Now that the trial of Officer Troy Meade is over and a few wingnuts have come out claiming Everett is Dodge City and you can be killed for being drunk and belligerent, I have to add my observations.
As a 31-year veteran of law enforcement that included two shooting incidents, I can tell you where this debacle is headed. No matter that a jury cleared Officer Meade, the police administrators are interested in only two things: how the department will look and how to cover their backsides.
No doubt the internal investigators have been told to find whatever it takes to fire Officer Meade. My old department had three bibles: a policy manual, a code of conduct manual and an ethics manual. If they wanted to hang you out to dry they could refer to these and work something out and the truth or common sense be damned!
Then the department will have to figure out what to do with Officer Steve Klocker. Seeing his emotional breakdown on the stand, I think the city will send him for a fitness for duty exam and try to get rid of him through a forced retirement or resignation.
The department will have to undergo the scrutiny of the civil trial that will open up training problems, etc. This will cause a great morale problem for the working coppers who have to deal with a public whose only understanding of police work is what they see on TV. The administrators will not face this sometimes hostile public as they are quite insulated in their offices.
I had coffee with other reitrees and we came to the same conclusion: The hate and discontent have yet to begin and we, as a group, would never want Officer Klocker to back us up or roll to a call with us. If this is coming from retirees, what do you think the working coppers think about Klocker? Some may support him, but they’re usually fast trackers who want to be administrators someday so they can armchair-quarterback real cops.
Jim Barrett
Camano Island
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