76 _Renton Police Department Public Records

7/28/2019 76 _Renton Police Department Public Records

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CO-0311

NATUREO F COMPLAINT:

On January 4, 20111 was made aware of a cartoon style videoon YouTube that involvedan exchange of dialogue between an officer anda jailer who was represented byaclown. This videowent by at least two different names on YouTube and was criticalofthe relationship between the Department andSCORE, SCOREEmployees and othermemb ers of the Department,

It is believedthat both of you were in volved in , or had knowledge of, the creation an dposting of this video onYouTube. As a result of this initial posting on YouTube, a seriesof addition al videos were posted this past week.

EMPLOYEEINVOLVED: Deputy ChiefHHflHB

Violation ofGeneral Orders26.1.1.11.B UnbecomingConduct26.1.1.II.K Un satisfactory Performan ce

26.1,1.II,AA Courtesy26.1,1.11.FF Public Statements26.1.1.II.YY Ethics

SergeantSergeant]A/Sergea

ALLEGATIONS:

Violationof City Policy340-02 U nlawful Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation


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MEMORANDUMMercer Island Police Department

9611 SE 36th Street Mercer Island, W A 98040-3732(206)275-7610 F A X (206) 275-7641

D AT E : May 18,2011

T O : Chief Kevin Milosevich

F R O M : Chief Ed Holmes

R E ; Renton Internal Investigation CO-0311 '

As per your request, I have reviewed Renton's Internal Investigation CO-0311 to determine if the

investigation is complete. I reviewed the written materials as well as the associated video. My

findings are as follows:

A ll of the involved employees were interviewed.

A ll of the appropriate witnesses were interviewed.

All of the relevant questions were asked. Allgermane information is present for you to make a decision relating to a inal disposition

of this investigation.

I find that this investigation is thorough and complete, with no further investigation needed,

Chief of Police


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FINDINGSO F FACT

1 Sgt H^B w a s hired on 3/2/1998 as a lateral officer; hewas. promoted to S ergeant In

January of 2008 ; he has other leadership roles and respo n sibilities as a Team L eader onthe Valley CDU;and is a Department Emergency DrivingInstructor.

2. H l s currently assigned to Patrol Operations as the Sergeant for Squad1A .

3. DC was hired on 2/1/1993 as a lateral officer; he was promoted to Sergeant in1998; Comman der in 2 003; and to his present rank of Deputy Chief in 2007.

4 . , s responsible for the Field Operations Bureau which includes PatrolOperations since January; previously he was responsible for the Support OperationsBureau than included Investigations.

5. S ometime in the middle of December 2 0 1 0 , | H created a cartoon style video aboutthe interactions between the Jail and P atrol.

6. Sornetime in D e ce mb er o f 2 0 1 0 , H in fo rmed |that he was creating a video.

*andA/S(

7. S ometime in the middle of D e c e m b e r, |B shared this videowith

8. At aboutthis same time, attempted to show Commander B ^ B F t h i s v i d e o

using his personal cell phone. Thisattempt was not successful due to some technicaldifficulties.

vas able to onlysee a-couple of characters, but was told by |video was about SCOREan d that it was funny.

I that the

10 , At about the same time, m showed this video to Com man derprovided the link and the two of them viewed It in the officersreport writing room.

11 . m an d had a discussion regarding the posting o f this video on Y ouTubebefore it was posted . H i wanted to remain anonymous, so B | told him to gothe lib rary like everyon e else does to keep it a secret. (To post the video)

12. | B posted ^ i s video on YouTube

13. O n January 3, 2011 at 1506h o u r s , received an email on his Department emailaccount titled, "Unicornmoviessent you a video: "A Penny Tale brought to you by.SCORE".The sender was "YouTubeService".


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26 , Both an d deny re-posting this video.

27. On January6, 2011 at 1500 hours the mon thly Department Leadershipmeetlng was

held in the CouncilChambers. It is believedt h a t | ^ | H I H i f l H ^n c !

' V PW r e

present.

28. At the January Leadership meeting, Milosevichdiscussed this video andthat it wasinappropriate.

29. In mid-January, afterseeing th e SCOREParody video on Y o u T u b e 4 j J P ^ ealized thatthe characters in the videowere similar tow h a t H H I attempted to show him backin D e c e m b e r . ^ U ^ b r o u g h t this issue to my attention.

30 . On January 18, 2011 at 1656 hours,I received an em ail from Sadri. The email containeda document that showed that the original video, "aPenny Tale" was sent by YouTube tob o t h a n d ^ H f e o n January 3, 2011.

