Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on
Friday spoke out about disciplinary action within the Seattle Police
Department.
Murray is defending Interim
Police Chief Harry Bailey, who reduced the penalty of Seattle Police Officer
John Marion. Marion originally got a one-day suspension for threatening to
harass Dominic Holden, who is a reporter and news editor for The Stranger
newspaper. The punishment was changed to
Marion being required to get more training.
"While this could be
perceived as a lesser punishment under the current legal framework, Chief
Bailey believes, and I support him, that the framework for this process is
reflective of what is most constructive," said the mayor. "Training. Changing behavior."
The one-day suspension, Murray
says, would not be as effective because Marion, or any other officer who is
suspended, could use vacation pay to make up the hours and income he would've
lost.
Holden says Marion was let off
too easy, and argues that the officer could have been ordered to go through
more training, in addition to the one-day suspension.
"Training is not a
punishment," said Holden.
"Training is what we should be doing no matter what. What police officers do is punish people who
do wrong, and we need the same standards for them as they give us."
Holden also says the interim
chief mis-led city officials, including the mayor, by trying to pretend he had
not reduced the officer's punishment.
"The letter you sent to
the mayor and city council says you concurred with the finding of
misconduct," Holden challenged Bailey during Friday's press conference.
Then he turned his attention to
the mayor.
"If you want to reform a
police department, don't you want a chief who is honest with you?" he asked.
Mayor Murray immediately
responded.
"First of all, I disagree
with you," said Murray. "I
believe we have a chief who is honest and taking action against individuals who
need to have action taken against them."
Holden isn't so sure.
"The police chief has let
him off the hook and that sends a message to all cops that you can commit acts
of misconduct and you can simply wait it out and political forces will free you
later," he said.
If was also disclosed Friday
that Bailey changed the discipline of several more officers, in unrelated
cases.
Mayor Ed Murray has asked for a
review of the entire grievance process.
He hopes that re-evaluating the process will help both the public and
the police department.