Credit: Garrett Morlan

You may think that after a year of Seattle police officers being caught in scandal after scandal—so many that the Department of Justice launched a full-scale federal probe in March—the police union would cool its rhetoric. After all, the command staff of the police department (along with elected officials at City Hall) has laid a convincing veneer of reform on a troubled department (shuffling command staff, pledging transparency, disciplining officers). But no. The union representing the 1,350 sworn officers is mounting a backlash: The Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG) is throwing an outright tantrum.

Consider the reaction to charges against Officer James Lee. City Attorney Pete Holmes charged the undercover officer—who had kicked a teenage boy in the groin and then kicked him again as the youth lay coiled on the floor—with assault. Holmes said on April 13 that “the officer must be held accountable.”

Who does SPOG think should be held accountable?

Detective Ron Smith, editor of the Guardian, the police union’s newspaper, wrote in last month’s issue that the Department of Justice “should hook up Peter for MALICIOUS PROSECUTION, and book him into the Fed lock-up in SEATAC!!” Not only does SPOG say the officer should be exonerated, Smith calls Holmes’s decision to press charges “a calculated and evil move” that “may temporarily please the rabid 5 percent” of Seattle denizens who resent police.

Officer Thomas McLaughlin (a SPOG board member), meanwhile, calls the prosecution “a giant dark step into the depths of madness.”

SPOG president Sergeant Rich O’Neill wrote in the same issue, “It was the day that politics, rather than the rule of law, inspired a decision to formally charge an on duty officer.” He says patronizingly, “Oh, but the suspect put his hands up!” He argues that the officer who kicked the boy was simply following protocol. “I am confident that the officer will be vindicated, but the damage is done,” O’Neill adds. (He did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)

But this we know: The cop union is arguing that prosecuting this cop is “evil” and the city attorney should be held in a federal jail.

“It’s hard to even dignify it with a response when it’s so over the top,” Holmes responds by phone. “I am not sure what the motives are—it’s definitely hyperbole.” As for the decision to charge Officer Lee, Holmes says that after the suspect was on the ground, “the subsequent kicks were unnecessary and amount to assault.”

The quotes above are only a snapshot of the union’s mind-set. In the May and April issues of the Guardian, SPOG compares the recent DOJ investigation to the federal government’s bloody standoffs at Waco and Ruby Ridge. They express resentment of the city council’s public safety committee chair and scrutiny from the mayor, suggest the six assistant SPD chiefs are “miserable in their inane positions,” and call a “twisted fringe” of the city “the enemy” that has found “new allies… at the very top of SPD.”

The last points hit the problem squarely.

SPOG is losing influence at City Hall—and even among SPD brass.

Originally bolstered by an anti-protester backlash in the 1960s and 1970s, SPOG gained influence when the city ceded some control of the department, delivering the union more power when negotiating new contracts. This mind-set continued under former mayor Greg Nickels and former city attorney Tom Carr, who granted SPOG a 23.5 percent pay raise between 2006 and 2010. Under Nickels and Carr, who enjoyed public-safety union endorsements in their reelection campaigns, the city appeased SPOG by neutering a civilian oversight board by preventing it from requesting specific case files.

But under the new regime of McGinn and Holmes, SPOG seems to be scrambling to find traction. Holmes vowed in May to file a lawsuit that would require the police department to name officers who have complaints of misconduct sustained against them. On June 1, Holmes announced he had found 12 bidders to compete with SPOG’s preferred private law firm that defends officers on the city’s dime (SPOG has threatened legal action). This year, McGinn also named John T. Williams Day, to honor a man shot and killed last August by a Seattle cop, and the council issued 11 police-accountability recommendations that SPOG insists would amount to contract violations if implemented. Amid all of the battles, the mayor’s office has simply stopped bargaining the union contract that expired last December. And as this year’s council election approaches, a SPOG endorsement is a veritable pox on a candidate—nearly all the union’s candidates lost in 2009.

With little political capital in stock, SPOG is filing more labor complaints than city employees can ever remember being active at one time, a source said this month. SPOG is clearly not going down without a fight.

However, officials at City Hall—while they agree on very little else—appear to be in lockstep in their march to put a radically conservative, bullying cop union back in its place. One policy, contract, and prosecution at a time.

Tim Burgess, chair of the council’s public safety committee (and a former Seattle cop), describes the relationship between city government and the police union as “strained, very strained.” He acknowledges that in the past, SPOG “has not been very helpful” but is “confident we can reach agreements with them… through the collective bargaining process.”