31 . O n F ebruary 7, 2011 at 1348 hoursI received an em ailfrom Mayor Law. The email wasan email that was forwarded from the M ayor of A uburn - Pete Lewis. T he ema il had thelink to*the YouTube site to see the SCOREvideo and was sent to the mayor of Tukwilaan d !j

32. O n F ebruary 28, 2011,DC Troxel faxed a request to Google requesting informationabout the video. DC Troxel received a response shortly thereafter statingthat theywould n eed a subpoen a or warrant in order to release inform ation .

33. O n April 16, 2011 at 1810 hours,I received a phone callfrom a former RentonPoliceOfficer-^jJ((((^^J|stated that several new videos were posted on YouTube by"M r Fuddlesticks."

34 . Later that day, I reviewed the new videosthat also included the originalSCOREParodythat was now posted by "M rFuddlesticks."

35. O n April 19, 2011 at our commandstaff meeting at 0900 hours wediscussed the newvideos, flmi realized that n e v e r brought to Milosev ic ' s attention that^ 1 ^ 1 knew who created the originalSCOREParody,

36. On A pril 20, 2011 in the morning, a n d M cC lincy came to my office to discuss apotential responsible party for posting the new videos,

37. In the afternoon on the20 th ^J | j J ^traveled into work on his day off to confrontA t the end of the con versation, agreed to con tact M ilosevich and

state that he had knowledge of who created thefirst video ~ A Penny Tale aka SCOREParody.


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38 . On the 20 t h at 1640 hours, I met with B I B i n h i s

created the original video and posted it on YouTube.couple of days later, m told me that he woulc

knowledge if he wasasked directly.

O n Apri l25,2011 at approximately 0830 hours,I notifiedB I B t h a t he wa s thesubject of an internal investigation. became visibly angry; stated others werebehind this; he stated he did not lie; andthat he did the right thing.

4 0.

a. He was goingto bring up everything he knows about the comman dstaff thatthey have not been held accountable for.

b. He was going to bringup the allegation of untruthfulness he submitted against

c. He believes members of the com man dstaff are mentally un stable.

4 1. HI was interviewed byLeibman. In this in te rv iew|^ | stated:

a. That he created the Penny T alevideo.

b. That S e r g e a n t s ^ J p J U ^ n d D C | m was aware of the video.c. That they a greed to keep Ita secret.d. That B H i was aware of the video prior to it being posted on YouTube.e. That he shared the video withf. That H H I thought it was funny and did not provide any direction to him.g. That he posted it on YouTube,

h. That he sent it to J/g^I That he removed it from YouTube at the request of | |j . That he did not re-post it.k. That the video resonatedwith some department members,I. That it gives the perception to othersthat there are problems with SCORE,m. That it could impact our relationshipwith the Jail.n. That the cloWQ in the video represen ts the Jail.o. That he left open the possibility ofa second video.p, That he and m never discussed disclosing the creator after the video became

a controversy.q. That this action is not consistentwith his role as a se rgeant.r. That his actions fall under the defin ition ofUn becoming Conduct.s. That he did not create the second series of videos.

42r I interviewed stated:


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a. That he received a phon e callf r o m ^ H stating he was putting together an"epic" video,

b. T h a t l l sen t him a lin k onhis personal email. The link was to a video that wassimilarto the one that w^ s released.

c. That he thought the video was funny.d. T h a t t o l d him that he was going to send it tce. That he gave advice t o | | o n h w t 0 conceal his iden tity b y posting it from a

library, f. That he shared the video w i t l J B p B a n d he thought it was funny.g. That he tried to show itt o ^ B R b u t had some techn ical difficulties and does

not recall j ^ ^ J H ^ r e a c t i o n .h. That he d i rec t ed Bl to remove the video.I. That he did not come forward since he was hoping the situation would "blow

over".

j . That he did n otthink there was an investigation.k. That the actual time that the video was posted b y ^ i w a s minimal,I. That we discussed this first video at our Tuesday mornin g staff meeting in

regards to the harm to the relationshipwith the Jail,m, That he knew wh o created the video but did not com e forward,n. That he and the Chiefdiscussed the videos, yet he did not come forward,o. That he was present at our mon thly leadership meeting two days later;that we

discussed the video; and yet he did not comeforward,p, That the video had both a negative and a positive impact on the Department,

based on who youdiscuss it with,q, That it re f lec te^ ooH von opera tiona lissues with SCORE,r. That he t h i n k s ^ H H p f c i suspect in the additionalvideos. This isbased on his

institutional knowledge,obsessive behavior, and that he think s he has mentalissues.

s, That he did not come forward due to his prior frustrationswith the Chief oyer hisperceived lack of an investigation into an allegation of untruthfulnessb j

t. That his con duct meets the definition ofUnbecomingconduct,u. That these n ew videos had a significant impact on theDepartment,v. That he did not create the new videos,w. That there was not intent to be deceptive.

