SPOG wants to force us to keep another racist cop on the force. What's new?

Well I'm glad to know a racist piece of shit gets to keep her job on some kind of bullshit technicality.

King County = Good Cops
Seattle Police = Bad Cops.

So, Captain Davis failed to do his duty and should be fired, an extension should be requested due to previous a Officer neglect (re: Davis), then fire Whitlatch?

I think it is time to fire the entire force and start over. If the guild can't work with the city at all, why should the city continue to work with them?

If Whitlatch keeps her job, then Chief O'Toole should hand in her resignation followed by an Ed Murray recall campaign. Letting a blatantly racist cop walk the street and serve people she holds in contempt should be unacceptable to all but the most corrupt and broken cities in America.

@2 Unions do not exist to protect bad apples. Protecting Cynthia only makes the whole department look bad. Unions exist to collectively bargain wages, benefits and working conditions for their members, as well as represent them in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Collective bargaining requires negotiation between the city and SPD and Ron is only obstructing that process.

@8 Agree. This is getting out of hand.

We are often reminded, when we see a police officer behaving badly, that "not all cops are like that!" That we're focusing on the bad apples, when most cops are good, do their jobs well, etc.

But when the organizations that represent ALL cops defend the bad apples in such ways, the accusation that we're painting with too broad a brush becomes lessened. Sure, a single cop doesn't represent all others, but their organization does. And the organization sucks.

I feel the need to walk to the nearest golf course in groups, how about you?

How about this -- Whitlatch gets to keep her job because the time ran out, but she's placed on unpaid leave and required to report for possible paid duty assignment every morning at 0800, and to remain standing at attention in full uniform until dismissed by her possible supervisor.

@9 - do you know how unions work? They have a duty of adequate representation to their members. That includes disciplinary proceedings. They can't decide to not fulfill their obligations to a member just because. They have to represent everybody adequately, or they'll be sued and lose.

It's a process. In many circumstances it doesn't mean the union agrees with the member's conduct. It means that they are acting as a counterbalance to the employer and protecting the employee's rights. And in the end, if the employee gets fired after the union has represented them appropriately, then the union has fulfilled its duty and done its job.

@11 - your problem is with unions in general, not with law enforcement unions in particular. Unions represent their employees. That means they potentially fight discipline on behalf of their members, whether it's a union representing cops, firefighters, Boeing Engineers, or any other employee group you can think of. If you don't like unions, that's fine, but I'd suggest that becoming a right to work state and allowing employers to terminate people for any reason at all at random isn't a particularly good idea.

You need to separate the dumb things SPOG has said and done (which are numerous) from what their job is under these circumstances. Their job is to represent their member, and do so adequately. That requires them to do certain things. If the city or the administration at SPD botched a disciplinary proceeding, that's not SPOG's problem. It's the union's job to hold the employer's feet to the fire and make sure the rules are followed. If you were a member of a union and were subject to discipline, that's what you'd expect, and you'd be right.

I don't find this too surprising given that actual glaciers move faster than all branches of Seattle government including SPD. This outcome also dovetails nicely with sentiments of SPD from the bottom to the top of their ranks that their prime directive is to protect and serve each other, not us, the citizens.

spd isn't going to break the law in this case? seems like that's one of the things they're good at.

If Ronald Reagan could crush the flight controller's union, Seattle can refuse to sign fucked-up contracts with the corrupt police union. Let the cops go on strike, let them shout to the rooftops that they demand as much impunity as they can get. What do we want? No accountability for our out-of-control violence and racial discrimination! When do we want it? Now!

If these cops had been alive 120 years ago they would have been working for Pinkerton, massacring union steelworkers.

@18 - you have no idea how negotiations on public safety union contacts work. Police and fire union members are legally prohibited from striking, for obvious reasons. Since they cannot strike, they are granted the right to binding arbitration if they cannot agree on a contract and come to an impasse. When the parties go to binding arbitration, they each present their case to an arbitrator, who decides what the contract should be. The arbitrator's decision is then imposed on both sides.

