Slog Jan 28, 2015 2:48 PM

Was This Racist Post Written by the Cop Who Arrested an Elderly Man for "Walking in Seattle While Black"?

by Ansel Herz

Comments

2
Sounds like Officer Whitlatch and her supervisor have a weekly chat.
dwightmoodyforgetsthings on January 28, 2015 at 3:12 PM · Report this
3
All cops are not racist, power-hungry pigs, indeed. But she is.
Fnarf on January 28, 2015 at 3:18 PM · Report this
4
I'M tired of the assumption that all cops are power hungry, racist pigs too, but people like Ofcr. Whitlatch keep making that assumption a really safe and smart one to make.

It sure sounds like the KKK have been sending women as 'sleeper agents' into the police forces. Devious strategy!
treacle on January 28, 2015 at 3:21 PM · Report this
5
If this is the same person/officer - w o w. How on earth??
Achaiwoi on January 28, 2015 at 3:28 PM · Report this
6
And the 'reason being contacted' verbiage is definitely po-po officer speak.
Achaiwoi on January 28, 2015 at 3:30 PM · Report this
7
Please, keep the heat on this one, she needs to go.
WoofCandy on January 28, 2015 at 3:43 PM · Report this
8
She needs a sensitivity training stat.
Jude Fawley on January 28, 2015 at 3:46 PM · Report this
9
Wow. What now, Officer Whitcomb?
hereiswheremynamegoes on January 28, 2015 at 3:52 PM · Report this
10
Any chance this woman is the crazy SPD officer who was pepper-spraying people on MLK Day?
NotYourStrawMan on January 28, 2015 at 3:55 PM · Report this
11
has anyone searched her Pinterest account? Look at this:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/13721973836…
ashleyj.thomas1 on January 28, 2015 at 4:01 PM · Report this
12
OMG, the plot thickens. Wow, just wow.
ooppoddoo on January 28, 2015 at 4:04 PM · Report this
13
Somewhere in Colorado is a law enforcement job opening with Ms. Whitlatch's name on it.
Eric Arrr on January 28, 2015 at 4:10 PM · Report this
14
Wow indeed. The problem is not that there are racist SPD officers (you'll always have some) but that they have no expectation or fear of being properly disciplined when they act on that racism.
Porcupine on January 28, 2015 at 4:21 PM · Report this
15
This pig needs to be fired. Now. The video of her "contact" with the elderly gentleman makes my blood boil!! Demand her firing!!!!
bookman on January 28, 2015 at 4:21 PM · Report this
16
Thank your God that she wasn't around when the WOODCARVER was crossing the street. Someone could have been killed.
Bev on January 28, 2015 at 4:23 PM · Report this
17
As a white, masculine(gender normative), middle aged gay man, I can't remember the last time I faced any real in-person prejudice. I believe white privilege is a real thing. People that live through the experience of coming out as gay like I assume officers Reo & Whitlatch are and don't gain any empathy for the struggles of other minorities are just of little value as people to me.
DJSauvage on January 28, 2015 at 4:26 PM · Report this
18
"I am tired of hearing a black racist tell me the only reason they are being contacted is because they are black solely because I am NOT black."

Maybe she is not angry because she is being called out for racism. Perhaps she embraces it. Maybe what has her so upset is that even when she is stopping blacks for *NON* racist reasons, she thinks that they are jumping to the (correct) conclusion that she is racist. And she doesn't like people jumping to conclusions.
bgix on January 28, 2015 at 4:36 PM · Report this
19
That originally shared article appears to be this, FWIW: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/re…
madcap on January 28, 2015 at 4:41 PM · Report this
20
I am amazed at this attitude, anywhere, in the SPD. Seattle has, generally, been a bastion for progressives so seeing/hearing this kind of behavior/attitude seems incongruous. Sad that SPD is reduced to this level of ignorance and intolerance.
Randommiscellania on January 28, 2015 at 5:44 PM · Report this
21
What a horrible police woman.
rtwjr on January 28, 2015 at 6:02 PM · Report this
22
Officer Whitlatch is also an artist, unless there is another Cynthia Whitlatch in the 206 area code: http://www.sandandpaintfx.com/

I emailed her. I don't believe in harrassing her but she should apologize and shut the fuck up.
B-Roy on January 28, 2015 at 6:14 PM · Report this
23
I think she deleted her account.
scary tyler moore on January 28, 2015 at 6:27 PM · Report this
24
Isn't this where Ed Murray is supposed to show some leadership?

