Have they all left Spokane?

 

It has been a while since we have read about a big fraud case here in Spokane, and I’m afraid we might lose our national status as the “Fraud Capital of the Nation”. SPD and the SCSO don’t work big fraud cases and basically leave it up to the Feds despite what you were told in this story.

 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/aug/16/spokane-police-force-hires-fraud-investigator/

 

Come on Mike Ormsby let’s get those folks down there going we have a lot of members of the Defense Bar that need some cases.

 

Most of my readers know how closely I followed this case since I was aware of all of the various local associates Jeffreys had and a lot about his favorite hangout the now defunct “MarQuee Lounge”. Since it used to be my job to keep up on all this kind of stuff when I was working Intel at SPD, I just can’t seem to break the habit… sorry about that.

http://www.inlander.com/Bloglander/archives/2013/06/27/marquee-lounge-is-closing

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/greg-jeffreys-sentenced-8-years-federal-prison-and-ordered-make-93-millions-restitution

 

I always felt that if the Jeffreys case went to trial it would give Spokane folks an idea of how things work here in Spokane, but it didn’t…oh well…that is the way it goes.

 

Another local fraud case I’ve been watching with my Pacer Account roll along and subsequently end… well maybe… is this one…can’t break the darn habit.

 

Perhaps this will help you to remember:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jul/24/spokane-bar-owner-indicted-for-allegedly/

 

Here is the indictment in case you are interested:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ba67a67c-9863-417b-b0da-4070ba0ccc98

 

Here is the Granted Motion to Dismiss in case you are interested:

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/197c88c1-a892-48ad-9fc3-4724698f1e20

 

I kind of look at things differently than most reporters because of my background but the Tangen Dismissal Without Prejudice could mean something… then again maybe not…who knows.

 

Of course Jeremy Tangen has for a long time been pretty close to some of the movers, shakers, and political folks in this town as has his old partner Matt Goodwin. Including Mayor Condon, and a lot of the Downtown Folks.

 

https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.tangen

 

Jeremy also I’m sure has made several friends on the Downtown Spokane BID Board:

 

 

http://www.downtownspokane.org/BIDBoard

 

Jeremy has been on the BID Board for a few years even before he was indicted so he has probably made quite a few friends over the years.

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/09f3de8e-e9da-439c-8b91-0e653bbf5fda

 

I would assume that Mr. Tangen remains on the BID Board because he now is the owner of “Gaslamp” in the Cowles Family River Park Square, which has become kind of a hangout for the Downtown Crew.

 

http://www.gaslampspokane.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Gaslamp-1142132565802010/posts

https://twitter.com/gaslampspokane

 

For some reason it looks like the Gaslamp might be in Steve Tangen’s name.

 

This all kind of reminds me of an old SR Story Bill Morlin did when he worked for the Spokesman Review, I happened to know a little bit about.

 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/oct/08/pub-club-owner-gets-12-12-years/

 

I have quite a bit more on this but I have a meeting I have to go to. 🙂

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!

 

 

What is the plan? Does anyone know?

 

One of the most critical positions in any Police Department is the individual that supervises the Investigative Division simply because investigations done by any Department are always subject to very close scrutiny from the public and the media especially in cases involving misconduct of cops, whether the investigations are criminal or administrative in nature. I was fortunate enough to have some pretty darn good Investigative Division Captains who pretty much allowed me to do my own thing, and on several occasions backed me when a Chief of Police was concerned about SPD’s public image that would result from my investigation.

 

With Mayor Condon’s choice of Craig Meidl as the new SPD Chief of Police, and the very likely confirmation of Meidl as the Chief, both Condon and the City Council, will have created a significant problem not only for SPD, but also other law enforcement agencies who have their Officer Involved Deaths investigated by the SIRR Team. When other law enforcement agencies are being investigated and SPD is the lead agency on the SIRR Team the agency being investigated sure as hell doesn’t want some smart lawyer to bring up the lead investigative agency has a nepotism issue during a subsequent civil litigation which always includes discovery and depositions.

 

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/checks-and-balances/Content?oid=2189002

 

No matter how you cut it Craig Meidl’s appoint of his inexperienced wife as the Investigative Division Captain is a clear violation of the City of Spokane Nepotism Policy. Even the mere appointment of Tracie Meidl violated the Nepotism Policy, so obviously in order to skirt the policy Mayor Condon had to make it appear as if Jim McDevitt was the sole individual responsible for her appointment to the position. Even if you believe that, you have to ask yourself why Craig Meidl wouldn’t strenuously object to it because of the serious Nepotism issue. Any Chief of Police worth their salt knows full well it would cause serious problems and questions.

