A Seattle police officer fired after allegations of professional misconduct surfaced -- including attempting to break up a domestic-violence arrest -- was correctly barred from working in law enforcement, a King County judge ruled Wednesday.
Officer John Powers was dismissed in November 2005 after department managers came to believe, among other allegations, he was hampering investigations into Belltown clubs for which he provided security when off-duty. Additionally, Seattle Police Department managers alleged Powers distributed Viagra to squad members and gave cocaine to his girlfriend.
Following his dismissal, Powers appealed the department's action and ultimately filed a lawsuit against the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, the state agency that oversees licensing of police officers. In a separate action late last year, the City of Seattle paid Powers' attorney $12,000 in fees to settle a suit alleging that city officials had leaked details of the misconduct investigation to the press.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez issued a written ruling finding that the state commission acted correctly when members revoked Powers' certification to work as a law officer.
According to the ruling, Gonzalez found that "clear, cogent, convincing and substantial evidence" that Powers, for personal gain, interfered with a domestic-violence arrest at the request of his private, off-duty employer. Evidence presented in court documents and in testimony given Tuesday also supported claims that Powers delivered Viagra to three officers between January 2002 and December 2004.
"We're very pleased with the decision of course, especially since the conduct here involved a claim of official misconduct," said Assistant Attorney General Melanie Tratnik, who represented the commission in the case.
That misconduct, according to court documents, included a Feb. 21, 2004, incident in which Powers attempted to intercede as officers moved to arrest a man spotted accosting a visibly pregnant woman.
That evening, two West Precinct officers on patrol near Belltown's Club Medusa saw a man pull the woman from a car and slam her to the ground. According to court documents, the patrol officers had arrested the man when Powers, an eight-year veteran of the department, approached them asking to take over the call.
At the time, Powers was in charge of recruiting and scheduling off-duty officers to work at Medusa and other nearby clubs, earning $4,500 to $5,000 annually in addition to his departmental pay for his efforts. Police later learned the arrested man had served as best man at the Medusa Club owner's wedding.
One of the patrol officers told the training commission he believed Powers sought to "'unarrest' the man and to possibly cover up the crime," Tratnik alleged in court documents.
Calls to Powers' attorney were not returned Wednesday. He has 30 days to appeal the court's decision.
____________________
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/406618_powers28.html
No comments:
Post a Comment