Under Investigation
Off-Duty Officers Draw Attention of FBI
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Off-duty police who staff clubs and shows, work which is usually arranged, regulated, and controlled through a group affiliated with the police union called Seattle Security, Inc., has often been the subject of scrutiny and controversy--and rightly so. First, the arrangement can put officers in the precarious situation of taking money from clubs, which can lead to film noir-style corruption, i.e., club owners paying officers to ignore illegal activity or letting the police in on the profits of that illegal activity--like drug trafficking. Worse, cops can start running drugs themselves. An FBI sting in October 2002 resulted in the arrest and conviction of SPD officer Steven Slaughter on drug charges.
Second, hiring off-duty officers to work clubs has been controversial to music-scene advocates because the arrangement can put the SPD in the imperious position of discriminating against certain types of shows. In the past, for example, local regulations have required certain shows to hire off-duty officers, which allowed the SPD to pull the plug on shows they didn't approve of--like hiphop shows or teen dances--by simply refusing to work the show.
Stranger Personals
While the later of those two situations, discriminating against certain venues, has reared its head recently [Five to Four, June 24], sources familiar with the investigation say it's the first issue, corruption and drugs, that has caught the FBI's attention.
Neither the FBI nor the SPD returned our calls.
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