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/7301ea18-8cfe-44b0-8355-5fa5cc61a248

Is this delegating the supervision of Tracie Meidl to a “panel of officers” the plan? If so boy is that dumb!

 

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/tall-order/Content?oid=2853922

 

 

I think we can add the Nepotism issue to all the other unanswered questions, which given the current political climate will never be asked, or answered without some digging.

 

https://examplepro.me/2016/08/13/unanswered-questions/

 

https://examplepro.me/2016/08/13/unanswered-question-addendum/

 

If you had access to all of the Public Records that I do, I think it would become clear to you that Craig and Tracie Meidl must have a close and loving relationship, which of course is wonderful, but not from the standpoint of leading a police department in the interest of the Community and not the marriage. That is why there are always Nepotism Policies.

There has always been quite a bit of work related interaction between Craig Meidl and his wife Tracie, including him providing her with a copy of a Salute complaint, as I have mentioned in the past.

 

Here is another one of several you might be interested in which Chief Meidl forwarded to his wife. It is regarding the 2015 nearly million-dollar overtime budget overrun projection… interesting especially in light of the ongoing budget process and the staffing analysis. I wonder what 2016 looks like.

 

Don’t get me wrong… EVERY supervisor including Tracie Meidl should have a really good handle on their overtime budget, I just thought it was interesting Chief Meidl forwarded it to his wife right away even though she was outside of the original distribution list, and working directly under the supervision of then Chief Frank Straub.

 

 

The Nepotism Issue is of course just one of the issues the City Council should get specific answers to prior to confirming Meidl, but I for one am not going to rely on them to get those ever so important answers, to ever those so important questions.

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!!

Okay….

http://www.spokanejournal.com/local-news/spd-looks-at-moving-to-precinct-model/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/20/spokane-police-department-moves-away-from-precinct/

What better place to roll out the second time Chief of Police Craig Meidl then at OUR sparkling new Hillyard Precinct to not only pump Meidl’s tires but also attempt to pump the tires of the Condon, Straub, and now City Council costly “Precinct Model” by announcing the old news that C.O.P.S will be moving into the building. Old news because it was first reported here.

“ Here is something you will read here first! An agreement has been made between COPS and SPD to move the COPS Shop which was across the street from the North Precinct into the Precinct, which in my view is just one element of proof Condon and Straub’s highly touted “Precinct Model” is a failure.”

https://examplepro.me/2016/05/11/the-cops-threat/

Here is another piece of news for you! Not only is C.O.P.S moving in, so are Department of Corrections Officers. Now that sounds like a great idea right… right? Well it is but that idea didn’t come from anyone in the Condon Administration or from any cop. It actually came many years ago when there was real Community Oriented Policing at SPD and we set up the Policing Model that became a National Model. The idea for including DOC people in our Community Oriented Policing model, which by the way has been practiced on and off here in Spokane since then was the “Brain Child”, and a good one, of a guy by the name of Jack Brucick who is now the Chairman of the Board at C.O.P.S., and back in the day was a Supervisor at DOC.

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/e5b38260-cb62-4302-9e17-7fc0c4e35856

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19931104&id=LF1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5PADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6895,1619601&hl=en

Many of us retired SPD folks are watching with interest as we watch the Condon Administration trying to get out of the whole they dug, and continue to dig for themselves as they attempt to revert back to the proper way to do things while at the same time try and cover all of the obvious mistakes they have made since 2012, in all honesty it is somewhat fun, but also very sad.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940717&id=aXQfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IPEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6987,3187083&hl=en

So what do you do with a building you purchased from a retired cop to go along with your dumb precinct plan that you have spent a ton of OUR money on? It is pretty simple really… you just fill it with tenants that have a law enforcement focus at no or little cost to them and pretend like everything is going just swell.

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ec9538d2-5567-4909-8818-420d86365367

Don’t get me wrong this is great for C.O.P.S. they are saving $600 bucks a month rent which they were paying at the building across the street, and that is a good thing, but it won’t be if the Mayor and City Council cut what they get from the City in the next budget by an equal amount.

Something else we learned back in the day was that when you “decentralize” in an effort to accomplish true Community Oriented Policing perhaps the most critical aspect is proper supervision and strict accountability something SPD has had, and still does have, a serious problem with. Some cops take the freedom associated with decentralization and run with it actually taking pride and ownership of their little piece of the Community they are responsible for, on the other hand some cops will take advantage of it and simply play the game, so the onus is one first line Supervisors to watch the light weights like hawks.

