Chertok Conflict Goes Back Selection Process Planted Seeds Of Hostility In Police Department

Alan Chertok’s troubles began before he or anyone else even applied to become Spokane’s police chief.

The controversy that now embroils the city’s top lawman started more than a year ago, when Spokane officials drafted the qualifications for candidates to replace former chief Terry Mangan.

That process and the recruitment and selection of Mangan’s replacement ignited a slow-burning conflict between city officials and members of the Police Department, who say they didn’t have enough influence in picking their new boss.

That rift has grown steadily since Chertok was selected last August, fueled in part by Chertok blunders and his wait-and-see approach to his job.

Last week, the situation exploded, sending Chertok to the brink of unemployment and exposing the vast difference of opinion between City Hall and the Police Department on how to pick a good chief.

In the middle is City Manager Bill Pupo, the man responsible for setting up the selection process that brought Chertok to Spokane.

As the controversy intensified, Pupo remained silent, classifying the ordeal as a personnel matter that he cannot legally discuss. He indefinitely suspended Chertok with pay on Friday.

In the meantime, city officials, Chertok, police and community members look to Pupo to make a decision.

The controversy isn’t having a great impact on the day-to-day operations of the department. Major investigations continue. Laws are being enforced. But it is distracting to police and the community - and damaging department morale.

“I’m not giving Bill direction either way on what he should do,” said City Councilman Jeff Colliton, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee. “But he needs to resolve this in an expedient manner. It doesn’t need to sit out there over everybody’s head.”

No one disputes that Chertok walked into a tough situation when he took the job in August 1998.

Many members of the department were grumbling about the selection process.

Some Police Department employees still complain that they didn’t get to see what qualifications and information the city was seeking from applicants before the packets were sent out nationwide.

They also feel that the selection committee was stacked with civilians.

That’s a problem, because people who aren’t police officers don’t grasp the complexity of law enforcement work or what it takes to lead cops, said Cpl. Cliff Walter, president of the union representing rank-and-file officers.

“They just don’t understand police issues,” Walter said. “I didn’t think any of the 26 people who applied for the job were qualified for it.”

Some Police Department insiders believe they were shut out of the process by City Hall officials who wanted to put their own stamp on the SPD after Mangan’s 11-year tenure.

Under Mangan, the department’s budget nearly doubled, from $15.8 million to more than $30 million today, and the staff increased 27 percent, to more than 400 employees.

That made Mangan popular with his troops but put him at odds with others at City Hall, who saw their own budgets and power reduced to accommodate the Police Department.

Some members of the force also are miffed because the qualifications drafted by Pupo and his selection committee excluded from contention Mangan’s heir apparent - Deputy Chief Roger Bragdon.

Bragdon, a respected 25-year SPD veteran, didn’t have a bachelor’s degree, a minimum requirement drafted by the selection committee.

Pupo disputes the assertion that police officials weren’t involved in the process, pointing out that Walter and Al Odenthal of the Lieutenants & Captains Association were on the selection committee.

The city manager also defended the selection process.

“It gave the community the chance to interact with the candidates and have a real say as to which candidate was selected,” Pupo said.

Some community leaders applauded the process and still support Chertok.

Eileen Thomas, president of the 209-member local chapter of the NAACP, blamed what she called the intransigent nature of the SPD for Chertok’s predicament.

“Who’s making all the noise? Only the cops, no one else,” Thomas said. “I’m mad at the police union because they don’t want change.”

Budget constraints imposed on Chertok, who came to Spokane after a 24-year law enforcement career on the East Coast, also put him at odds with his troops.

Pupo made it clear last year that the growth of the Police Department would be curtailed under the new chief.

Chertok agreed to work under those guidelines, which further alienated him from his troops.

The Police Guild bought billboards around town during this year’s city budget negotiations claiming the department was being short-changed by City Hall while certain crimes continued to rise.

“I understand the feeling that City Hall didn’t want another Terry Mangan - that he was too strong,” Walter said. “They wanted someone that they could control. They didn’t bring Alan Chertok in to run the Police Department. They brought him in to be second-in-command, with City Hall in charge.”

Pupo disputed that assertion as well, calling it “nonsense.”

Chertok did little to help his already tenuous position when he came on board.

Members of the force say they were looking for him to do something to make his mark and establish himself as a strong leader. Instead, as he said he would before he took the job, he adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

“I haven’t been forward a lot because I’ve said all along I would go slow,” Chertok said.

Critics say the lack of action translates to lack of leadership. During Mangan’s first three months on the job, he submitted a plan for recruiting minorities and implemented a ticket-writing quota for patrol officers.

A high-ranking city official who didn’t want to be named said Chertok’s lack of discernible action has caused concern at City Hall. “This is all about performance,” he said.

A dozen patrol officers, interviewed over the past two weeks, agreed.

“Since he’s been here, it feels like we’ve been out at sea without someone at the rudder,” said one patrolman, who didn’t want to give his name.

Chertok has admitted the job has overwhelmed him at times, but said he’s learning and hopes to launch some initiatives soon. The highest rank he attained before coming to Spokane was second-in-command at his last job in Newport News, Va.

The chief’s sometimes abrasive personality and penchant for making inappropriate comments also have gotten him into trouble, giving his critics ammunition to attack him.

Pupo reprimanded Chertok in January after he and a patrolman got into an argument over department policy on jumper cables. The Guild complained that Chertok browbeat the officer.

The chief also upset a clerk at a state Department of Licensing office when he insisted that she call him “Mr. Chertok.” The woman complained in a letter to City Hall that Chertok was rude and condescending.

Then, last week, Sheriff Mark Sterk announced that his detectives had investigated comments Chertok made to a high school class about Mangan being a possible suspect in Spokane’s serial killer case.

Tipsters did suggest Mangan as a possible suspect, but he was quickly cleared, Sterk said.

The sheriff said Chertok’s comments were inappropriate at best and criminal at worst. Prosecutor Steve Tucker later cleared Chertok of any criminal wrongdoing in the case, and the chief apologized.

Chertok said he feels like his every misstep is being pounced on. “It’s just all these little things,” he said.

They’ve added up to big trouble.

Sterk’s announcement sent Chertok’s critics into a flurry of criticism, culminating with Pupo putting the chief on administrative leave Friday.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams was subjected to an overwhelming vote of “no confidence” by the firefighters union nine years ago. Williams, who now has good relations with that union, said Chertok still can recover.

“You’ve just got to work hard to mend those relationships, and keep working hard to keep them good,” Williams said.

Chertok said his Spokane experience has humbled him. He said he feels the situation was stacked against him before he came to Spokane, and since then Pupo hasn’t given him needed support. “I’m often surprised when I go to City Hall,” he said.

But Chertok, who has vowed not to resign, said he worries about the future of the department if he’s forced out.

“They don’t take the long view,” he said of his critics. “What if I leave tomorrow? It will be worse. Because whoever they get to come in here is going to call me and say, `What’s the deal, dude?’ You know what? I’m going to say, `Here’s the deal …”’ Walter acknowledges it may be hard to find good candidates now.

“But it would still be better,” he said. “Right now, we’re paying almost $90,000 per year for someone to open mail.”