Chief’S Comment Probed Chertok Told Students Serial Killer Tipster Had Named Mangan
One day after being criticized by police union leaders, Chief Alan Chertok came under fire Wednesday for tying his predecessor to Spokane’s serial killer investigation.
Sheriff Mark Sterk said Wednesday that his office has investigated comments Chertok made last month to a high school class about former Chief Terry Mangan’s possible involvement in the serial killer case.
Detectives were trying to determine whether Chertok had jeopardized the serial killer case when he mentioned that at least one tipster had told investigators they should consider Mangan a suspect in the case, Sterk said.
The detectives also were attempting to dispel rumors about Mangan and to protect Chertok’s credibility by determining what he had said to a group of Ferris High School criminal-justice students April 15, Sterk said.
The sheriff said tips about Mangan did come in, along with hundreds of others, but quickly were dismissed.
Mangan is not a suspect in the serial killings of 10 women in Spokane and Tacoma and “never will be,” said the sheriff, who served more than 20 years at the Spokane Police Department before being elected sheriff last November.
Efforts to reach Mangan, now working for the FBI, were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Chertok said his off-hand comment about Mangan wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.
“I opened my mouth as wide as I could and jammed my foot into it,” said Chertok, adding that he called Mangan on Wednesday afternoon to apologize.
Chertok said he thinks the incident is being blown out of proportion.
Critics of the chief took the opportunity to launch barbs at him Wednesday. The Spokane Police Guild and the Spokane Police Lieutenants & Captains Association issued press releases lambasting Chertok.
Sterk said the investigation began after a parent of one of the students in the class wrote a letter to the Sheriff’s Department about Chertok’s comments.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Cal Walker was dispatched to interview that parent and student, Sterk said. The sheriff said he then called Pupo to report what investigators knew at that time.
Pupo asked him to expand the investigation to the rest of the class, Sterk said. “With great reluctance, I agreed,” said Sterk, who said he was hesitant because his agency works with the Police Department on a daily basis.
Detectives then interviewed several more students.
On Tuesday, the findings of the investigation were forwarded to Pupo and to Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker for consideration of possible criminal charges, including official misconduct or obstructing a public servant.
“That’s strictly routine,” Sterk said Wednesday. “For the record, I don’t think any criminal charges will be coming out of this.”
Attempts to reach Tucker for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Even if charges aren’t filed, the announcement was another blow to Chertok, who is being assailed as a weak leader who lacks integrity.
News of the investigation came the day after Spokane Police Guild President Cliff Walter told Pupo that Chertok is an ineffective leader. The guild represents more than 200 commissioned officers on the force.
The guild renewed its criticism of the chief Wednesday in a press release faxed from police headquarters.
Walter stated that all officers - except those on the task force chasing the serial killer - are forbidden from talking about the serial killer case.
“Any member represented by the Spokane Police Guild would be disciplined for violating this order,” Walter wrote.
Sterk’s announcement also prompted the Lieutenants & Captains Association to wade into the fray for the first time.
“The chief of police should be above reproach in matters concerning credibility,” the association stated in a press release also faxed from police headquarters. “This is not the case with Chief Chertok, as questions regarding his credibility continue to be raised.”
Pupo reprimanded Chertok earlier this year for his demeanor during a run-in with a patrol officer. The chief and patrolman got into a heated discussion over the department’s policy on officers carrying jumper cables in their cars.
Chertok said Wednesday he has no plans to resign.
The Ferris incident was simply a gaffe that has since spun out of control, he said.
The chief said he was talking about the serial killer case when he told the students that the task force had received thousands of tips from the public, including at least one about Mangan.
The man who teaches the class said Wednesday he didn’t think Chertok meant to imply that Mangan was a suspect, said Terren Roloff, a spokeswoman for Spokane District 81.
The teacher, Clayton Colliton, declined to be interviewed by The Spokesman-Review.
Roloff said Colliton sat in while detectives interviewed several of the students in his class, and that the kids said they thought Chertok was joking about Mangan.
Pupo had little to say Wednesday on the latest attack against the chief, whom he appointed to take over the 285-officer department in August after an eight-month, nationwide search.
“I’ll put that into the mix of things I’m already looking at,” said Pupo, who is in the final stages of a standard evaluation of Chertok.
Chertok said he thinks the allegations are part of a concerted effort by Police Department insiders to drive him out of Spokane.
Many members of the force wanted longtime Spokane cop Roger Bragdon to replace Mangan, who served as chief for 11 years. Bragdon was eliminated from contention because he did not have a bachelor’s degree, a city requirement for the position. He works for the department as deputy chief.
Chertok, 46, also has said that some members of the force are challenging him because of the initiatives he has talked of implementing, including a possible revamping of the way patrol officers are deployed.
The Lieutenants & Captains Association disputed that Wednesday.
“No individual member of this association is aware of any substantial changes made by or planned changes initiated by Chief Chertok in the police department,” the group’s press release stated.
Staff writer Jeanette White contributed to this report.