How do I know? Because I lived it as the East Central Neighborhood Investigative Resource Officer. It took me a while to rebuild the trust, and the politics I had to deal with because Arturo was a minority working in a basically minority community, as well as me being an Irish White Guy, I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940717&id=aXQfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IPEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6987,3187083&hl=en

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940629&id=kC4gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F_EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4843,6003499&hl=en

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940517&id=AfhPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5313,4662845&hl=en

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940517&id=AfhPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3906,4669318&hl=en

If anyone ever read the IA Cases that used to be posted on now Patrol Officer Tim Schwering’s IA Website, which are no longer available, it would be pretty easy for anyone to determine that a lot of the problems outlined in those cases reflect not only on supervision problems but also the fact that SPD is spread out in offices all over the City.

https://examplepro.me/2016/04/03/a-conversation-with-interim-chief-meidl-and-major-justin-lundgrepart-one/

It is the time of the year after the FBI Data comes out that we see stories like this in the media, which primarily show that overall crime has been on a downward trend for a number of years. The AP usually takes the lead and local media follow.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/83d6e98897c445cfab9dc4f9ea6a706c/fbi-data-show-increase-murder-violent-crime-2015

http://www.khq.com/story/33190768/fbi-data-show-increase-in-murder-violent-crime-in-2015

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/26/crime-fell-in-nearly-ever-city-in-spokane-county-l/

http://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/2005/06-17/52980_spokane_crime_rate_higest_among_.html

I liked the way Daniel Walters handled his story in the Inlander including using his own graph going back to 1985 and includes the period of time we developed an Operational and Case Management System at SPD to handle the high case flow with limited staffing. That was back in times past when Property Crimes Detectives carried a caseload of 25-30 cases per month rather than the 6-7 cases per month the most recent SPD data shows (2012)

“You might wonder why I went through the exercise above again…well it has to do with a response by Craig Meidl to a question I asked about the low caseload at SPD. Meidl told me that the reason the caseloads were so low is because it is a lot harder to investigate property crimes today than it was when I was a Cop because investigators had to spend more time searching data from places like Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, and Pawn Records. I thought that was kind of strange in that I would think that all the social media, and data bases would actually make it an easier “gumshoe”, or maybe even no shoe at all.”

https://examplepro.me/2016/04/05/a-conversation-with-interim-chief-meidl-and-major-justin-lundgrenpart-three/

Needless to say some of us retired folks who actually had to work 25-30 cases per month had a good laugh at that one!

“ — the city’s property crime rate has remained relatively consistent for the past three decades. It spikes up sporadically, before returning to a baseline of about 7,500 crimes per 100,000 people.” 

http://www.inlander.com/Bloglander/archives/2016/09/26/spokanes-property-crime-rate-officially-plummeted-more-than-12-percent-last-year-but-its-still-pretty-bad

I didn’t like this comment in the story by Council President Stuckart:

“City Council President Ben Stuckart points to the more decentralized precinct model, increased funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (C.O.P.S.) program, and the decision to hire more police officers as possible reasons for the improvement.”

Obviously Council President Stuckart has been programed into the SPD public face in despite of the fact that many retired cops other than myself have made every effort to bring him and other CC Members up to speed about what is going on at SPD. But the fact is, law enforcement can sell politicians almost anything as long as it sounds good, makes them look good, and the risk of facts and data being checked or investigated is close to nil.

Here is some more interesting stuff to compare.

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/calculating-crimes/Content?oid=2189203

This should be interesting, and seems to go along the lines of fixing something, even if the fix actually, lies with the fixing the organization, means to throw more money at the perceived problem, why not…it isn’t theirs.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/19/mayor-david-condons-2017-budget-calls-for-105-perc/

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS REALLY SAY??

About our wonderful Hillyard Precinct.

As a note of caution I had to hurry through this data because of another story I’m working on, so make sure you check my numbers and please bring any mistakes to my attention. Also please keep in mind I hate easily manipulated CompStat Data, but it is SPD’s own, so I’ll use it. I didn’t do the Downtown Precinct but it looks like the same story there.

For cases like this I prefer to use the actual numbers rather than percentages because I feel it gives a clearer picture. So here you go, and you can make your own call.

Northeast District (P4) Hillyard Precinct

Thus far in 2016 over approximately a 9-month period there has been an INCREASE of 56 Part 1 Property Crime Cases Reported to SPD in the Hillyard District (P4). If the average of approximately 177 reported cases per month established during this period continues SPD would end up with a year-end DECREASE from 2015 of 120 Part 1 Property Crime Cases in the Hillyard District(P4) for 2016. I must point out that Dennis Walters is correct when he states:

“It spikes up sporadically, before returning to a baseline”

So it is hard to say what the final figures will show, law enforcement data fluctuates month to month. But if that data does demonstrate a significant increase, or even if it doesn’t, the City Council should start asking the proper questions during the budget process.

