Fire Nicks now

Congratulations to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for pursuing justice for Otto Zehm, and to the Yakima jurors who saw through the Spokane Police Department’s lies and obfuscations to reach a guilty verdict for Karl Thompson in this tragic case.

As one of The Spokesman-Review reporters who worked on the Zehm case, filing public records requests for the video of Zehm’s beating over the resistance of the city attorney’s office, I sensed something was very wrong from the beginning.

Among the early signs of a cover-up: not releasing the video for four months, and only after the newspaper threatened a lawsuit; now-Deputy Police Chief Jim Nicks’ assertions that Zehm “lunged” at Thompson – an untruth Nicks recanted under penalty of perjury in statements to the feds months later.

Although this story will drag on with Thompson’s appeal, a civil trial, possible additional federal charges against other police officers and an external review, one important step could be taken now.

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick should uphold her own “if you lie, you die” policy by immediately firing Nicks. He has disgraced the city and should go now as a signal that malfeasance at the top will no longer be tolerated.

Karen Dorn Steele

Former S-R reporter

Spokane