At some point someone has to figure out not only how
dysfunctional the City of Spokane Human Resources Department is but also how
much the complete incompetence is going to cost the taxpayers!
I have 5 CDs I’m working my way
through of Public Records Responses regarding the total mess City HR s in that
it will take some time to get through it all, but I’ll get there hopefully
before Christine Cavanaugh leaves this summer.
Besides the Detective Tofsrud Claim
for 2 Million it looks like the Adriano Eva Claim will be pretty close to the 2
Million mark.
These emails folks are absolutely laughable
especially if you read the HR Investigation.
I’m taking bets on whether or not
this OPOC Complaint against Chief Meidl which is being investigated by City HR
concludes prior to Cavanaugh leaving HR and the end of
Mayor Condon’s term…any tackers?
This actually could be a pretty good deal if done properly
and people are able to put politics and turf protection aside, of course the
idea isn’t original a very similar idea was presented to Sheriff Ozzie
Knezovich during a meeting with him back in 2013.
Knezovich was supposed to present the idea and the memo to
the Spokane Regional Criminal Justice Commission but that never happened so
having a couple of friends on the Commission I had to deliver it personally.
For people that don’t recall back in 2013 the SRCJ Commission came out with a final report entitled ““A Blueprint for Reform,” which was a 58-page document and ended up being a scathing critique of Spokane County’s Systems.
If folks actually read “A Blueprint for Reform” they would
find that the folks that received Kudos from the Commission were the City folks
and not the County folks.
“It is clear that the Municipal Court, and all city
agencies, have been innovative, cooperative and effective,” the draft report
found. “This cannot be said about the District Court. All city agencies are
vehemently opposed to consolidation with the District Court. The District Court
was found to lack cohesion and was unwilling to embrace plainly needed reform,
and unconcerned with the costs of jail sentences and detention before trials
and probation hearings.”
The SRCJ Commission set a five-year timeline for change. In
2015 as a result of “A Blueprint for Reform” the Spokane County Commissioners
established the County dominated Spokane
Regional Law & Justice Council (SRLJC) who have accomplished absolutely
nothing and the reason it hasn’t is because of all the stupid turf wars and agenda
manipulation that goes on day in and day everyone blaming everyone else for all
the log jams. A recent finger pointing exchange between SRLJC Administrator Maggie
Yates and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has been a topic of discussion around the
Court House recently and all indications are that the little gal held her own
and wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
Even SR Columnist/Reporter and Frequent Conservative Critic
Shawn Vestal mentioned just a few of the problems in this column.
More recently SRCJ Chair Judge Maryann Moreno pretty much
laid out the plan in this January 2019 Spokane Public Radio Interview.
My recollection of it at the time was that it was
designed to try to assist in contemplating the building of a new jail. The
building of a new jail was believed to be necessary because our Geiger facility
was going to be closing. It enabled us to sit down and look at all of our
systems and to see if we could do a better job and if we needed a jail and, if so,
how big did we need that jail to be?”
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who has called
for a new jail in the past, said leaders and law enforcement had the right idea
when they combined the city and county jails 50 years ago and this new proposal
would further divide an already strained system. He called city and county
leaders behind the current jail in the late 1960s wise and said taking
misdemeanor offenders out of the county jail likely wouldn’t help with
overcrowding much.
“They combined all of the things for a reason,” he said,
“because its cheaper for the community overall.”
Since Ozzie was just six years old when all the discussion
regarding the move took place, including the battles over who was going to
control such things as Records and Records Management, the Property Room,
Forensics…etcetera, nor was he on any kind of a move committee and most of the
folks involved in that discussion and move have passed on so I wonder where he
came up with all of his knowledge.
As a matter of fact, Ozzie wouldn’t have a clue how hard it
was to park a loaded paddy wagon in front of the old station house when other
Cops parked in front when they weren’t supposed to, or how fun it was to take
prisoners on the elevator up to jail. 😊
If this idea is done right, devoid of all the political crap, turf wars, and self-serving agendas it just might be a start in the right direction. But then again giving the County complete control of the SREC is exactly the type of move the County wants to go along with their growing control of the City of Spokane.
Indeed, they are Ozzie, and poor law enforcement decisions
often add fuel to the fire of the Gun Control Issue” especially when the leader
of a law enforcement agency isn’t willing to admit a critical mistake was made
and instead uses a Murder/Suicide to try and push a new jail agenda.
“Had Deputy Jim Reed arrested Cholewinski for a
misdemeanor, Knezovich added that it may not have mattered mostly because of an
overcrowded jail, which he contends the 61-year-old would have been let out of
within hours of the incident.”
Whether or not the jail was overcrowded, and the length of a
jail stay has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the judgement not to
utilize Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Policy 417 regarding “Emergent
Detentions”.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, meanwhile, said the deputy
simply made a judgment call that “didn’t work out.”