4 3. SCORE'Sreputation was harmed by the video.44. The relationship betweenSCOREand the Ren ton Police Department was negatively

impacted by this video,45. This video was the topic ofdiscussion at a monthlySCOREO perations Board meeting.4 6. Public officials in other cities viewed this video and inq uiredas to the creation and

issues surrounding the video. _47. Leibman interviewed bothSg t ^ J ^ a n d A/Sg\4 8 ^ H H ^ s t a t e d

That H i created the original video and posted it on YouTube.


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b. That he discussed w i t h a l the desire to keep the knowledge of the creator tothemselves.

c. That he did not want to have the "fallout" over this if somebody's feelings

got hurt.d. H i told him that the video was posted on YouTube.e. That he did not think the video impaired the functioning of the Department.

49. jHfrstateda. T h a t j H j told him that he was creating a video.b. T h a t ^ H posted the video on YouTube.

c. T h a t H i c a l l e d h i m t o t e l l h i m t h a t t h e v , d e o

d. That he may have shown it at his squad briefing.e. That H i t o o k ! t d o w n a t ^ e request of | H Hf. That he did not believe the video impacted the relationship with the Jail.g. That the only harm was that it was causing a controversy with the

administration.h. That he felt he was not required to notify someone in his chain of command that

he knew the creator of the video.


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INVESTIGATION

1-4-11

I was advised by DC Troxel of a SCOREparody that was posted on YouTube called"A PennyTale". I viewed the video and lateradvised!

I emailed M ehdiSadri inquiring aboutsearch capabilities and wa sadvised that the function wasturned off.

1-4-11 1809 hours

I received an em ail from M ehd i regarding my request forIS to determine if the video wasuploaded via a Department computer. In his em ail, he stated that the city does not track thisinformation at this levelof detail.

1-5-11 0718 hours

I emailed a copy of Medhi's reply to both DeputyChiefs with a "FYI".

1-5-110736 hours

I received a response from D C j I H i i l ^ w a s a l s o s e n t t o D C Troxel. | H | stated that thiswas the same problem he had with the ^J ^investigation.1-6-11

A t the mon thly leadership meeting,I brieflydiscussed the presence of the video andthat It wasinappropriate at a time that we are trying to improve relationship between the jail which Is nowpart of SCOREand our officers

1-10-110900 hours

I called Mehdi anddiscussed the search capabilities of our email and in ternetsystem. Mehdistated he would con duct a search upon receivinga formal request through Iwen. W e discussedoptions and direction of the investigation.

Mid-January

I discussed the SCOREParody video with C o m m a n d e r p H | | ^ ^ ^ B H | H ^ s t a t e d that abouttwo weeks prior to the posting of the video on Yo u T u b e T D C^ H B itried to show this videoto him on his phone. Later w h e n J U | s a w the video on YouTube, he recognized it as thesame on e that ^ ^ H H attempted to play on his phone weeks prior.


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(1-18-111656 hours

I received an email from Mehd i Sadri. Mehdi conducted a search of the city's email server in

regards to this investigation. According to Mehd i'semail;

The first YouTube email was titled, "A Penn y Tale brought to you bySCORE"was sent by"Unicornmovies" to S g t H H o n J a n u a r Y 3> 2 0 1 1 a t 3 : 0 6 P M ^ ^ ^ ^ ^The second email with the same title and sen der was sent to S g t j f l j j ^ ^ ^ H p a t 3:15P M on the same date.S g t ^ H never distributed the email; however Sgt rfHfedid o n January 4, 2 011.

2-7-11 1348 hours

I received an email from M ayor Law. Attached to the email was an emailstring from the

Mayor's of Auburn,Tukwila, Renton,a n c

' H | H H H titled SCOREParody. The video wasattached with a c om m en t by M a y or L e w i s t o ^ c l i e c k o ^ v id e o" .

2-28-11 1119 Hours

Deputy ChiefTroxel faxed a request to Google to obtain information regarding the SCOREParody v ideo.His request and response is noted below. The actual documents are located in the correspondencesection of the investigation.