Burgess is probably right—the city will likely reach agreements with SPOG. But SPOG probably won’t like it. recommended

40 replies on “Officer Outrage”

  1. Maybe we should be looking at why rank and file cops feel besieged by radical elements in the city they serve. Maybe we should be looking at why some political groups (this editorial board) is making the SPOG a target of opportunity in local political beefs. Maybe we should be asking why the SPD has no leadership from City Hall. The SPD is full of good cops and the constant attacking of their union and membership, instead of individuals actually guilty of wrong doing, by this paper is pathetic.

  4. I love me some “oh the poor cops are so abused” story, but the case in question is too stupid to be defended.

    The undercover cop, who looked like a random street hood, jumped, kicked and pummeled a RANDOM BYSTANDER in a store.

    Sure he was a black kid, and they are nearly always up to no good loiterin and what not, but there is video of the raging freak-show taking the kid down pro wrestling style and beating him on the ground.

    oh and in the waco ruby ridge analogy I want to know which side SPOG thinks they are on, cause it could really work out if they were the corrupt feds.

  7. SPOG seems to have forgotten the fundamental distinction between enforcing the law and being the law. What else could account for their wildly excessive reaction to Pete Holmes’ decision to press charges against the guy who kicked a suspect in the GROIN, AFTER he had submitted? And what else could account for their impassioned defense of Ian “cold blooded murderer in uniform” Birk? They seem to think that because acting like thugs seems to work when they are arresting thugs, they can get what they want from the city by acting like thugs. Newsflash: if you don’t respect the community and its elected officials, they will not respect you either. And if they don’t respect you, they will not give you a raise.

  9. I already posted this in an earlier thread, but it’s too apropos not to review it again. Here’s Rich O’Neill himself:

    Lastly, have your ideas for a “Tooth Filled Barking OPA Review Board” brought to the bargaining table. Everything is negotiable and it just depends on how much “kibbles and bits” that you will offer us. But here is another tip. You better go to COSTCO and get the really big bags!”

    You asked for it, SPOG, now here it comes.

  10. Reading anything about the SPOG right now drives me insane. Theres a group of 5-10 cops (depending on the day) that regularly meet at my workplace. They are beyond embarrassed by the SPOGs actions and words lately. They hate that people read so much about whats being said in the Guardian. To paraphrase one of them- “We dont write whats in there. Yes we are in a guild together, and we sometimes share similar views. But the people speaking the loudest are the ones that most of the officers disagree with anyway.”
    Yes there are total shithole cops and SPD higher ups out there, but from what Ive seen the regular officers are mostly mortified by what their “representatives” have been saying.

  11. SPOG will CONTINUE to support it’s 1255 members…. And will CONTINUE to call out those who tread upon them. Fuck you Dominic….. and take a shower too!

  12. @10 Reports I’ve read say O’Neill was elected to his third term as guild president with a 78% vote. It seems only a minority are mortified by their head union representative.

  13. @13 you would never have enough balls to say that to a PIG……. fuck all you greasy ass, smelly counter-culture pieces of fuckin vermin…. you all are a dredge on society and a boil on society’s ass…. may one of Seattle’s finest crack your head soon!!!

  14. #10, if they are so damned mortified then maybe a few of them should speak out not only against the guild, but the bad apples in their department!

  15. “Holmes vowed in May to file a lawsuit that would require the police department to name officers who have complaints of misconduct sustained against them.”

    The City is trying to have it both ways. Protecting officer’s identities was a recommendation of the panel that met to change the discipline system. Then the City bargained for a clause in the labor contract that forbids releasing identifying information on officers.

    The Guild “bought” that clause – by trading away an economic advantage in another area. It’s how negotiations work.

    But the City has unilaterally decided to abrogate that labor agreement. They aren’t abiding by it, and McGinn and company are refusing to even meet with the Union.

    Since we can’t strike, you bet your ass we’ll be filing more unfair labor complaints.

    And just like this one, we will probably keep winning them.

  16. Rich O’Neill and his top Lieutenants, especially his top bulldog Smith will fight to the death to preserve the rights of the rank and file. This includes the clauses in the collective bargaining agreement that the City agreed to. Da Maya and Da City Lowya best take heed and bow down!

  18. SPD is out of control and that is all there is to it. There are shootings and assaults while on duty. There is their use of force on innocent bystanders that have even resulted in deaths or life-long disability.