Does he think "counseling" is an acceptable remedy here? Does he believe she should still be in uniform and on patrol?
politickling on January 28, 2015 at 6:29 PM · Report this
25
@13
Why stop at Colorado? I think she'd fit in perfectly in a Putinesque bully police force.
Helenka (also a Canuck) on January 28, 2015 at 6:32 PM · Report this
26
On intersectionality:

http://tigerbeatdown.com/2011/10/10/my-f…
Ruik on January 28, 2015 at 6:37 PM · Report this
27
Sickening. In general, this seems to be getting worse instead of better. Just today, the police cuffed and arrested one of San Francisco's public defenders because she objected to one of them photographing and interrogating a client of hers in the hall outside a courtroom before his charging hearing.

And, @13 - Maybe northern Idaho would be white enough, but I think Colorado actually has people of color.
Calpete on January 28, 2015 at 6:37 PM · Report this
28
She made a left and two rights. No way he swung at her and she came around the block to confront him.
egads on January 28, 2015 at 7:29 PM · Report this
29
Another "bad cop". When do we ever get to SEE these supposed "good cops"? Are they some sort of lost civilization?

Oh, wait, they're just a rhetorical device from people who like police violence but occasionally have their conscience nag at them.
Big Boss on January 28, 2015 at 7:32 PM · Report this
30
Good cops?

I used to believe most cops were good, and that there were just a few bad apples. Like any other job.

But where were all the good cops when Whitlatch arrested the old guy, calling in a backup and the paddy wagon, booking him, reviewing his arrest, deciding whether or not to charge him? Where was the good cop who said "wait a minute, you want to arrest some old black geezer for walking down the street with a golf club for a cain? I don't think that's such a good idea. Leave him be."?

It doesn't sound like there was a single good cop with any scruples anywhere in this entire chain of events that attempted to intervene in any way. This isn't just one rogue bad cop. This is a bad police department, through and through.
Reverse Polarity on January 28, 2015 at 7:47 PM · Report this
31
Oh it gets better. Seems Ms Whitlatch is a Field Training Officer. She has the opportunity to assure that all the cops you encounter in Seattle are of her stripe.

http://www.seattle.gov/police/precincts/…
Lysdexic on January 28, 2015 at 8:01 PM · Report this
32
@30: There was Deputy Chief Carmen Best (a black woman, for the record) who brought him back his golf club and apologized to him for the arrest. A day late and a dollar short if you ask me.
venomlash on January 28, 2015 at 8:07 PM · Report this
33
Calpete @27 I think Eric @13 is mentioning Colorado because we've got a former city attorney now working in Boulder and just in the last week or so it was announced that a Seattle asst. chief (Nick Metz) had been hired as chief of the Aurora, CO PD. Kind of new local joke that we send our rejects to Colorado.
gnossos on January 28, 2015 at 8:38 PM · Report this
34
Good grief. Look at any good batch of statistics and you will see that black people do, in fact, have tons of legitimate reasons to be upset - they earn lower incomes than other races, they are underrepresented in prestigious occupations and at top universities, they are disproportionately crammed into lousy neighborhoods and get arrested, prosecuted, and punished far more often and far more harshly than other races. This guy is pig-ignorant. Sure, there are some people who whine for no good reason or see racism where there is none, but those don't invalidate the fact that racism is real, it's pervasive, and there is a mountain of empirical and scientific evidence to prove it.
Always east coaster on January 28, 2015 at 9:07 PM · Report this
35
You know DAMN WELL that Whitlatch is not the only cop on the force that has this kind of racist mentality. Its purely anecdotal, but IMO every white person with any ties to Seattle police (and even a good number of white cops not with the SPD) has stated that there is a serious, vile, rage filled racism problem within that departments culture. You know shit is bad when one day a King County Sheriff backs away from defending the SPD by saying "yea, were not them" and the next a retired SPD officer admits "the donkeys" (as they are called by the good apples) are prominent throughout the department.

