MILL CREEK — Former Mill Creek Police Chief Greg Elwin said he was put in a “tough spot” of balancing his roles as a father and a public safety leader when he learned that his daughter had multiple warrants out for her arrest.
Elwin agreed to part ways with the city in late April after an investigation found he for months did not arrest his daughter, who lived with him, and allowed her to drive with a suspended license.
“It’s regrettable. I wish it hadn’t happened. But it wasn’t in the manual anywhere. So I just tried to do the best that I could,” Elwin said.
The probe also found that Elwin failed to report to City Manager Michael Ciaravino that one employee had loudly remarked that it would be a good thing “if the city blew up,” according to a letter Ciaravino emailed to the police chief on April 8.
But Elwin said the findings mischaracterized his response.
When the city’s human resources manager originally reported the incident to then-Deputy Police Chief Scott Eastman in May 2019, Eastman told the HR manager that it was a personnel issue, not a criminal matter, Elwin said.
After the city manager asked the police chief about the incident again in October, Elwin said he arranged for Edmonds police to conduct an independent investigation of the employee’s remarks. (On Friday, the Edmonds Police Department was unable to confirm that they were involved in that investigation.)
Elwin’s departure, which the city announced on Thursday, is the latest sign of turbulence in Mill Creek city government.
In April 2018, the police chief was one of four high-level city officials who highlighted issues with a past city manager’s behavior. According to a lawsuit filed against the city, all four of them faced retaliation for the move.
Elwin declined to comment when asked if he felt he was a victim of such retaliation, saying he didn’t have enough information.
He was placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 17 after the Mill Creek Police Officer’s Guild informed the city manager that the guild had voted no confidence in the police chief, documents show.
Mill Creek announced Elwin had separated from the city in a 400-word press release, which noted that the city would make no other public comment, “due to ongoing personnel concerns related to the above events.” At about the same time, Mill Creek released Ciaravino’s 10-page letter in response to a public records request that The Daily Herald filed in late April.
In the letter, Ciaravino informed Elwin that he intended to fire him, outlined the investigation’s findings and gave him the chance to respond.
Under the terms of Elwin’s separation agreement, he was employed through May 1, but “did not receive any cash payment” from the city, according to the release.
Eastman, who has been appointed the department’s acting chief, will continue in that role, the release says.
The city is planning an audit of the department’s management practices, according to the release.
Mill Creek hired Jennifer Parda-Aldrich, an attorney with the Bellevue law firm Sebris Busto James, to investigate the allegations against Elwin.
The first phase of her investigation found a member of Elwin’s family crashed a car in Cowlitz County in April 2017, Ciaravino wrote in the letter. A Longview police officer found methamphetamine and marijuana in the car, and toxicology results show the driver’s blood tested positive for cocaine, according to the findings. The relative’s license was suspended amid a charge of driving under the influence.
Elwin explained that the family member was his daughter. The woman, in her 20s, and her young child moved in with him so she could get back on her feet.
He acknowledged that his daughter was attending school and drove a vehicle to classes regularly.
“She went through a time where she was struggling really hard,” he said, adding that his daughter has a diagnosed mental health condition that she’s now able to manage.
Elwin bailed her out of jail in December 2017, following an arrest in King County for failing to appear in court on the DUI charge in Cowlitz County, according to the investigation.
In July 2019, a Mill Creek police officer found multiple active arrest warrants for the relative and reported that information up the chain of command. Elwin then told the officer he would “take care of it” or “make sure that (his relative) takes care of it,” Ciaravino wrote in the letter.
“Admittedly, I could have done better managing all of that,” Elwin said. “But I didn’t, and I can’t change any of that.”
Rachel Riley: 425-339-3465; rriley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rachel_m_riley.
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