Literally… According to Public Records!!
I thought I would throw in this story regarding regarding SPD for a bit of levity and to give you a bit of an idea of how things work at City Hall and SPD. Mayor Condon’s predictable move to name Meidl Chief does of course really STINK but more on that later.
To give you an idea of how it STINKS at SPD I’m providing you with some emails from the documents I have. I might that my last predictions regarding how long it would take to turn things around at SPD was 6-10 years. Given the recent turn of events it appears I will have to put it out even further. I hope I’m around when SPD finally becomes something many of us retired folks are hoping for.
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From: Nemec, Sean
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:03 PM
To: Scalise, Frank
Cc: Lundgren, Justin; Mullennix, Scott
Subject: Detective S. Carr statements:
At approx. 0900 hours, Detective Carr came into my office wishing to talk to me. She was holding a surgical type mask. She stated that, “Elise was causing her allergies to severely flair up again and that she was moving her work station into the small interview room next to the mail boxes.
Detective Robertson came into my office at approx. 11:45 am. and wanted to know if Detective Carr had complained about her again. I told her “yes”, at which time Detective Robertson told me that she would be filing a complaint with Sgt. Lundgren for “harassment”. She said that based upon a meeting that she had with City HR, she would file said complaint if ever Detective Carr made such allegations against her again.
Sgt. Sean Nemec
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From: Scalise, Frank
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:08 PM
To: Walker, Joe
Cc: Lundgren, Justin; Mullennix, Scott
Subject: RE: Detective S. Carr statements:
Joe, per our earlier conversation, this looks like it needs to go straight to HR. If you agree, I will send it to Gita.
Frank Scalise
Captain, Strategic and Tactical Ops
__________________________________
From: Scalise, Frank
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:55 PM
To: George-Hatcher, Gita
Cc: Walker, Joe; Mullennix, Scott
Subject: FW: Detective S. Carr statements:
Gita,
It is my understanding that you are well aware of the details of this situation referenced below. I am referring it to you, since both sides of the issue seemed to reside in HR territory. Let me know what you need from me, Commander Walker or Lieutenant Mullennix to either resolve the situation or take appropriate action.
Thanks,
Frank
Frank Scalise
Captain, Strategic and Tactical Ops
_____________________________________________
From: Scalise, Frank
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:55 PM
To: George-Hatcher, Gita
Cc: Walker, Joe; Mullennix, Scott
Subject: FW: Detective S. Carr statements:
Gita,
It is my understanding that you are well aware of the details of this situation referenced below. I am referring it to you, since both sides of the issue seemed to reside in HR territory. Let me know what you need from me, Commander Walker or Lieutenant Mullennix to either resolve the situation or take appropriate action.
Thanks,
Frank
Frank Scalise Captain, Strategic and Tactical Ops
___________________________________________
From: George-Hatcher, Gita
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 11:16 AM
To: Scalise, Frank
Cc: Walker, Joe; Mullennix, Scott; Lowe, Heather; Wuthrich, Ernest; Jacobson, Erin; Meidl, Craig
Subject: RE: Detective S. Carr statements:
Importance: High
Hello all,
I received your information in the emails below and in the meantime, received an email from Elise Robertson as well as Stacey Carr. I believe the approach we need to take at this time is two-pronged. First, we should have Det. Robertson go through the protocols and complaint process under IA with HR being the lead on the investigation – exactly as it was handled in the recent case we handled a few months ago in the Detectives unit. Second, we schedule a meeting with Stacey Carr, her supervisors and Ernie to follow through on the two actions we discussed to addressing this situation if the attempts that were then in the process did not solve the problem. These actions were temporarily set aside because the situation appeared to be resolved for the time being. Those actions were:
- To send Detective Carr for a Fit for Duty Evaluation with respect to her ability to continue to work as a Detective given what appears to be serious fragrance sensitivities that we have attempted to address; and
- To find an alternative work location for the time being while the Fitness for Duty is being conducted that would prevent Det. Carr from coming into contact with the specific fragrance that is being worn by Det. Robertson and that appears to be the main cause of Det. Carr’s sensitivity.
I am also copying Heather Lowe and Erin Jacobson in case they may have additional advice on the direction to take in this situation. I am also copying Asst. Chief Meidl because he had been involved at the last meeting that was held concerning this issue. Please let me know if you are in agreement with the above approaches. Thanks!
