushing for the Valley’s own citizen advisory board,” Knezovich said. “If this investigation doesn’t show him how above board we are, then I don’t know what will.”

The investigation into the alleged surveillance was assigned to Spokane Valley police Lt. Matt Lyons. According to Knezovich, Lyons spent about half his time for nearly three weeks in late September on the internal investigation.

Knezovich said that amounts to roughly $3,120 just for Lyons’ salary during those three weeks. The investigation lasted from mid-July through the end of October.

Lyons’ investigation showed that two officers were parked at Shari’s, but according to the CAD log for no more than 16 minutes. They were there debriefing after having responded to a domestic call nearby.

The advisory board, which is made up of volunteers, moved the investigation forward by interviewing Lyons and other Valley police officers as well as Knezovich and VanLeuven. The board’s investigation found that no one had directed intelligence to be collected on the Constitutional Republicans, and that no intelligence had been collected.

One witness changed his explanation during the investigation and later apologized to the advisory board for being mistaken.

The advisory board’s report found no wrongdoing and was forwarded to Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell for review.

Pace has said many times during City Council meetings that Spokane Valley should have its own citizens advisory board.

Knezovich said the majority of advisory board members live in Spokane Valley.

“I would be happy to offer spots on the board to Spokane Valley right now,” Knezovich said. “That way we can avoid having two competing boards in the same area.”