In 2015 there was a DECREASE of 393 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported to SPD in the Hillyard District (P4)

*** The Hillyard Precinct opened March 17^th, 2015 and was “kind of open” for approximately a 10-month period in 2015.

In 2014 there was a somewhat significant DECREASE of 541 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported to SPD in the Hillyard District (P4) *** Prior to the opening of the Hillyard on March 17^th, 2015

In 2013 there was an INCREASE of 323 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported to SPD in the Hillyard District (P4)

Let us compare the Hillyard District to the Central District (P2) where the Public Safety Building Precinct has been located since 1970.

Central District (P2) Public Safety Building

During the same approximately 9-month period as the Hillyard Precinct, the Public Safety Building Precinct had a DECREASE of 30 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported. Projecting forward for 2016-year end using the average of 157 cases per month established during the approximately 9-month data collection period, SPD would show a DECREASE of 360 cases for 2016.

In 2015 there was a DECREASE of 151 Part 1 Property Crimes Cases Reported to SPD for the Public Safety Building Precinct (P2).

In 2014 there was a DECREASE of 239 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported to SPD in the Public Safety Building Precinct.

In 2013 there was a DECREASE of 47 Part 1 Property Crimes Reported to SPD in the Public Safety Building Precinct.

Assuming my numbers are correct it works out this way.

Hillyard Precinct:

2016 DECREASE, 120 CASES **(Projected)

2015 DECREASE, 393 CASES

2014 DECREASE, 541 CASES **(Prior to Hillyard Precinct)

2013 INCREASE, 363 CASES

Public Safety Building Precinct:

2016 DECREASE, 360 CASES **(Projected)

2015 DECREASE, 151 CASES

2014 DECREASE, 239 CASES

2013 DECREASE, 47 CASES

So what do these numbers mean to a Graduate of several boring Law Enforcement Anacapa Sciences Schools ( http://www.anacapasciences.com/company/index.html )

Well… it means Crime is on a downward trend…Pretty Smart, eh? 🙂

What does it mean to me from the standpoint of Mayor Condon, Frank Straub, and now Craig Meidl’s great and costly “Precinct Model”, as well as Council President Stuckart’s attributing the drop in Spokane crime “to the more decentralized precinct model”?

(In honor of the deceased and since reincarnated “Riddler” :))

Just in case you didn’t figure it out from Craig Meidl’s various interviews WE Citizens will be throwing even more money SPD’s way which will primarily be spent on image building rather than police work.

On a side note I’m still trying to get answers regarding the posting of IA Cases for public inspection, but for some reason neither Lundgren nor Meidl seem real interested in communicating with me. That will change I’m sure because of the recent “Transparency Vows”. 🙂

https://my.spokanecity.org/police/accountability/reports/

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!

At least for Karl Thompson with the announcement that Mayor Condon has again picked Craig Meidl over other more qualified candidates.

 

Most folks weren’t aware that Karl Thompson was making every move he could to become the Police of Chief for the City of Spokane. He started the move shortly after he went on the job, including trying to undermine the Roger Bragdon era.

Once Bragdon retired Thompson began to really make his move. Part of that move was to make it well known that he would appoint Lt. Jim Lundgren as his Assistant Chief to try to rally the troops around him. Thompson of course didn’t make it to Chief, Civil Service exams and Otto Zehm stood in his way. Lt. Jim Lundgren retired but as fate would have it to a certain extent Thompson got his wish, at least as far having a Lundgren as an Assistant SPD Chief. In case you didn’t know Meidl’s Assistant Chief is Jim Lundgren’s son Justin.

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/4fcef034-1c28-4ece-9428-b5a2812a6777

 

Strange place this Spokane is… eh?

 

Remember “Hot, Older, God-Fearing Conservative Christian Woman.” Soccermom Susie, who describes herself as a “cougar”?

https://twitter.com/soccermom_susie

 

Susie, who was a frequent commenter on the SR Site would always close her comment with “HEAR OUR VOICE”.

It was always pretty plain to me that Susie either wasn’t from around here or was a “cougar” so long in the tooth that dementia had set in, because it just doesn’t happen in Spokane.

 

Most of the local Bookies are trying to figure out the odds for Meidl’s confirmation by the City Council. The way I have it figured, because it takes some guts, and integrity, and isn’t politically expedient to not confirm Meidl it will likely be the same song second verse.

 

All the City Council folks will have to do is change the name, so it should be pretty easy for them.

 

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!