The results of the Seattle Police Officers Guild's vote on Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske came in this week: A majority of the officers say they have no confidence in the chief.
It was no surprise. In the past weeks, it's been hard to find an officer on the street who gave a vote of confidence to Kerlikowske. This weekend, an East Precinct officer said, "I voted with my conscience--nay." An officer who talked to The Stranger two weeks ago said he would "be very surprised if it comes back any other way." ["Confidence Problem," Amy Jenniges, March 14.]
The numbers seem to speak for themselves: The police aren't happy with the chief's leadership. But as it turns out, the vote really isn't about the chief--it's about a woman named Sam Pailca, director of the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA). It's Pailca, with her relentless pursuit of police accountability and initial attempts at making the department more transparent--not Kerlikowske--that has the guild's goat. Sure, Kerlikowske is supportive of the OPA--so are the mayor, the city council, and the public. In fact, it was the previous mayor, council, and chief that answered the public's cry for police accountability. That got the OPA ball rolling. Getting rid of a police chief won't stop it. The cop union is afraid of the future.
For years, the guild has been digging in its heels against forming the OPA. From the collective bargaining over implementing the OPA to tussling over the nitty-gritty details of the OPA's Review Board, this vote is another wrench in the OPA's gears.
It's no secret that Pailca inadvertently sparked the no-confidence vote. On January 18, she published a report on a sustained complaint over a July 2001 jaywalking incident in the International District, a move Kerlikowske approved. In that case, a group of Asian American students was stopped and held for nearly an hour by Officer Jess Pitts, and the students filed a complaint, alleging racial profiling. The OPA found that Pitts didn't racially profile, but was rude--he received an oral reprimand for conduct unbecoming of an officer.
At the guild's next general membership meeting, rank-and-file officers called for a vote. The timing of the vote, though directed at the chief, hasn't escaped notice.
"The impetus was the posting of the report on the Internet," says guild president Ken Saucier.
The vote has given officers reason to voice their discontent at its publication--over and over--for the last few months. And officers have compared it to the treatment of complaints against police Mardi Gras command staff in 2001, which haven't gone public.
"It's an issue of trust," Saucier says. "Will I get fair treatment from the OPA? [Pailca] has never been to department training, and has no police background."
He's exactly right--the OPA director is a civilian, charged with bringing fresh eyes to the department. Pailca is the first one to hold the office, shaping the role since January 2001. Publishing the report was a step toward the kind of citizen oversight Seattle has called for since the '90s.
Pailca has said someone must be doing their job right for the OPA to draw such ire from the rank and file. She's right, and that's what makes the guild uncomfortable--the OPA is becoming what they feared in the beginning. It's a powerful office that can make officers toe the line, even if Pailca intends to do it gently.
"I think police officers understand we have a great deal of concern about the level of scrutiny applied to what they consider to be private employment issues," Pailca says. "The city--through the OPA--has made clear its intentions to balance that private interest with the public's need for open review of the actions of the most visible of our public servants."
So now what? The guild made its stand, and Mayor Greg Nickels says he still backs Kerlikowske. The chief won't be fired, the OPA's not going away, and there will probably be future published reports. Pailca and the mayor plan to make the office even more open.
"The mayor is interested in accountability and transparency, and he supports the chief,'" says Edsonya Charles, Nickels' police policy advisor.
To the chagrin of the guild, that is. While guild leaders hope their vote is listened to, it seems they've just kicked up more dust. It will settle, and Kerlikowske may even leave, but the OPA--with a leader like Pailca--will still be around.
