The Spokane police ombuds can’t tell the public how officers were disciplined in their reports. It led to misinformation over a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sticker

For years, Spokane Police Ombudsman Bart Logue has felt unable to include the final decision the department makes following an investigation into a police officer.

It hasn’t been much of a problem, he says, until now.

When reporters obtained a report Logue and his office wrote about the investigation into a Spokane Police officer who was fired, the wording in some TV news stories differed based on the incomplete picture painted. In the aftermath of the story hitting the national media, Logue was inclined to stand in front of the Spokane City Council and to say the stories were “misinformation” because the media had misinterpreted the reason why the officer was fired, he said.

The former officer, Bradley Moon, was fired in May after he put a “Let’s Go Brandon” sticker on his patrol car and then lied about it to his supervisors in 2023, The Spokesman-Review first reported.

Logue’s report, filed this year, focused primarily on the investigation surrounding the complaint about the sticker and how Moon told people “Let’s Go Brandon” was actually in support of an acquaintance named Brandon who sustained an injury, and not a public insult to President Joe Biden.

Lying as a police officer is a serious policy violation in most departments – in a worst-case scenario, lying on a police report or falsifying testimony can place an officer on a list of officers deemed untrustworthy and unreliable.

Investigators didn’t buy Moon’s sticker explanation, and he was fired. But Logue’s report doesn’t include that information. It just ends with a summary of what the police department should do better.

The reason, Logue said, is because the wording in the collective bargaining agreement between the Spokane Police Guild, the police administration and the city forbids Logue’s office from disclosing the discipline of an officer.

In the case of Moon’s firing, some TV news stories and outlets from the West Side reported that Moon was fired for affixing the sticker to his patrol car rather than lying about why he did it.

The misinterpretation eventually reached news outlets from as far away as the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom.

Logue told the council in September the vagueness and near inability to include a termination in a report “shows the danger of not being able to be transparent in reporting.” His ombudsman’s office has been carved out of the disciplinary process, so any recommendations his office makes must be policy based, not based on a person’s actions.

At most, the report is just a collection of others’ findings.

“We’re not allowed to comment on the final action. So there’s this gap, at least this window, that we can’t be transparent at all. And I think that probably directly contributed to misinformation,” Logue told The Spokesman-Review last week.

“I think all we could do right now is publish a report, show the facts and let people come to their own conclusions.”

As of Tuesday, Logue said he’s had further discussions with the guild president, Det. Dave Dunkin. Starting in January, Logue said, the office will attempt to include whether there is a disciplinary outcome.

“It is a fact. I am not interpreting them. I will just state what it is, and I think that is in line with the contract,” he said. “We will still refrain from commenting, but fill in that gap. The language is vague, but we are going to try it.”

Dunkin said the investigation into Moon and the report that followed was “a unique situation” where the discipline outcome could have been included to prevent confusion. In other situations, Dunkin said, the outcome is not always the relevant part of the report.

“(Logue) is trying to point out issues that could be improved. Whether or not the officer is disciplined doesn’t change the recommendations,” he said. “The goal is to make sure we are following best practices. With his reports, he is doing that.”

In Logue’s discussions with the guild following the media storm over Moon’s firing, he said both agreed something could change.

“There has to be a path forward that’s better and more clear,” Logue said. “Once we get the (report) through, we will start to set a precedent.”

Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall did not respond for comment Tuesday.