    There are also the incidents like the one in Ballard this past winter where some drunk cop decided that he could be belligerent and basically sexually harass and assault two women because he is a cop. And then had the people who came to their aid arrested by his cronies *for defending women who were being attacked by the drunk cop*! And THEN the drunk cop kicked the defenders while they were cuffed and helpless on the ground! Why wasn’t that cop charged?

    Why? Because the victims were women or those protecting them from the illegal actions of the cop. And because the cops think they are entitled to do whatever they want to anyone they want to do it to. That’s SPDs attitude. THAT is what the SPOG is defending.

    I moved out of Seattle recently. It isn’t safe there now BECAUSE of the cops. While I was moving, I was walking through a parking lot and told my daughter about how we were moving to an area where the cops could be trusted because the cops in Seattle will just shoot you for no reason. It turns out that a uniformed LEO from another local jurisdiction was walking behind me when I said it. He just smirked, nodded, and waved at us as we got into my car. Obviously, even the other Law Enforcement Agencies know that SPD is corrupt.

  20. @22

    This is the biggest reason I WON’T move into the city. I really want to, but those guys scare me more than the LAPD. I hate the commute, but I have never lived anywhere else (SoCal included!) that has had such a clusterfuck of pervasive civilian abuse in so short a time period, ever. And it’s constant abuse, there’s no break of years or even months between incidents.

    I know there are good, friendly officers in the SPD and elsewhere in law enforcement. What I don’t understand is why the crooked ones manage to get and keep top positions, ruining the culture for everyone else who works the job. And why there is no accountability for the level of corruption at the top, since it’s pretty obvious to the public.

    The Good Ol’ Boys need to realize the party’s over, you can’t just keep being racist, sexist thugs in the 21st century. It’s not 1950 anymore. We can’t go back to it, no matter how hard you’d like us to try. Ever hear of sensitivity training? I know that’s sooo 1990s, but even that might help a little…

  21. SINCE 1999,I HAVE CONTACTED-ALERTED JOURNALISTS REGARDING A ‘SGT RICH ONEILL’. MAYBE IF YOU ALL HAD LISTENED THEN, WE WOULD NOT BE DEALING AS CITIZENS WITH THIS PRESIDENT OF THE SEATTLE POLICE GUILD NOW.

  23. SPOG is starting to sound almost as credible as the national enquirer. Hey, chickenshit, you seen any sheep around here? lol.

  27. Folks might not remember, but in the 1960s the SPD was essentially the enforcement arm of a criminal syndicate that ran the rackets in the city — cards, prostitutes, cabarets, drugs. Fifty civil servants, mostly police officers, were indicted before the decade was out. Check out William Chambliss’ book On the Take for the whole story.

  28. A mean city is in need of mean police but Seattle is far far far from that need?

    lack of hands on management and an “I don’t care” attitude leads to lawyers being overworked and over paid?

    But “if” Seattle had mean police to deal with a mean city then you can imagine the violence needed to control its mean police?

    muzzles and a sturdy leash? and some foul language scoldings to say the least?

    But then again all of the media incidents are basic “jerks” who were way way out of line.

    you cant defend ignorance at that level and all you can do is beg for mercy and try to show something that is worth showing.

  29. Welcome to America, the land where cops have an absolute power over people who pay their astronomic salaries and benefits. I can’t believe no one is calling to dismantle this union! How can police have a union?! They supposed to serve and protect us, not mobilize and intimidate us. It’s pathetic… how can they be ever accountable if they have an absolute protection and so much room for corruption??? Get rid of this union crap now! It’s our money. They can take that contract and feed it to their spoiled spouses and children for all I know… It’s people’s money and we shouldn’t pay for something that we can’t control, something that can harm and kill us. Might as well start an initiative to dismantle police unions… We do not need parasites in our society anymore than we have already. Criminals are bad, but at least i can run away or fight off. American cops are far more dangerous since they know they can get away with almost anything, besides the fact that you can be injured, they will stain you record with made up charges for the rest of your life, while they go home to their spoiled bratty family who think of them as heroes with a paycheck that you paid for. They are our servers… We gave them a few privileges to protect us, but now it’s out of control. The contract is more important than protecting us! So if those “good cops” don’t agree with the union than vote it down… But lets get real, there is no such thing as a good cop in system like this… It works as an organized crime since no one outside of the police department can investigate or see what they are doing internally, there is no way anyone can be good in there…

    Everyone should be vigilant, always have a recording mechanism with you. have a google voicemail on a speed dial on your phone at least. and if you see something, make a video. Then sue them hard… Sue them until they are all on the streets with their families asking for forgiveness with their high school education and no qualifications… Let the cities go broke so they wake up and understand that their police departments are serious financial liabilities for them…

    Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg, in some places like Miami Beach for example, police has been corrupt and violent for years, they attacked gays, blacks, foreigners, you name it… but since their department is too diverse to accuse it of any bias and residents are not as educated as in Seattle, the parasite lives on… the same can be said for many other American cities with police departments. They are organized, they are smart, they are dangerous, and this country is not free until they exist the way they are.

