SPOKANE, Wash. — On Monday, the Spokane City Council is expected to make an emergency change to the city code. The move has been talked about for months following a call from local activists for Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl to resign.
If changes are approved, it would grant the Office of the Police Ombudsman the authority to investigate the chief of police under the city charter.
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 was an inappropriate release of city records.
Meidl told KREM 2 News he was working with downtown business owners who asked for help tackling crime.
In April, some members of city council called for an independent investigation into these complaints. Mayor Nadine Woodward declined to launch an investigation into the Meidls actions.
According to city code, complaints regarding the Chief of Police shall be directed to the mayor and investigated by the city’s Human Resources Department. Council President, Breaan Beggs says the OPO has the authority to investigate officers under city charter which has been compared to the city’s constitution, however city code doesn’t match.
Beggs said, “They left out the ombudsman investigating the police chief. That language kept the ombudsman from doing it.”
Mayor 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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