Top cop finalists weigh in

Spokane residents questioned the four police chief candidates at the first public forum on issues ranging from citizen oversight to how each would gain the trust of police officers.

The four finalists for the top cop job, Anne Eschenfelder Kirkpatrick, Linda Pierce, Bruce Roberts and Roger Peterson, took turns being first to answer each question Monday evening.

Pierce, answering one of several questions about citizen oversight, said, “If this is something the community needs, then it’s necessary. What’s really going to matter is what the community needs.”

Citizen oversight, in some form, “is coming for most agencies,” she said.

Kirkpatrick was specific about the form of oversight she would approve. She called it the auditor and monitor system. The Police Department would do the investigation and discipline, but an independent person or group would oversee the whole process.

“I want to give out my own spankings,” Kirkpatrick said.

The forum at the Northeast Community Center in the Hillyard area was one of three planned for this week. Residents will get a chance to question the candidates again tonight and Wednesday.

The forum, attended by about 35 people, was mediated by Shawn Mock, co-chairman of the Minnehaha Neighborhood Council. Residents wrote their questions on note cards. Mike Shea, the city’s human resource director, then edited them.

“We were cleaning them up, not changing them,” said Shea, adding that some of the questions were too “vitriolic.”

Many questions didn’t get asked because of time constraints.

Spokane resident Mary Ann Tripp wanted to hear the answer to her unasked question. It was directed at the two female police chief candidates: “Do you as females feel you are strong enough and have the qualifications to buck this good ol boy system or will you buckle under as all the male chiefs have done?”

Many questions focused on the Police Department’s budget problems and how the next chief would address funding issues.

All four agreed they’ve dealt with trimming money from their own departments, but concurred that the cash flow problem at Spokane’s Police Department was the biggest obstacle they would face as chief.

Peterson would take a look at overall services, but he thought it was crucial not to “sacrifice crime prevention,” he said.

Roberts said his priority in the budget is personnel. But his approach to dealing with the budget would be “leveraging what we have on the ground.”

He also pointed out that of Washington’s 10 largest cities, Spokane being No. 2, the department receives the least amount of city tax money per officer.

“Removing redundancies … and a comprehensive review” were Pierce’s ideas for deciding how to prioritize money.

The candidates were asked what they would do to gain the police officers’ trust if they were selected.

Kirkpatrick would sit down with everyone in the department for a 30-minute meeting, and go into the field with the officers.

Peterson said he’d “sit them down in my office and tell them exactly what I expect of them, and tell them what they can expect of me.”