I like her.
Aside from Interim Police Chief John Diaz, Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has been the only candidate to publicly announce that she wants the job. And she's well qualified, having previously served as police chief in both Ellensburg and Federal Way before moving to Spokane in 2006.
At the police chief search committee meetings I attended in February, several residents stepped forward to praise Kirkpatrick and recommend her for consideration. Linda Hall, a retired Seattle Police Department King County Sheriff officer, testified that SPD mistreats its female officers, both in terms of basic peer respect and sexual harassment. "Women are facing the same kind of BS that they faced 25 years ago," Hall said. "That kind of atmosphere must have an effect on women as citizens, suspects, and victims." Then she urged the committee to give Kirkpatrick's resume "a really strong look."
Other residents seconded Hall's recommendation. This might be why: Kirkpatrick governs her department by five cardinal rules:
No harassing, bullying or discriminatory language, "including zero tolerance of male white-bashing." No lying. No abuse of authority. No insubordination. And nothing that causes lack of trust in the department, such as sex on duty or failing to take a rape report.
As The Spokesman Review reported, "They're character-based," she said of the rules. "People are going to make mistakes. But character-based mistakes are not tolerable." Breaking these rules is grounds for dismissal.
And then there's this: Kirkpatrick testified during the last state legislative session in support of a bill (SB 6590) that mandates "law enforcement personnel be truthful and honest in the conduct of official business." The bill was drafted to fix a loophole in a recent state Supreme Court ruling, which overturned the firing of an officer for lying on the grounds that there was no state law that required officers to be truthful. Now there is. The bill was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire on April 1.
And as the Seattle PI reported yesterday, the Spokane Police Guild's no-confidence vote on Kirkpatrick's leadership abilities was trumped up.
I'm still trying to get a good grasp of all 11 Seattle Police Chief candidates, but so far Kirkpatrick has really impressed me. The Seattle Times has brief biographies of each of the contenders here.