On February 28,2011,1faxed a preservation request to Google reference the YouTube video titledSCOREParody, (also originally posted as, A Penny Tale), The preservation request no t only asked Google toretain records, but to release records to the city ofRenton. Within a couple of hours, I had received aphone call/voicemall from an employee at Google. She advised that they had received our PreservationRequest, and noticed that we were also requesting release of records, Google's policy requires that theydo no t release records untilproper legal process (subpoena or warrant) and protocolhas been followed,She added that they would gladly release records once that process was received,

4-16-11 1810 hours

I received a phone call from ^ f l H f l M f l B s t a t e < ^ that there were several new SCOREParody type videos that have been posted^on YouTube.

4-20-11 Morning

| and Com man der KatieMcClincycame into my office, McClincyexplained how anemployee had commented on the YouTube "Channel" to the creator of th e latest videos.McClincyhad a suspicion of whom it might be ~ ^ M B B B B B B H I ^ ^ H iw a s P a r t of thediscussion an d agreed with the logic as to why it w a a ^ ^ ^ H M p r e c e n t l y was unhappy with

public disclosure request of a previous sustained internal investigation. The theory was thatwas going to act out, and the videos were his response.


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1640 hours

A fter returning to the city from m y monthly administrative board meetings, D C |

If I was available via email. I went to his office to speakwith him,

I asked

HHs a i c l he wan ted to fall on his sword. He stated he knew w ho developed the in itialSCORE

Parody video. After it was published on YouTube he suggested to the employee to remove it,He was told it was remove d, but som eone else reposted it on YouTube.

I asked him who posted it, he stated - HHB flH stated that I never asked him the rightquestion or a specific question if he had knowledge of the creator of this video.

4-2141 1700

I discussed this investigationwith CAOJay Covington.

4-22-11 0930

I discussed this investigationwith HR Administrator NancyCarlson.

4-24-11 1736 Hours

I sent an em ailto Commanders]previous conversationswith |

4-25-11 0830

' requesting documentation of their

I advised H H of the internal investigation where both he a n d ^ l were named as asubject. H H started showin g signs of anger. | ^ ^ ^ | stated he wanted to give hisstatement right now, I told him that I was not ready and this it was scheduled fo r Friday,

During thismeeting I I stated:

He was very disappointed That he believes others are behind this- inferringDC Troxel He stated he did not lie, and lookin g back at his actions he wou ld no t have don e

anything different.

I

did the right thing ~I

wouldn't changea thing,

| asked if he was a suspect In the second series of videos, I told him that we woulddiscuss that on Friday.


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I also told H H [ | that I need the on-going internalinto th e Flag footballgame onThanksgivinginvolvingseveral members of the Department includingHB ' 0 'd him that Iwould reassign the Loudermillhearings for th e remainingofficers to an other mem ber ofstaff.

As he left th e room, in anger stated, "I am not a member of yourcommand staff I"

Later in the m orning heasked some clarifyingquestions regarding represen tation and If hewason a gag order. I told him he was instructed not todiscuss th is inc iden t w i t h | ^ | a nd v iaemailI told him hehad th e right to representation.

A t some point,H H B w e n t downstairs to^peak with Commandenthe informationthat was prepared byj

Chief

On Monday morning04-25-11 Deputy C/?/e/ | |HHc a m e

^m

y ffice t o v e n t H e t o l d m e h e

was a subject of an Internal Investigation an d he was no t given a "Gag order" other than not todiscuss It with I

I have attached

He said the internal was referencing the videos that were recently released,He was extremely upset/offended that the Chief thoughthe was behind the videos,He knew who created the first SCORE video, H I H

He eluded that he knew who created the other videos; it is a rank and file mem ber ofthedepartment. He did not divulge their name,He was going to bring upeverything he knows about command staff, everything thatthey have done and not be held acco untable for.He is going to b ring up the "iying" complainthe sent to you about jnot taking care of an incident withKCSO in whichhe said he did.How he believes some members on the command staff are mentally unstable.He Is offended t / 7 a t | ^ H | internal for pre-discipline interviews was taken away from

him,His perception is now the Chiefdoes not trust him to do his job in an impartialmanner.He should be placed on Administrativeleave, since he is not being trusted to do his job,He is trying to g et the departm ent together not tear It apart, so why wouldhe create orbe part of the second set of videos that are hateful. -When this internal Is done an d his name is cleared he Is out of here, he will take a $90l

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76 _Renton Police Department Public Records

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