When you get a response to a Public Records Request with Discs loaded with documents and hundreds of emails as an Investigative Reporter you have to carefully go through each piece of information and see how it relates to various battles going on within the City and County of Spokane.
Aside from the typical “Who will pay for the tater tots?”, you always find some things you just shake your head at, about a quarter of the way through the most recent response I came across this email disseminated by SPD Chief Craig Meidl stating the now somewhat infamous Phil Tyler was going to review SPD Policy as a result of the Dr. Ed Byrnes study of Disproportionate Minority Contacts by SPD.
The email was of course prior to all of the adverse information which was finally made public regarding Tyler, and also prior to the Ozzie/Buff Episodes where I told Ozzie that his Troops as well as Meidl’s Troops, many of whom knew about Tyler’s background had a concern about both of their relationships with Phil Tyler.
https://examplepro.me/2018/03/08/this-is-not-the-guy-i-know/
Ironically Phil reached out to his friend Craig Meidl to participate as one of the “Few Good Men” at his table at the YWCA Women of Achievement Luncheon where women received awards “for raising awareness for domestic violence”.
I think it is pretty easy to understand the concerns some Cops had with the relationship between Meidl and Knezovich, especially with Tyler being an individual Meidl would task with reviewing SPD Policy. Just a little vetting would likely have established it wasn’t a good idea. But perhaps Meidl considered Ozzie exonerating their friend Tyler enough vetting.
You might think I was kidding about “tater tots”:
PRRs almost always reveal some of the political infighting that goes on behind the scenes, like for example Council Member Stratton’s attempts to identify and rein in Mayor Condon’s exempt Crony hiring practices (no easy task), which fortunately she was able to somewhat accomplish through the passage of City Ordinances. One way to tell the battle is on is when the big boss tells his underlings to document all contacts with a Council Member.
Personally, I thought Council Member Stratton’s response to Mayor Condon on this issue was kind of cool. You can read it at its entirety at the link below:
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/c62ca402-f06c-4111-a581-e7b2ea9c8aa9
If anyone has any idea how many SPD Cops are “Grant Funded”, I would sure like you to let me know, because getting that information is like pulling teeth, and the problem is that eventually those Grant Funds run out and you don’t get them back. With contract negotiations going on and the possibility of SPD Cops getting a big raise forcing layoffs, it would be nice to know what the exact numbers are.
Now, thanks to Rachel Dolezal’s (Nkechi Amare Diallo) friend and also a Hunter College Alumni, YWCA CEO Regina Malveaux, we might know a little bit…but then again Cote’s email seems to imply nobody really knows.
It was also interesting to learn that the individual who did nothing to point SPD in the right direction thinks local developer Dr. Marcus DeWood is “somewhat obnoxious”?
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b7e91d43-fdb7-4d31-8405-dc6a9bcf8bad
Image Files:
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/0568a7a7-473f-4b1a-8f9a-7aa6c0d7a797
I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!
Buffalo Brian Breen 