"The citizens of this state, quite frankly, demand and expect that police officers don't lie,"

Washington State

Proposed bill would make it easier to fire bad cops

BY Kim Shepard on January 21, 2013 @ 1:07 pm


Lying and breaking the law should not have to be tolerated from any officer in our state. But Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says he's had to retain several employees who've done just that.

Knezovich has drafted a proposed bill that is now being championed in the legislature by Representative Kevin Parker of Spokane. It would give Police Chiefs and Sheriffs more discretion over the punishment given to officers and deputies who are dishonest or act criminally on the job.

"The citizens of this state, quite frankly, demand and expect that police officers don't lie," says Knezovich. "It's always been public doctrine."

But it hasn't always been an idea enforced by the courts.

In 2009, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled on a case involving a Kitsap County sheriff's deputy who was fired for lying and other misconduct. The court sided with an arbitrator who said the deputy had to be reinstated because honesty was not an essential function of the job.

With that precedent set, Knezovich says he has run into at least two incidents where he tried to fire an employee but was overruled by an arbitrator. In one case, the sheriff says a corrections officer forced a mentally ill, suicidal inmate to strip in his cell and perform ten jumping jacks.

Rest of the Story...
[link to mynorthwest.com]

Last Edited by The Wordsmith on 01/22/2013 10:15 AM