Typically when parties go to binding arbitration, the losing side pays the cost. This is to provide an incentive to resolve contacts in bargaining.

So let's say the city of Seattle does what you propose and basically refuses to negotiate with SPOG. SPOG can file a ULP with PERC, claiming the city is refusing to bargain. And they'd probably win. But they also could declare an impasse and seek binding arbitration. Under your hypothetical scenario, it's extremely likely an arbitrator would side with SPOG and the city would lose, and then also have to pay the costs of the arbitration.

In other words, what your proposing is pointless -- since it gets you nowhere -- and costs more. You should probably educate yourself on how the process works. It'll help you understand why none of this is easy.

Having a strong union defend its members tooth and nail is exactly what you guys like, right ? That's why The Stranger is unionized like those other web news sites, right ?

The fucking SPOA prevents them from doing anything giving the police pretty much carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want with no fear at all for any propriety so that they can even kill any citizen for any reason at all without fear of being called out for it. It's why nobody trusts the police anywhere not just in Ferguson, Missouri.

When human filth gets a badge.... Everyone pays. Will your son or daughtrer be next? Will your mother or father?

Police are the true terrorists of America and their crimes span across the United States with MOST of these degenerates getting away with the crimnes they commit.

America is in a hostage situation.

@22: Aaand fuck you too, buddy. Remember how you don't have to sleep with a shotgun under your pillow in case somebody tries to tie you up and steal all your shit during the night? America's police forces get the job done. They're not perfect, and there is a small but not insignificant fraction of bad cops, but we're so much better off with them than without them.
I'm so tired of idiots like you blaming the police for problems caused by societally-ingrained racism.

@23 lol you think the police keep people safe.

Jesus that union guy looks like he just walked off the set of American History X.

A working person will boast a bout their contributions, a union person will boast about what they got away with.

@24: What are you, a minarchist? Go visit Ciudad Juárez or something, you dumb shit.

A union which reflexively opposes any and all discipline of its members is bad for the good members in the long run. There's a name for good cops who let bad cops continue by refusing to hold them accountable. It's "bad cops."

@29 lol. i'll just go to chicago or detroit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDMfzObv…

@29 if you're so confident about the ability of the police to be in the right place at the right time every time then you shouldn't have any problem going to clean up the bodies of the people that didn't have the minutes it took for the police to get there to save their lives. dipshit

Seattle Police.

Thank you for defrauding the entire city of Seattle for years for accountability that never existed and the millions and millions this cost the entire community and the horrible abuse you have committed over and over against the people of Seattle.

Seattle police are so bad, so corrupt, so abusive they are the only police department with a federal babysitter watching over them. Its not just a few bad apples when every single cop throughout every department of the SPD kept their mouths shut all these year they were defrauding us.

Ask yourself;

How long was the year long federal investigation into the Seattle police?

How have school budgets been effected by all the lawsuits and settlements that resulted from this corrupt police department?

How have all other budgets been effected?

How many Seattle police officers (and their partners) have been proven to lie innocent people into jail in just these past five years? How many of them are still on the street taken peoples freedom?

How much have we paid in settlements?

How much is the bill from Bob Merrick so far AND Do we have accountability now? And we are STILL barred from DRUG TESTING ALL cops in Washington state. Just dirty... Completely dirty.

@31, 32: What about the bodies of the people who were killed even though they had a gun for self-defense?
I mean, if you're going to apply the same impossible standard of save-every-single-person-ever to the cops, you might as well apply it to your apparently preferred method of crimestopping as well. Also, chew on this: having your hand on a pistol might protect you from the occasional mugger on the street, but without the police, who puts an end to organized crime? The day a bunch of law-abiding citizens who AREN'T law enforcement officers, militia, or the army make the mafia back down, THAT is the day I will take your bullshit seriously.

@34 you mean the police? those people that have guns for self defense and still get killed? my standard isn't police protection it's self protection which anti-gunners would prefer law abiding people not have.

the rest of your comment is some dumb shit.