No amount of 'training' will solve it. New leaders come and go, but this kind of shit cant be cleaned with training or 'new hiring standards'. That entire fucking department needs to be fired and either have the city rebuild its police force or have other departments take the job (WSP, KCSD for example).

There are a good amount of lying, racist cops who only took the job because they know its the last one where you can be as racist as you want and suffer ZERO consequences.
araucania on January 28, 2015 at 10:27 PM · Report this
36
This is so sad! it just takes one bad seed to spread a bunch of weeds
verno on January 28, 2015 at 11:47 PM · Report this
37
Was officer Reo also reported for his clearly racist views as well? It's surreal to me that this is happening in 2015 in one of the most progressive cities in the world. Incomprehensible.
imoncaphill on January 28, 2015 at 11:59 PM · Report this
38
@30 I think most cops are 'good' in the sense that the majority would know better than instigate this sort of confrontation, and if they somehow found themselves involved in it, they'd de-escalate gracefully.

Unfortunately, these same good cops also 'have the back' of all fellow cops, good or bad, regardless of circumstances. And pretty much all cops, good or bad, consider this the highest virtue. Which makes a sort of (wartime) logic, but also means that the influence of crappy cops is amplified to the point that even a small handful will poison a whole department. And while I do think a majority of SPD cops are decent, the awful minority is larger than a small handful.
the teeth on January 29, 2015 at 10:25 AM · Report this
39
There's a reason why black people are fearful of white people and hate the situation that they are put into by white people based off of the past. Have you ever look into the history of white brutality against black people and all the hatred that they brought upon black people by white people trying to eradicate genocide erased the black race. by the KKK and now by the police undercover genocide. Come on now people be realistic why people have ugly pass.I myself growing up did not fear white people I fear black people because that's all I was raised around it was hurting each other but until I start reading and Google in the history of white brutality against black people now I understand why.I myself could never have hatred for another race the way white folks have hated white black people.! Now if you know a dog going to bite you, would you walk up to the dog and pet him upside the head knowing that he might bite you based off of his pass history of being known as a vicious dog. Why don't you watch this video the past history of white people burning down black town and killing thousands of people because they did not want them in their communities town and this was right here in United States of America.Black Wall Street Tulsa, OK 1921 Pt 1: http://youtu.be/reN32ieWQpI
ghmerrida111 on January 29, 2015 at 12:09 PM · Report this
40
I find it so sadly ironic that cops, or primarily White keep killing unarmed Black people out of "fear". Based on facts, that would mean anytime a Black person interacts with a White person they should be in "self-defense" mode because White people have done exponentially more violent harm to Black people than the reverse. When a White woman walks up and tries to her nasty ass hands in my hair without permission as happens often, I should be able to punch her,no? How was I to know she wasn't planning to hit me? Yet I can't, because the police would come and potentially shoot me. The USA system of policing and law enforcement is no better than the Mafia, they might actually be worse because the Mafia self-policed and cops don't even have to follow the law they should be enforcing. This violent country breeds more violence and as people continue to lose respect for the police a very dangerous dynamic is bring created.
TampaHershey on January 29, 2015 at 12:43 PM · Report this
41
That fat racist should be terminated. She's a certified liar and racist with zero credibility. An arrest of a black person initiated by that POS will come with questions relative to the actual facts.
rioderek on January 29, 2015 at 1:42 PM · Report this
42
That fat racist should be terminated. She's a certified liar and racist with zero credibility. An arrest of a black person initiated by that POS will come with questions relative to the actual facts.
rioderek on January 29, 2015 at 2:06 PM · Report this
43
On her airbrush website she has motorcycle tank with "IPMC" on it. That's "Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club". The cop that shot a Hell's Angel a few years back was an IPRC member. Who wants the bet the IPMC is a police biker gang?
170mS on January 29, 2015 at 3:26 PM · Report this
44
She has a point that the riots in Ferguson was an expression of race-hatred against whites by the black community. She also points out that blacks pull the race card when stopped by police.

