SPOKANE, Wash. — During Monday night's legislative meeting, Spokane City Council voted in favor of amending Spokane Municipal Code, allowing the Office of the Police Ombudsman to investigate police chief Craig Meidl.
Council approved the motion in a 6-1 vote. In a statement, the City of Spokane says the Office of Police Ombudsman provides independent civilian oversight for misconduct involving the police department.
“Tonight, the City Council restored the intent of Spokane voters to empower the independent Office of Police Ombudsman to carry out its investigative and reporting duties to support better policing for Spokane,” said Council President Breean Beggs.
The call for Meidl’s removal came after the city’s police ombudsman released findings of an investigation that show hundreds of emails exchanged between Chief Meidl and members of the Spokane Business and Commercial Property owners council. The “Spokane Community Against Racism” claims the emails between Meidl and businesses showed favortism and were an inappropriate release of city records.
Meidl told KREM 2 he was working with downtown business owners who asked for help tackling crime.
Mayor Nadine Woodward disagrees and has called the idea of an investigation politically motivated. However, Beggs denies this and says he has a good working relationship with Meidl, but it’s their responsibility to investigate these types of claims.
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