  30. how come a cop that kicks a man is charged yet a cop that shoots a man 4 times in the back isn’t?

    now that’s fucked up

  31. how come a cop kicks a kid and gets charged yet a cop shoots a man 4 times in the back and kills him is not charged?

    now that’s some fucked up corrupt shit

  32. EXCELLENT STATEMENT MIKEY.
    MY THOUGHTS DURING THE YEARS…WOULD SGT RICH ONEILL WANT HIS WIFE,SISTER,DAUGHTER,AUNT,COUSIN,NEIGHBOR, ETC. TO BE TREATED IN THE SAME MANNER THAT I WAS IN 1999. A 10 MINUTE DISCUSSION, PROVIDING THE BASELINE INFORMATION TO THESE SO CALLED ‘PROFESSIONALS’ THAT ARE PAID WITH OUR CITIZEN TAXES-THE SGT AND OFFICER IN 1999 WERE NOT ADEQUATELY TRAINED-RESULTED IN THE SHATTERED LIVES. MY DAUGHTER WAS LEFT WITH A NON-RELATED MALE AND A NON-RELATED FEMALE ON A FALSE’REPORT’. A SIMPLE PROCESS OF COLLECTING THE BASELINE INFORMATION BY THE ‘RESPONDING’ SGT AND OFFICER WOULD HAVE STOPPED THESE TWO NON-RELATED ADULTS IN THEIR TRACKS. HOWEVER, BASELINE INFORMATION WAS COMPLETELY IGNORED.
    MY DAUGHTER WAS A VICTIM, THE FALSE CHARGES UNDER THE VAWA GRANTS-QUOTAS- WERE APPLIED TO ME-WHILE THE TWO NON-RELATED ADULTS STOOD AND GLOATED- THE MALE DID IRREPARABLE DAMAGE TO MY DAUGHTER.
    THE VAWA QUOTAS ARE SENT IN FOR THE FEDERAL FUNDING. MY DAUGHTER AND MYSELF ARE VICTIMS UNDER VAWA-OUR LIVES SHATTERED-BECUASE A SPD SGT AND AN OFFICER FAILED TO COLLECT THE SIMPLEST OF BASELINE DATA.
    SGT RICH ONEILL’S WIFE(IF HE IS STILL MARRIED) WOULD BE APPALLED, IF SHE HAS A CONSCIENCE.
    I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR OVER 12 YEARS- THE CITIZENS ARE OUTRAGED.

  34. There’s a key on the left side of your keyboard, three up from the bottom. Could you be a dear and just give it a press before you post anything else?

    kthx.

  35. @ 35 That’s because the worse the crime, the more they’re afraid to let a cop answer for it. Get a cop who beats somebody half to death, that’s only a 30 day suspension (reduced to 15 on appeal) but you get a cop who executes a mother holding her daughter and pleading “please don’t hurt my children” and he’s probably going to fry. Same for a cop who executes a preacher for having the balls to ask a cop what the hell he’s doing in his parking lot. Prolly gonna fry. Can’t have cops frying for just doing their job….

  36. NO I WILL NOT,PLEASE BE A DEAR AND UNDERSTAND THE ‘CAPS’ ARE IN REGARDS TO VISION. OH YES, I FORGOT, AFTER 49 YEARS, THIS IS SSEATTLE.

  38. Julie-CHRISTIE! And I was born in this city!
    I’m shocked and saddened by all the change for the worse over the past decade. Seattle is not the city it was when I left in 1997.

    Why aren’t the good SPD cops going after these corrupt scumbag shitheads in power positions?? Did crimelords from L.A. transfer to Seattle PD over the recent decade?

    This sounds more like a drug cartel then a labor union! Unions organize and support workers’ healthcare, compensation, and collective bargaining rights.
    WTF?

  39. The responses here from cops themselves shows exactly why this group needs to be dismantled, and shows exactly the kind of people we have hired under the alleged banner of ‘protect and serve’ and have proven not only that they are of very low intellect, but that these are NOT the people who should hold those jobs. We have a saying now: “It’s the SPD! Quick! Act white!”

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