You guys are projecting much to say she did anything wrong here.
sixgun_symphony on January 29, 2015 at 3:32 PM · Report this
45
She has a point that the riots in Ferguson, MO was race-hatred against whites by the black community. She is also right to point out that blacks have a habit of pulling the race card when they are stopped by police. Yes, Michael Brown found justice.

As for many of the comments here, many are projecting much to say the officer did anything wrong.
sixgun_symphony on January 29, 2015 at 3:37 PM · Report this
46
Dear Chief O'Toole,

Please get this power-crazed nut case, Cynthia Whitlatch, out of uniform and off the streets. We need rational, cool-headed police in our city. She clearly is not fit for the task.
rainy on January 29, 2015 at 3:44 PM · Report this
47
@43: that cop who shot the Angel @ Sturgis? President of Seattle Police Officer's Guild.
gnossos on January 29, 2015 at 4:43 PM · Report this
48
The thing that leaves me in such despair is that it takes the average normal person about three seconds to identify this cop as a racist and sociopath. Yet the SPD is run by people who are utterly, utterly clueless. You have to sit down and walk them through this dot-to-dot before it dawns on them that there is possibly maybe perhaps some kind of hint that all is not right with this Whitlatch person. "What, Cynthia? Not Cynthia! Cynthia Whitlatch? Are you sure? We love Cynthia! We put her in charge of training cops. What on Earth could be the problem, pray tell?"

In other words, there's nobody -- nobody -- currently holding a position of responsibility at the SPD who is capable of identifying a racist officer, whether they want to or not. We would literally have to fire the entire police force to even begin to reform it.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn on January 29, 2015 at 5:58 PM · Report this
49
IM tired of this race shit period, I never look at people by their skin color, my father is african american and my mother is like.. blonde hair and blue eyes,I admire the different colors of skin, Seattles really diverse, I still get hated on for being black, Im not one to pull the race card, but I mean what other reason do people have to give me dirty looks when I go to place like trader joes or gap?? maybe its cause Im beautiful MUST be
Amir K. on January 29, 2015 at 9:19 PM · Report this
50
SPD is a gang!! DOJ needs to come take over....If you are not black, you will NEVER understand!!
DeeTee on January 30, 2015 at 3:42 AM · Report this
51
WHO WRITES THE RULES under which law-enforcement operates?

NOT the legislature, maybe an APPOINTED Position?

OR faceless nameless bureaucrats?

?

Thou shalt 'detain' & search, for any reason?

This ain't Germany in the 30's....
BrentHolman on February 1, 2015 at 10:06 PM · Report this
52
WHO WRITES THE RULES under which law-enforcement operates?
NOT the legislature, maybe an APPOINTED Position?
OR faceless nameless bureaucrats?
?
Thou shalt 'detain' & search, for any reason?

This ain't Germany in the 30's....
BrentHolman on February 1, 2015 at 10:13 PM · Report this
53
@47: that's just fucking brilliant. And not shocking.

Still not as bad as other towns, but still leagues of room for improvement.
170mS on February 1, 2015 at 11:25 PM · Report this
54
She has no business being on the force. She harassed that elderly black man and arrested him. That's an abuse of power
Nettie on February 21, 2015 at 2:53 PM · Report this