Have a wonderful day!
Gita
Gita S. George-Hatcher, M.P.A., C.L.R.P., P.H.R
Human Resources Analyst
City of Spokane
44 W. Riverside Avenue
Spokane, WA. 99201
(509) 625-7083
__________________________________________________
The reason at this point I thought you would be interested in a previous stink problem at SPD is because the email interaction gives you an idea of how HR interacts with SPD to accomplish what SPD wants. I will have more on that later but since, Gita George-Hatcher is one of the players in the Cappel report I thought you might be interested as well as get a bit of a laugh.
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/8cd64d64-9cca-4241-99a0-0405871c0b5a
I HATE IT WHEN I SEE THIS IN A STATEMENT!
CAPPEL: And I’m just going to go off the record for one second because I want to find out what you have heard he said without it being on the record and then we’ll go back on. (WHEREUPON, a discussion was held off record)
THIS ALSO STINKS!!!
But as we all know it is the way the Condon Administration and SPD has been doing business since 2012.
___________________________________
From: Krauss, Benjamin
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:48 AM
To: Straub, Frank; Meidl, Craig; Arleth, Brad
Subject: Position Proposal
Chief Straub, Assistant Chief Meidl, Commander Arleth,
Thank you for the opportunity to propose a position aligned with my education, experience and skill set.
I look forward to listening to your thoughts and input.
Ben
625.4097
____________________________________
From: Meidl, Craig
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 7:08 PM
To: Krauss, Benjamin
Subject: RE: Position Proposal
This is very impressive. Thank you for sending.
Craig
________________________________________
From: Meidl, Craig
Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2013 5:26 PM
To: Krauss, Benjamin
Cc: Straub, Frank
Subject: RE: Position Proposal
Thank you Ben. I will discuss further details with the Chief and get back to you ASAP. A couple of the projects we will be working on together (“code” for you’ll do the work but I’ll get all the credit) include a system for auditing department-wide evaluations for consistency, a revamping of our complaint process (not as ominous as it sounds), and developing a separate leadership development program for sergeants and lieutenants (though this is not a priority as we may use material from the LPO course we are hosting this Fall). This development program would be heavy on the different roles at each level, developing and fostering police legitimacy, etc.
Thank you,
Craig
__________________________________________________
Hi Craig,
Sounds great, I’m ready to move forward on all of this.
Please remember to use proper hand gestures when presenting key ideas and take-away messages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNCrMEOqHpc
Thank you,
Ben
625.4097
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This is real typical of the way positions are made and filled in the Condon Administration, and is typical of what to expect with the pliable, glib, outwardly PC, Craig Meidl. There is of course much more in that regard.
So who in the hell is Benjamin Krauss?
“Mike Fagan, the council’s most conservative member, is being challenged by Randy Ramos, a recruiter with the Spokane Tribal College, and Ben Krauss, an analyst with the city who said he’s running because of Fagan’s views on pay differences between men and women working in city government.”
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/the-contenders/Content?oid=2462464
“Krauss, an analyst with the Spokane Police Department, filed to run against Fagan before suspending most of his campaign because of work.”
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/aug/05/condon-and-lichty-advance-in-mayor-race/
You might want to take a good look at this, as Mr. Krauss’s name may show up again.
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/0ea49cd0-af9a-468f-858f-b0ba7e03ab64
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There is a lot of controversy since Mayor Condon’s effort to install Craig Meidl as the SPD Chief because of his relationship with Karl Thompson and the Infamous Salute. Some of you might enjoy reading my earlier stories regarding the Q & A Mitch Ryals, Rachel Alexander, and I had with Craig Meidl and Justin Lundgren.
But keep this in mind the Otto Zehm case and the Salute were off limits to we reporters. I did however manage to sneak a couple in in that regard.
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From: Meidl, Craig (cmeidl@spokanepolice.org) You moved this message to its current location.
Sent: Mon 3/28/16 3:57 PM
To: Brian Breen
Dir. McDevitt has advised we will not discuss the Zehm incident any further. His reasonings are well documented in the media and I will honor his direction.
The Arleth investigation you asked about last week is still going through due process so I don’t want to get into that.
