Promotion to police chief followed years of misconduct allegations
Washington’s 2021 effort to keep police officers fired for serious misconduct out of law enforcement has not stopped agencies from hiring them, according to an InvestigateWest analysis of state employment records since 2000.
Senate Bill 5051, which took effect in 2021, expanded the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission’s authority to investigate and revoke the certifications of officers separated from agencies over specific types of misconduct. The law also required police agencies across the state to quickly report officer separations and misconduct allegations to the commission.
But the InvestigateWest analysis raises questions about the law’s potency in practice. The review found that law enforcement agencies in Washington, citing unclear language in the statute, have continued to hire officers accused of serious misconduct, and that those officers often manage to avoid a state investigation altogether.
Three cases illustrate the pattern. One officer repeatedly accused of misconduct earned a promotion to police chief, where he allegedly defrauded taxpayers. A second officer, charged with driving under the influence after leaving the scene of a car accident, was never formally investigated by the state commission. A third remained certified in Washington years after another state revoked his certification amid a felony conviction.
InvestigateWest reported that agencies cited unclear statutory language as the reason misconduct-flagged officers continued to be hired.
The reporting was produced by Melanie Henshaw of InvestigateWest and distributed through the Associated Press.