No Ozzie it didn’t work out, but it may have if Deputy Reed
had considered whether or not he had reasonable cause to believe that Dave
Cholewinski person was suffering from a mental disorder or a substance use
disorder which presented an imminent likelihood of serious harm or was in
imminent danger under the fact pattern described.
“There’s no
type of protocol in these situations,” Knezovich said. “Our decisions tend to
be final and life changing.”
Well Oz, the truth is because law enforcement does make law
enforcement decisions which are sometimes “final and life changing” agencies
develop protocols, policies, and procedures like your Policy 417 which covers
his type of case.
I kind of wonder if anyone else is worried about Ozzie’s memory?
I sure as heck remember the Sheena Henderson Murder/Suicide that brought about
legislation which many Gun Rights folks were very concerned about, and Ozzie
also initially refused to fess up and face up
“There’s no way they could have a crystal ball to
know,” the sheriff says.
“At the time, he could have been just fine,”
Knezovich said of Henderson’s emotional state during the Monday interview with
deputies. “Who knows what happened during the 17 hours after we talked to him.”
Although Henderson was a trained officer and
discussed his law enforcement background with deputies during the Monday
suicide assessment, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said it had no
bearing on the conclusion that he didn’t pose an immediate threat to himself or
others. “It was his statements” about looking to the future, getting on with
his life and wanting to be a father to his kids, Knezovich said. “I’ve been on
many suicidal calls and they say the same things, and go on to be just fine.”
He then pulled the trigger on himself, even though
he promised Spokane County deputies less than 24 hours earlier he did not feel
suicidal and would not kill himself, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich
told reporters at a press conference Wednesday.
“He said he would never do that to his kids —
they were his whole world,” Knezovich said.
Instead of blaming his deputies, Knezovich believes
no mental health training for officers could have prevented Sheena Henderson’s
death.
“There’s no way they could have a crystal ball
to know,” Knezovich added. “The only finger to point here is at the
individual who decided to kill his wife and then himself.”
“There was no domestic violence history,”
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said of the Henderson murder-suicide.
“That only works if there’s a history, if we know what’s going on.”
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said he supports both
proposals but warned the department lacks the money to take on additional state
requirements and that it should include funding for local agencies.
“This cannot be an unfunded mandate from the
state,” Knezovich said.
Now here is the real kicker in Jonathan Glover’s SR story!
Knezovich, who’s been critical of a court system
that lets “criminals run free on our streets,” according to an email he sent on
May 3 to several county leaders, said Friday he didn’t want to speculate on
whether his deputy made the right call in not arresting Cholewinski.
Here is a bit of news for you Oz, no you should not
speculate but you sure as hell have a responsibility to the Community as the
leader of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to investigate all of the
circumstances surrounding the decision Reed made and determine a number of things,
including whether or not Reed was properly trained.
Aside from your responsibilities to investigate you have to
consider whether or not, as is often the case, this possibly bad law
enforcement decision will end up being a catalyst for bad law!
“Most journalists frown upon email interviews, arguing they
should only be used as a last resort (which is generally the policy of the
Inlander).”
Not this journalist…oh wait a second…I’m just a
Blogger…sorry about that.
IMO, emails if done properly can establish well documented
in context record of what transpired in an interview or interaction, I use
email interaction all the time unless someone wants to go off the record. I
also do a lot of PRR’s like other media requesting emails and text messages.
So, this “Blogger” doesn’t see a problem especially if it is the only way to
get the story.
In this particular case I’m going to have to side with
Candidate Woodward, if I were her I limit communication between she and Daniel
Walters to emails especially when you look at the facts.
There is no question that other reporters noted that Daniel
Walters tried to “eviscerate” Woodward right from the announcement of her
candidacy and has continued on that course with this story.
I’m not sure folks have noticed that Daniel Walters is often
critical of other reporters work and has a reputation for being “condescending”
and “talking down to people”, as this exchange between former SR Reporter
Rachel Alexander and Walters points out.
The interesting this about the above exchange between Rachel
Alexander and Walters is that Walters was actually taking an oblique shot at
Woodard for her statements about Downtown Spokane.
Gotta wonder why Rob Curley blocked Walters. 😊
Is it hypocritical for a reporter to criticize a political
candidate for wanting documentation of interaction when that reporter himself runs
away and blocks people for asking him legitimate questions publicly about his
organization’s stories?
What is really funny about Walters blocking me when I was asking questions about the Inlander’s coverage of the Audie fiasco and the MSM not checking Audie’s Washington State LEO Commission statues like I did was this Walter’s Tweet where he actually compliments KREM for doing what I did months earlier… go figure?
Buffalo Brian Breen 