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Seattle Times - United States
24 November 2005

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Seattle Officer John Powers wa

Police chief fires officer, di

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske fired a patrol officer and disciplined two sergeants Wednesday in a long-running misconduct investigation, according to department sources familiar with the inquiry.

But one of the sergeants said Kerlikowske did not uphold the most serious misconduct finding against him, a last-minute move that caught the head of the department's internal investigation unit by surprise.

The sergeant, James Arata, was found to have jokingly referred to a subordinate as a "rat" because that officer had cooperated with FBI investigators looking into the department. But Kerlikowske did not uphold a finding that concluded Arata twice had interfered with investigators and had failed to properly supervise the officer who was fired.

Kerlikowske issued a vague written statement Wednesday afternoon, saying only that he had fired one employee, suspended another, reprimanded a third and had accepted the resignation of a fourth. He didn't release the names of the officers nor any details about the misconduct.

Department sources said patrol Officer John Powers, 44, an eight-year veteran, was fired for multiple acts of misconduct spanning five years.

The firing stemmed from findings by the department's Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), which conducts internal investigations. The OPA submits its conclusions to Kerlikowske, who can uphold, reverse or modify them.

The department did not specify which of the internal investigators' findings against Powers and the others were upheld by Kerlikowske. Officials did not release detailed disciplinary reports, normally made public when officers are punished.

Department sources said internal investigators concluded that Powers used cocaine, took part in a break-in and compromised an FBI investigation by running a computer check on the license plate of an undercover police car for a pawn-shop owner.

Investigators also concluded that Powers, who was then married, while on duty left his patrol district with women he was dating; had sex with a woman in the locker room of the West Precinct in downtown Seattle; and illegally provided the erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra to other officers while on duty, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their jobs.

Powers also drove by the home of a prosecutor who was investigating him, department investigators concluded, resulting in the need for 24-hour police protection for the prosecutor for a period, the sources said. The incident led the department to put Powers on paid leave a year ago.
Powers' former partner, Dustin Ay, resigned in April, shortly after being handed a detailed list of alleged violations of department rules.

Reprimand issued

In addition to Powers and Arata, Sgt. Joel Sweetland was reprimanded for putting a federal informant in danger by identifying him in a police report, sources said. Sweetland, 41, a 20-year veteran, also faced a transfer from the West Precinct, but it wasn't clear if that action was taken.

Arata, 43, who joined the department in 1988, told The Times he was suspended for 30 days without pay � the maximum penalty short of firing.

Kerlikowske would not comment on any of the actions.

Informed of Arata's comments about his discipline, the civilian head of the OPA said Wednesday that Kerlikowske had led her to believe he would uphold the more serious finding.

"I understood that both allegations had been sustained," OPA director Sam Pailca said. She said there apparently was a change that didn't "comport with OPA findings," but that she was not informed about it before it was made.

Pailca said a single finding against Arata "is not an accurate reflection of the OPA investigation," but she declined to describe the additional conduct that Kerlikowske considered.

Department sources said OPA investigators, in a three-part finding, concluded that Arata had failed to supervise Powers by allowing him to leave his district for excessive periods to conduct personal business. Investigators also found that Arata had interfered with an FBI criminal investigation by running the license plate of the undercover police car and by providing false information to a department captain, the sources said.

They also said Arata cut a deal with Kerlikowske in the 11th hour, agreeing not to contest the finding over the rat comment if the three-part finding was dropped.

4-year FBI investigation

Arata and Powers emerged as central figures during a four-year FBI investigation into police misconduct. That investigation began in 2001 but was compromised when Powers learned that a tracking device had been installed in his patrol car. The FBI's Public Integrity Task Force looked into allegations that officers in the West Precinct had used drugs and engaged in criminal activity, and had overlooked illegal conduct at Belltown nightclubs while working as off-duty security guards.

Powers worked off-duty for Club Medusa, one of the city's worst liquor-law violators, and Arata arranged off-duty patrols outside clubs, even though department policy prohibited officers from working off-duty jobs for liquor establishments. No disciplinary action was taken against Arata and Powers Wednesday for those actions, sources said.

State and federal prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, prompting the FBI to turn over its information to Seattle police officials early this year for possible disciplinary action. The standard of proof is much higher for criminal cases than for disciplinary action.

After reviewing the evidence against Powers and meeting with him for four hours last week, Kerlikowske decided the eight-year officer should be fired, according to the department sources.

But he struggled over how to discipline Arata, who has allies as well as detractors in the top ranks of the department, the sources said. In August, Kerlikowske tentatively decided to demote Arata, but he changed his mind after meeting with the sergeant in a required disciplinary hearing.

Kerlikowske has come under scrutiny in the past two years for his disciplinary policies. A citizen board that reviews OPA cases is examining OPA recommendations the chief has overturned. A Seattle Times analysis found Kerlikowske had reversed about one of every four OPA findings between January 2002 and July of this year.

Pailca, the head of OPA, has privately told others that Kerlikowske has repeatedly undermined her office in various cases and that she has grown increasingly frustrated in her job, according to people familiar with her discussions.

"Extreme discipline"

Arata said his suspension will cost him more than $8,000 in lost wages, terming it "extreme discipline."

"The department alleged that I called an officer a name while in the presence of other officers," Arata said in an e-mail sent to The Times on Wednesday. "I have denied saying anything to hurt the tender feelings of this young officer."

Arata said Kerlikowske "sees this case differently and has punished me accordingly."

"This has been an extremely unfortunate event in my life and I am sorry to have brought discredit to my department and myself," Arata wrote.

Arata wrote he had an overall record of outstanding work and that he only supervised Powers for a short time. He said he was able to show that most of the allegations against him were false.

In an interview, Arata wouldn't say if he had agreed not to appeal the discipline or sue the department in exchange for a single finding of misconduct.

License-plate incident

In the second finding, internal investigators had concluded Arata participated in the license-plate incident, which involved an undercover car being used to investigate a Capitol Hill pawn shop suspected of trafficking in stolen goods. On behalf of the FBI, an undercover State Patrol officer had been sent into the shop in the fall of 2002 to try to sell supposedly stolen items to the owner, the sources said.

Powers, a friend of the pawn-shop owner and frequent visitor to the shop, checked the license plate on his mobile computer on Nov. 12, 2002, at about 2:30 a.m., and learned it was registered to a post-office box in Olympia, the sources said.

Cellphone records show Powers immediately called Arata, who also checked the plate then called Powers back within minutes, the sources said.

Powers called the pawn-shop operator about 9 a.m., bringing the undercover operation to an end, the sources said.

The pawn-shop owner, Rob Chandler, disputed that account. He told The Times he was concerned that someone was casing his shop to rob it, and that he routinely alerts police to suspicious activity at his shop. He also said it was another officer � not Powers � who gave him information about the plate.

Arata declined to discuss whether he checked the plate. But he said courts have ruled that an officer can do so at any time, for example at 3 a.m. if a car is the only one on the street and appears suspicious.

Powers and Chandler were implicated in another internal finding, in which investigators concluded Powers waited outside a West Seattle home while Chandler broke into a garage to recover expensive wheels that had been stolen from his car and posted on an Internet auction site.

Powers, who has earned about $66,000 while on paid leave, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. A Renton attorney said to be representing him declined comment.

Sweetland declined comment.

Under department rules, officers may appeal disciplinary findings to an arbitrator or to the Public Safety Civil Service Commission.

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Seattle Times - United States24 November 2005

Police chief fires officer, di

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Seattle Times - United States
24 November 2005