Fired Seattle cop says he’s a ‘pawn’: ‘We’re beyond a lynch mob mentality here’

The Seattle Police Officer at the center of a controversial use of force incident — that has a federal judge asking questions before approving the new contract — says he regrets how things unfolded, but he deserves his job back.

After being kicked in the face by a handcuffed, verbally abusive female suspect, Seattle Police Officer Adley Shepherd delivered a decisive blow to her face, ending the conflict. The suspect, Miyekko Durden-Bosley, was drunk at the time and resisted arrest. Video of incident was captured by cameras inside the patrol car and Durden-Bosely’s attorney suggests her kick never landed.

Though he said he was following training, Shepherd acknowledges the video doesn’t look good.

“It does [look bad],” Shepherd exclusively told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “I’ve got two little girls at home, a wife, a mother, a sister. I was raised around women, great women, and I’ve never hit them. I understand it looks bad. There’s this big black man … using force.”

As a result, despite sustaining injury to his jaw, Shepherd was fired by then-Chief Kathleen O’Toole for conduct “in stark contrast to the expectations set forth for our officers, and particularly our heightened duty of care to those in our custody.” But after binding arbitration, arbitrator Jane Wilkinson found the termination was too steep a punishment. Instead, the punishment was reduced to 15-days suspension. Shepherd is now owed his job back, along with back pay for the years he’s been out of the department.

But, the city is fighting back.

“I have not been reinstated,” Shepherd told me. “I’ve called the city several times trying to get clarification. As of Friday, I was told by the Seattle Police Officers Guild attorney that it looks like the city will be appealing the binding arbitration.”

Indeed, Mayor Jenny Durkan and Chief Carmen Best have indicated they support an appeal. They plan to file in the next two weeks, according to the Seattle City Attorney’s Office.

“We’re beyond a lynch mob mentality here,” Shepherd said. “And I finally had my say. The arbitrator looked at it. And she made the right decision. I’m trying to move on here.”

Is this political?

The appeal doesn’t come as a shock to Shepherd who says the city has been dragging this investigation along for years, even presenting false evidence. And the arbitrator implies the decision to fire Shepherd may have been influenced by outside pressure on O’Toole.

Shepherd says the city sat on the arbitration finding for three weeks, to give it some distance from the controversial City Council vote on the year’s overdue police contract. The feeling was that this decision could jeopardize the Council’s vote.

“Politics can get in the way,” Shepherd said.

U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, the judge overseeing the consent decree — and reviewing this contract — did not’ appear happy with the decision, arguing, according to the Stranger, that it could indicate an undermining of police reforms.

“I’m trying to get my story out,” Shepherd explained. “It goes back to the initial investigation when manufactured evidence was given to Bob Bragg [at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission]… they gave training, saying that I had this training, [but] the training was developed as a result of this incident, so I didn’t have the training.”

Bragg is a use of force expert. Originally, he indicated the use of force was excessive, Shepherd says, “but after he got my statement and the rest of the information, he changed his opinion saying my use of force was reasonable, and necessary, and policy.”

Indeed, in a statement provided to Shepherd during the investigation, Bragg says, in part:

Since there is no record of him having attended such training it is now my opinion that the “punch-response”was not inconsistent with his training.  In fact,SPD does train in the use of a straight punch in response to a physical assault (OPA statements) and therefore one could argue that Officer Shepherd’s responds [sic] was consistent with his training.

In her finding that the termination was excessive, the arbitrator offers some interesting implications.

“[O’Toole] was new to her position and an outsider, charged with making changes to the culture of the police department, no easy task,” Wilkinson writes. “She needed to send a message to the public, the Justice Department, and the court monitor that the police agency was serious about the consent decree and its revised policy on the use of force.”

Shepherd isn’t willing to name anyone specifically for turning this into a game of politics, but he did tie it to a greater movement to demonize cops.

“I’m a pawn in this game,” Shepherd argued. “I’m being used and moved for a bigger purpose. Look around. It’s the attack on law enforcement. We are people. We get hurt. We bleed, we cry just like everyone else. It’s political. It’s … a distraction from what’s really going on.”

Where is the leadership?

From the start, SPOG and his fellow officers stood behind Shepherd. Most cops contacted for their reaction, told me Shepherd acted appropriately.

“People think handcuffs end all threats. Wrong!” one former SPD officer explained to the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “There are ways to put a combative suspect in the car to prevent being kicked. It doesn’t always work. But we don’t train for how to respond to someone suddenly kicking you in the face. Tactical hug next time maybe?”

While Shepherd may be feeling support from colleagues, he thinks the SPD command staff is leaving him hanging out to dry. He was disappointed to learn Chief Best was standing with the mayor to support an appeal to the arbitration.

“It’s binding arbitration,” Shepherd pointed out. “Morale is low, even with this contract, officers are leaving. At a certain point, we need a leader to step up, say the right thing and do the right thing.”

For him, Chief Best isn’t doing the right thing. Chief Best was not available for comment.

Beyond that, Shepherd takes issue with the city’s role in an investigation he’s repeatedly said has been corrupted. They never, for example, investigated Durden-Bosely for the assault against him.

“Seattle is supposed to be all about transparency, but where is it?” Shepherd asks. “Why I’m here … is for my family. Every time this comes out, every time this story breaks, it’s another attack. It’s something that my kids and my wife have to deal with. It’s four and a half years and we have a system. It’s called ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and this is ‘due process.’ Officers don’t have that opportunity. They don’t get to tell their stories. Politicians get to maneuver.”

Shepherd is now telling his story, and part of that is acknowledging that he wished the incident unfolded differently. I asked if he has regrets. He emphatically said he does.

“Yes, in hindsight, yes,” Shepherd admits. “When you’re there, in that moment, and those are options that you have. 1.056 seconds — that was the time from when I was kicked to when I used forced. I was kicked and I responded. That’s how fast that it happened. It was natural. All the experts said that.”

Shepherd doesn’t know what will come of his speaking out. He believes he can still effectively police, which has been a dream job for him. Ultimately, he wants to make sure he’s not defined by what happened.

“This event doesn’t make me,” Shepherd said. “It doesn’t define me. I’m going to take my story back because the image of me that’s projected out there, that’s not me.”

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