https://www.inlander.com/spokane/the-hot-seat/Content?oid=6114235
Mitch Ryals the Inlander Gadfly Reporter does a pretty good job of somewhat summarizing some of the dysfunction that has existed on the Office of Police Oversight Commission since its existence was negotiated with the Police Unions by Frank Straub and Mayor Condon then was later approved by the City Council. Deb Conklin has been on the Commission from the get go, and often points out that she is the longest running member, which in my view doesn’t say much when you consider her tenure.
This quote from the Ryals story pretty much tells it all, Conklin has always felt her role aligned with the infamous activist and fraud Rachel Dolezal.
“Conklin denies that she’s been demeaning toward Logue, but acknowledges that her view of the commission’s role aligns with Dolezal’s — that the commission exists to hold the ombudsman accountable, and not necessarily to support the ombudsman or “rubber-stamp” his actions.”
As I have mentioned time and time again, don’t think for a second that the Police Unions didn’t accurately predict that the OPOC, because of the politics involved, would be a dysfunctional mess and far from a “National Model of Police Oversight”. Trust me on this, they have been rolling on the floor laughing from day one, and of course the current secret contract negotiations with the Unions likely do very little to address the issue of Police Oversight.
The people that follow me know that I have been reporting on the DYSFUNCTIONAL OPOC for well over two years, and below you will find just a few of the stories.
https://examplepro.me/2015/10/23/breaking-down-the-opo-ordinance/
Who can forget the concerted effort lead by Deb Conklin to bring in a Minority Canadian Alien with NO EXPERIENCE in Police Oversight to fill the role of Police Ombuds?
https://examplepro.me/2015/11/04/only-in-spokane/
A few more:
https://examplepro.me/2017/10/03/sure-enough-its-the-mayors-fault/
https://examplepro.me/2017/06/12/my-lawyer-is-seeing-dollar-signs-again/
https://examplepro.me/2017/08/17/the-opo-is-po/
https://examplepro.me/2017/09/02/7392/
Another key aspect of the Ryals is this:
“Before the ombudsman commission voted to offer Logue the permanent job last September, for example, Conklin said publicly that she favored another candidate. Nonetheless, she voted for Logue to “strengthen the office by giving him unanimous support of the commission,” she says now.”
Yes, Conklin favored the other Candidate Jacqui MacConnell a former gal Cop, who is now in charge of SPD Internal Affairs, and has been spending a lot of time trying to figure out who leaks stuff to me… it ain’t going to happen young lady! 😊
The question in the mind of many, based upon both public and private statements made by Conklin is whether or not Conklin’s well documented disdain for Logue evolves from the fact that he is male, wears a suit and tie, and is former military, questions that have to be considered in the Big Picture.
It is important to notice that despite Logue’s Human Resources complaint against Conklin, true to form, she refuses to completely disassociate herself from the OPOC, and neither the City Council, nor the Mayor have the political courage to do the right thing and suspend her during the investigation in the interest of preventing behind the scenes power plays, and embarrassment to others some of which I documented here.
https://examplepro.me/2017/09/30/eliminating-a-cancer-from-the-team/
https://examplepro.me/2017/10/12/it-looks-like-it-is-going-to-be-a-bench-clearer/
I had a reporter ask me the other day if I had emails that I haven’t published… well of course I do! Another question I often get is “Where is the Spokesman Review with all of this?”, the answer of course is despite well documented facts concerning such things as a Dysfunctional OPOC, Misconduct Regarding a Suppressor Purchase, a City Employee and the Vice Chair of Sheriff Ozzie’s handpicked oversight group using our time and resources to help his daughter in a Spokane City of the Valley election, among other things… stories about Pickleball seem to take precedence.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/oct/06/pickleball-cabal-growing-sport-takes-tennis-to-cou/
Another question I’m often asked is, “What are the Mayor and City Council doing about all this?”, my answer is, “You would have to ask them, when I do seldom do I get a response.”
Buffalo Brian Breen 