Fellow cop offers insight into SPD officer who killed himself after drug arrest

Seattle Police Officer Richard F. Nelson was found with a self-inflicted gun shot wound on Jan. 5 after he was arrested and released for possession of cocaine. (richardrickfnelson.jpg)

We received this E-mail from a colleague of Seattle Police Officer Rick F. Nelson offering more insight about him as an officer, and another look at the ongoing concern of fellow officers about the direction of the department and its oversight:

Dori,

I wasn’t his partner, but I was a squad mate of Rick’s and I worked with him every day. I finally listened to some of your podcasts today.

I heard people say Rick was a good cop. Now I want people to know why.

Rick was old school. He knew everybody on the beat he worked. He knew the people that needed a little police attention, and he gave them his attention. He knew when someone needed a helpful reminder, and he knew which people should go to jail. Rick wasn’t interested in his stats or climbing the ladder, he wanted to do his job and clean up the streets that he was out on every day. When Rick was gone on medical leave, people on the street would ask me, “Where’s Ofc. Nelson?” I think they missed him.

Rick was effective.

For the last 3 years though, SPD told Rick they didn’t want him doing his job. Routine contacts turned into complaints which would tie Rick up in our OPA system for months. I know the last complaint against him, from a well known and documented street thug, affected him more than the others. A functional system would have dismissed it. Yet SPD did not. And in the end, charges were filed against the complainant, yet Rick was the one investigated internally.

This job was destroying Rick, and we, his partners, missed the signs. We had no idea.

SPD command has a problem. Our Department is being destroyed from the top down. If there was any trust, it is probably gone now. We don’t answer to our Chief anymore – apparently we answer to the DOJ. Officer Lee is prosecuted for doing his job, but finally the charges are dismissed. Another officer is attacked and rightly defends himself, but instead of the Chief supporting his actions, it becomes the dirty episode known as “the jaywalker that got punched.” And finally, we learn from the media – not our own command staff – that Rick had a problem. Could they not have waited one day to report this tragedy to the media?

Dori, the people of Seattle rely on their patrol officers as their first line of defense. Nobody else will be there to help them when it counts. We all know this. Yes, there are problems. The previous administration fought for and got major changes in the accountability system. But this tragedy is a symptom of a much larger problem – a department that is spiraling downward because officers like Rick, who were very good at what they did, are being told that they were wrong, over and over again.

Rick was a good man who got beat up and spit out. He did better for the people of Rainier Valley than this.

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