Same old…same old….
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/jul/14/three-men-named-finalists-to-be-next-spokane-polic/
The SR story above is far from media vetting of the three finalists for Spokane’s Chief of Police. I find it interesting that Jonathan Brundt is the lead reporter in the story. If you recall, I have reported that in November of 2013 Addy Hatch of the Spokesman Review was provided a complete package of data and information regarding Frank Straub. The information she was supplied was compiled by individuals who know how to obtain information from a multitude of open and closed sources. When Addy Hatch was provided the information she told the individual providing it that she had assigned the story on Straub to Jonathan Brundt who would write it when he returned from maternity leave. The sordid story of Frank Straub was, as you know, never written, and I wonder IF that story had been written, and was done properly, it would have demonstrated a history of behavior that lead to him getting booted for the third time in a City where he had control of law enforcement and whether we would be in the predicament we are today.
Let’s be clear not one of the three candidates has had a proper vetting at this point. IA files on each individual have not been reviewed, litigations against the three have not been reviewed, LexisNexis searches and reviews have not been done, the results of independent investigations/reviews have not been studied, contacts have not been made with individuals who may have negative information…and on and on.
It is important to understand that all of these individuals have sought Chief of Police Positions other than Spokane, without success. The same was true for Frank Straub, when he ended up in the “City of the Mayor’s Choice”.
If the process below looks familiar…that is because it is primarily the same as was the phony process to pick Frank Straub.
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Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 3:35 p.m.
Spokane Mayor David Condon has named a selection committee to work with the executive recruiting firm to narrow the list of 31 candidates to be Spokane’s next police chief.
The selection committee will work with Strategic Government Resources to identify a list of semifinalists by June 1. SGR has begun its review and evaluation of applicants, which the firm will present to the selection committee. Members of the selection committee are as follows:
- Breean Beggs, City Council member
- Gabe Cabellero, Police Leadership Advisory Committee member
- Shon Davis, Bishop and Overseer of Kingdom Fellowship Church Alliance and president of the Police & Faith Leaders Alliance
- Rick Dobrow, former interim Spokane Police Chief
- Ken Hohenberg, Kennewick Police Chief
- Lori Kinnear, City Council member and chair of the Public Safety Committee
- Bart Logue, interim Police Ombudsman
- Gloria Ochoa-Bruck, City Director of Multicultural Affairs
- Theresa Sanders, City Administrator
Semifinalists will be given 20 days to submit responses to a written questionnaire and a recorded interview answering questions prepared by SGR. That information will be used to narrow the pool to a list of finalists by July 1. Finalists will be interviewed in July by members of separate community panels.
Questions for the finalists
Police Advisory Committee Chairwoman Joan Butler will facilitate the public interview of the police chief finalists, according to a city news release. Questions from the public can be submitted in advance to policechiefsearch@spokanecity.org or in writing at the public interview. The event will start at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the West Central Community Center with a reception. The interview will start at 5:30 p.m.
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Any of the 31 applicants for the position without any doubt would have studied and researched each individual on Mayor Condon’s stacked selection committee and would know exactly what to say and how to say it in order to impress the committee, hell it would be a walk in the park for any candidate to say exactly the right things in their interviews, only a real dope wouldn’t.
As an example, allow me to take, who some believe is the front runner, Robert Lehner. Lehner has of course been around the block so he knows what to say and how to say it to impress some members of the committee. After his research he would know to say, as he has in the past, that law enforcement needs to demilitarize, which in my view is true to an extent, but it is easily said when you are looking for a job and the question is what is his record in that area? Not that great as far as I’m concerned, especially when I review his handling of a case when one of his Elk Grove Officers shot a handcuffed, unarmed suspect in the back of a patrol car with an AR-15. The officer was cleared by the prosecutor, and in a subsequent civil litigation, however as near as I can tell Lehner did nothing to change or review the use of rifles in the Elk Grove PD. Some might ask me since the officer was cleared what is the big deal Breen? My answer is simple read the damn Use of Force Commission Report and the COPS/DOJ Report, see what they say about SPD’s use of rifles and any dope would get my drift.
http://www.egcitizen.com/articles/2015/12/01/news/doc565502da1b9a9637882761.txt
Since as everyone in Spokane knows the sexual conduct of SPD cops has come up over and over again, including one currently charged with rape so one would wonder how Lehner has handled cop rapes in the past…Not very well apparently.
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/e6638408-7a1c-41b3-abf4-f04aa3989fdb
There is of course considerably more info out there including Robert Lehner’s time at the Tucson Police Department, where he also took a shot at their Chief’s job.
Who has the ultimate choice as to who is the next Chief of the Spokane Police Department, and who before making the final decision should do some extreme vetting? IT IS THE CITY COUNCIL FOLKS!!!
The question is; “Will They?”
They didn’t last time, even though they were warned by very knowledgeable people.
“tough questions”???? Okay Amber if you say so!!
There is of course speculation out there that given the set-up going on now at SPD and reported here:
That the right Condon/McDevitt people are in place to continue the culture at SPD they created until the end of Condon’s term and we might not ever have a new SPD Chief until he is gone. Who knows but not beyond the realm of possibility.
I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!!
Buffalo Brian Breen 
It’s like deja vu all over again!
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Looks that way!
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