New chapter as Bellevue begins search for next police chief

The city of Bellevue this month will begin the formal process of searching for a new police chief; an opportunity for the department to move forward following years of negative press about the behavior of officers on the force.

Chief Linda Pillo retired from the Bellevue Police Department in April. Her departure came after a series of unfortunate incidents, ranging from officers drinking and driving while off duty to having sex on the job.

“I think it impacted the morale of the staff,” City Manager Brad Miyake said of the negative attention the police department received.

Despite the actions of a few officers, Miyake said crime rates are low and the department as a whole is in “good shape.”

“I don’t have a specific area where I think they’re lacking,” he said, when asked where officers had room for improvement.

Miyake expects the city to attract top-tier candidates in the search for a new chief.

“I believe we’re going to get a great slate of candidates because we have such a good reputation here,” Miyake told KIRO Radio. “Bellevue is growing and with that we’re looking for a great leader in the police department to bring us to that next step and that next level for the city.”

While the search for a new chief has begun behind the scenes, the first of two community meetings on the topic will be held July 17. An open application process will run from August 11 to September 8, with the city manager naming a new chief by the end of the year.

In the meantime, retired Bellevue Police Chief Jim Montgomery has returned to lead the department in an interim capacity.

Montgomery, a no-nonsense Kentucky native who is well-liked among the department’s rank-and-file, was brought in from the outside to lead the department in 1997. He stayed until his retirement in 2007.

During his decade-long tenure, Montgomery oversaw the department’s transition into the 21st Century. The city itself was growing and Bellevue PD needed to grow with it.

“We, the police department, were really behind the curve,” Montgomery said of his early days as chief.

Over the years, he worked hard to bring the agency up-to-date with technology, including the installation of mobile data computers in cars.

As high-rise construction burgeoned downtown, the department moved from “crummy facilities” scattered all over the city, to a more centralized location.

On his watch, the Bellevue Police Department became nationally accredited.

Even in the six years since his departure, the department and the city have changed dramatically. One-third of the agency’s 178 officers were hired after he left.

“I’m impressed with the energy of these newer officers. [They’re] smart people,” he said.

Even Montgomery knows that smart people can make dumb decisions.

“People, as they go through life, they’re going to have issues.”

Even as he enjoyed his retirement in Southwest Idaho, news reached Montgomery of several embarrassing incidents involving officers on the force.

“I knew a lot of these folks personally,” he said. “I worked with them […] I care about them. On the other hand, some of the behaviors I’m disappointed at. There’s no question about that.”

The problems for Bellevue PD began to surface in 2010, when the King 5 Investigators exposed the case of an officer and a dispatcher who had sex several times inside department headquarters, including on a conference room table used by Chief Pillo herself. The officer involved was sent back to patrol and given a four-percent pay cut, although some felt the punishment was too lenient.

In the years since, inappropriate sexual relationships and issues surrounding alcohol consumption have threatened to tarnish the department’s good reputation.

In August 2012, an extramarital affair rocked the department’s command staff. Major John Manning and Capt. Autumn Fowler were demoted for carrying on a secret relationship that included having sex on training trips.

In September 2012, the department suffered perhaps the most embarrassing incident yet. Officer Andrew Hanke and Corporal Dion Robertson were demoted following drunken and disorderly behavior while off-duty at a Seattle Seahawks game. According to an internal investigation, the two harassed a Seattle police office directing traffic outside CenturyLink Field and were removed from the stadium for being “verbally belligerent” and drunk. Hanke later told investigators he drove home blacked out.

In November 2013, Robertson once again made headlines after he drove a department-owned bomb squad vehicle after having drinks at two off-duty functions. He later admitted that his behavior was “inexcusable,” although he said he wasn’t drunk.

Officer Andrew Hanke also made headlines again.

In November 2013, Hanke and another officer, Doug Brennan, were placed on paid administrative leave following a drunken driving incident. Brennan pulled Hanke over on Interstate 90 near Issaquah after he noticed Hanke’s Jeep Cherokee swerving and traveling at a high rate of speed. Although Brennan told Hanke he was “hammered,” he allowed Hanke to get a ride home rather than arrest him for driving under the influence of alcohol. Brennan was fired over the incident and Hanke resigned.

In April 2014, KIRO Radio filed an extensive public disclosure request for all of the department’s internal investigations, dating back to 2009. The documents revealed another case involving inappropriate sexual behavior on the part of an officer.

In February 2013, the Bellevue Police Department received a tip that Officer David Asheim was having an adulterous affair with his therapist. According to the internal investigation, the two had sex in the therapist’s office on multiple occasions over a period of a year. During several of the encounters, Officer Asheim was on duty and in his uniform. He was subsequently suspended for 160 hours, without pay.

While the cases seem to share a common thread, City Manager Brad Miyake said he does not believe there is a culture within the department of officers making poor personal decisions.

Miyake said he believes Chief Pillo handled the cases well.

“I thought that the steps she took were reasonable,” he said. “We ended up taking action quickly and swiftly with officers.”

Moving forward, Interim Chief Montgomery said there needs to be an expectation among officers that they will be held accountable for their actions, both on and off duty.

“At every recruit graduation, I usually say this: ‘All we really need are two rules around here. Rule number one: Don’t do anything stupid. Rule number two: If you wouldn’t do it in front of your mother, don’t do it.'”

“Do we all walk the talk all the time? Of course not,” he said.

Montgomery is a firm believer that officers should be held – and are held – to a higher standard.

“There is an expectation that we’re going to conduct ourselves, both on duty and off duty, in a fashion that is going to be pleasing to not only the public, but also to our moms.”

Montgomery said the city has hired an outside company to determine what the department is doing well and what, if anything, could be done better.

“Despite the fact that we have got a book of accreditation standards that’s as long as your arms, the fact of the matter is there are still things that we could probably do better, but sometimes you’re so close to the forest, you can’t see the trees.”

Still, Montgomery said the department is in better shape than it’s ever been.

“I could not be happier with this new crop of officers that are coming onboard. We are very actively and aggressively in a recruiting campaign to get our numbers up to full strength and we want the best people we can hire.”

Montgomery said he has interviewed 15 to 20 potential new hires over the past two months. He will also have a say in who the new police chief should be.

Miyake said he wants a strong leader and a strategic thinker who can make hard decisions and collaborate well with others.

“I think it’s huge pressure, huge pressure to find the right person to match what the city needs and to bring us into the future here,” said Miyake, who will make the final decision after a nationwide search.

Whether the new chief is from inside the department or outside, Montgomery hopes Bellevue can find someone who genuinely cares about the city.

“This is an easy place to really learn to care about,” he said. “I certainly was able to do so.”

KIRO Radio’s Gillian Friedman contributed to this report.