Seattle cop fired for controversial arrest on Capitol Hill

Seattle’s police chief has fired an officer who arrested a man carrying a golf club as a cane.

Officer Cynthia Whitlatch was served with a termination notice for sustained policy violations involving bias, abuse of police discretion, and escalation of a contact on July 9, 2014, according to the Seattle Police Department.

Despite the decision, the police union said it is not finished fighting on this issue.

“I’m just really disappointed that Chief O’Toole has caved into political pressure to make this decision,” said Police Guild President Ron Smith. “The city violated the [city/police] agreement. It says ‘no discipline’ when the investigation is not completed within 180 days.”

Smith points out that the initial complaint over the encounter was by one of Whitlatch’s supervisors in September 2014. He said it took more than 320 days for the disciplinary action to happen. The city attorney’s office says the investigation was done appropriately.

Among the policies Whitlatch is accused of violating: failing to conduct bias-free policing, according to the disciplinary action report. The police department told KIRO Radio that it is letting the report and letter to Mayor Ed Murray speak for themselves.

“This particular case &#8212 involving bias, abuse of police discretion, and escalation of a contact that should have been resolved without any confrontation &#8212 is of great concern to the Seattle community and the Seattle Police Department,” Chief of Police Kathleen O’Toole wrote to Murray and the Seattle City Council.

Whitlatch’s termination was recommended after an internal investigation. She claimed William Wingate, then 69, swung a golf club in a threatening manner as she drove past him on Capitol Hill in 2014. She arrested Wingate, who told her he had used the golf club as a cane for decades.

The issue of racism surfaced after people found Facebook comments from Whitlatch that came across as racist.

“Your behavior towards him during the stop was inappropriately aggressive and unnecessarily escalated the interaction,” O’Toole wrote to Whitlatch.

There were several approaches Whitlatch could have taken that wouldn’t have escalated a non-threatening situation, according to O’Toole. Instead, the officer chose the more confrontational options by doing such things as threatening arrest and holding her nightstick. Despite not having seen Wingate swing his golf club, Whitlatch made the arrest and made a follow-up phone call to the prosecutor a few days later to push for prosecution.

During a hearing over Whitlatch’s conduct, O’Toole noted that the former officer stated she would do nothing differently. To make things worse, Whitlatch was convinced that Wingate’s record related to the arrest was expunged because the judge and deputy chief involved were black, O’Toole wrote to the former officer.