Chief of Police Answers Questions

7/25/2019 Chief of Police Answers Questions

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From: Alan Townsend

To: "Binion, Andrew"

Subject: RE: Questions about your weekend statement

Date: Monday, January 04, 2016 4:27:00 PM

See below:

Alan L. Townsend - Chief of Police

Poulsbo Police Department ~ 200 NE Moe Street ~ Poulsbo, WA 98370

PH: 360.779.3113 ~ FX: 360.779.4433 ~ Twitter: @PoulsboPDChief

www.cityofpoulsbo.com

From:Binion, Andrew [mailto:[email protected]]Sent:Monday, January 04, 2016 1:23 PMTo:Alan TownsendSubject:Questions about your weekend statement

Chief Townsend:

Im writing a follow up for Tuesday, deadline this afternoon, and your statement this weekend

raised questions and made assertions, and I am seeking response.

I am assuming you still want to do this over email. If not, let me know.

-If PPD turned over the scene to KCSO, why did Officer Corn continue to interact with Porter

after Dickson arrived, and appeared to share a conclusive statement with him that she had no

PC?

I assume she did that because she believed she had no PC. I know that if it is was in the city limits ofPoulsbo, we would not arrest anyone based upon this same set of facts.

-Can you help readers understand why when a person shows several signs of impairment,

admits to driving drunk after being questioned by an officer, two officers place him in the

drivers seat and two different locations, that there exists no PC to further question the

suspect or ask if he would consent to field sobriety tests?

When Ofc. Corn crossed into the KCSOs jurisdiction and called KCSO to respond, further

investigation was at the direction of the KCSO officials on the scene. In this case KCSO conducted

further investigation like contacting the movie theatre for more information but decided against

options like calling in WSP to do field sobriety tests. Every agency should have policies on

investigations involving department employees within their jurisdiction. In 2010 when I was the

Chief in Port Orchard, then Mayor Lary Coppola (my boss at the time) was pulled over for a DUI by

POPD patrol officers within the city limits of Port Orchard. Our agency called WSP to complete the

investigation. We would do the same thing here in Poulsbo if an officer from our agency was

involved in a similar circumstance.
mailto:[email protected]://www.cityofpoulsbo.com/http://www.cityofpoulsbo.com/mailto:[email protected]


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-Do Poulsbo Police officers have arrest powers outside the city limits?

Yes, under certain mutual aid agreements. In this case, even if it was in the city limits, Ofc. Corn

would have called a supervisor and it would have been turned over to another officer because of

her relationship to Sgt. Porter. In this case, we were outside of the city limits in the primary

jurisdiction of KCSO where it was up to them to determine who and how they wanted this

investigated.

-You were involved in a decision to turn over a scene to one KCSO sergeant where there is

reason to believe another KCSO sergeant committed a crime. Can you help readers

understand your reasoning here and explain why this is appropriate?

The investigation and jurisdiction at the residence belonged to them. While it was a sergeant that

was there from KCSO, I am aware that he was in contact with higher ranking officials. In most any

other circumstances, the only supervisors working anywhere in the county or cities would be a

sergeant. There are processes each agency has to call out superiors for incidents like this.

-You stated that calling WSP was mentioned in the conversation with Dickson? What proof can

you provide for that statement?

Im not sure what type of proof you are asking for Andy. I can tell you that I suggested it as did Ofc.

Corn. It wasnt our decision to make. But we provided that suggestion if they wanted to go that

way. Have you asked them why they didnt call WSP? Have you asked them if they felt they had

probable cause to arrest?

-What prevented you from calling WSP yourself?

Because that was not my decision to make. That was a decision for KCSO.

-Did you write a report based on this incident? If so, why wasnt it released to the Sun? If not,

why not?

I did not. I had nothing to add that Ofc. Corn didnt put in her report.

-You said you were on patrol that night, acting as a supervisor. Were you wearing a body

camera? If not, why not? If you were wearing a camera, was it activated? Will you releasethat footage?

The chief and deputy chief dont have cameras. We are not normally engaged in routine police

work. I am always a supervisor, so if Im working Im a supervisor. There was a sergeant on duty as

well.

-Did you notify Becky Erickson of this incident? If not, why not?


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No, because it didnt involve a city employee and no one was arrested.

-Why didnt you notify the public of this incident?

If the sheriffs office wanted to put information out about their employee, that would be up to

them. If we had arrested someone in the city limits of Poulsbo, we would then determine if a mediarelease was appropriate.

-You said that, inside the city of Poulsbo, people are not arrested for physical control based on

cases with similar facts. What evidence can you provide to support this statement?

Similar facts being: the car was legally parked off the roadway, the keys were not in the ignition. We

know of no cases that have been submitted to the prosecutor under these conditions. We would

consider those incidents to be safely off the roadway and not in physical control. And as such,

we know that the prosecutors will not charge on such cases, so we dont arrest people in cases we

know will be immediately dismissed.

We are working to look back even before 2015 to see if there are any cases like this. Im certainly

not aware of any since I came here nearly 3 years ago.

Some people have commented that they were arrested for the same circumstances. We have

arrested people for being in physical control. But not based upon these facts. As an example,

changing a small portion of the facts from no keys in the ignition to the vehicle running makes a

significant difference. Moving the vehicle from a legally parked stall in a parking lot to the middle of

the roadway changes the scenario too.

Your readers might think that doesnt make a big difference to them. Drunk is drunk and if they are

behind the wheel wherever they are they should be arrested. Sounds good, but doesnt match the

law. We still have to follow the law. And we will follow it the same manner for all persons, no

matter who they are.

-You stated that Corn comported herself with the utmost professionalism. In light of your

statement, what is your reaction to Corns statements to Porter, such as she hoped nothing

would stick legally, she was stuck because she believed there was a witness that saw

Porter driving and that she wished she never checked on him?

She is talking to a person she has known many years. He is a long time friend. He supervised her as

a cadet and as a reserve deputy. Clearly she is uncomfortable with being put in this position. She

could have walked away and done nothing. She could have made the decision to never turn her

body camera on and just push him into his house and leave and no one would have thought about it

again. But she is clearly above that. She recognizes her duty is to call for a supervisor from KCSO to

handle this. Not her. Its not her responsibility. This is an example of why we have supervisors.

Porter even asks her to just leave. She clearly says she cant do that. Shes here and she cant leave


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now until its handed off to KCSO. She shows her true ethics and professionalism by choosing not to

walk away.

A quick question for you Andy:

1. Were the two defense attorneys you quoted in your article shown the video and casereports and given all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the locations

where each incident occurred, such as city versus county, and parking lot versus street?

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