The City Hall investigation of former Chief Straub is still on-going. As you know from your investigative days, it is imprudent to discuss open active investigations and would be contrary to our SOPs.
Anything that makes me look unintelligent.
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One of the problems Meidl has as far as the Salute is concerned is that his public statements are not consistent with the truth, and he knows that I know that so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to talk about it.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/dec/03/miedl-named-temporary-assistant-police-chief/
The truth is that the “Infamous Salute” was pre-planned and organized by Detective Bryan Tafoya, so for Meidl to say;
“No one realized how negatively the salute would be construed, Meidl said. “The salute was not planned,” he said. “It was spontaneous. Nobody in the courtroom knew anyone from Zehm’s family was there.”
Meidl, who has a military background himself, said his salute after someone said “Present arms” was partly instinctive. He said he was off duty at the time, but as the senior officer present he volunteered to take responsibility for the incident and accept a demotion.”
Simply is not the truth…the question is will there be more of the same?
There is quite a bit more regarding Craig Meidl of course including his time in IA and his conflicts with the OPO, but I won’t get into that at this point, other than to just throw a couple of things in to give you an idea where SPD is headed.
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/c56cca73-e514-4bea-9b72-fd3791135556
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Hello and welcome. My name is Barry Bratburd and on behalf of the COPS Office I’d like to introduce
you to Assistant Chief Meidl from the Spokane Police Department, who is here today to discuss use of
force issues. Has your agency been concerned about use of force issues—can you talk about that for a
minute?
Craig Meidl
00:27
You know it seems to be not just use of force in general, but mostly it’s the—tends to be the use of
deadly force—that seems to be the hot topic with most of our community. We had an incident about
seven years ago with one of our officers, who got into a fairly prolonged scuffle with a—turned out he
was a janitor, not working at the time, was schizophrenic—as a result of the scuffle the individual
ended up dying. The officer was charged with civil rights violations, ended up getting convicted and
sentenced for about three and a half years of prison. Another officer pled to perjury and was forced to
resign as well. And seven years later we’re still dealing with some of those issues as well. So that’s led
to a Use of Force Commission that was implemented by the Mayor’s office. As a matter of fact, at the
time the then-mayor had asked the Department of Justice to come in and review the Spokane Police
Department. However, in the process in waiting for the Department of Justice to get back to us, she
implemented a use of force commission, and they came out with 26 recommendations for
improvement—19 of those applied directly to the Spokane Police Department and we’re in the
process of working through those recommendations right now.
Craig
03:36
It’s funny. I was reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, and one of the things he discusses in the
book is we’re never very good at analyzing ourselves. We always look at ourselves through our own
lenses, and despite our best efforts trying to be as accurate as we can, we are still colored by the
lenses that we see ourselves in, and I would say that also applies to uses of force. Especially if you’ve
come from within the department, and you’re promoted from within the department, you’re used to
this system, you don’t know any other system. So you’re not as aware of what other agencies are
doing. And one of the nice things of having Chief Straub come in—and then we’re also having
Department of Justice come in under a technical assistance program letter—and look at our system, is
where can we improve? We think we’re doing pretty good, but we know we can improve. And it’s
always been official when you can have another outside entity come in and examine it and work
collaboratively with you to develop those processes. So I would also throw out that any use of force
policies are more of a, kind of a living, breathing document—they change based on state law, federal
law, case law—so you really do have to constantly be evaluating your use of force policies to make
sure they’re in-line with the law.
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/689f81f5-cd40-4d71-b8b4-43f6c23bb1cc
Needless to say after some of my stories here Craig Meidl doesn’t have time for interviews with me anymore…oh well story of my life! 🙂 🙂
____________________________
From: Meidl, Craig (cmeidl@spokanepolice.org)
Sent: Wed 4/06/16 9:54 PM
To: Brian Breen
Brian
I’m not going to have time to respond to individual requests for reports and don’t want to start that habit. If you submit a PRR, they will make sure this and any future requests are located and redacted as appropriate.
Thanks,
Craig
On Apr 6, 2016 6:40 AM, Brian Breen:
Chief Meidl,
I can’t find anyone who knows anything about the Staffing Analysis RFP or Contract we talked about. Some City Council folks weren’t even aware of it. Would you or Justin have a copy you could share with me?
Brian Breen
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I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!!
Buffalo Brian Breen 