4/16/08 Chief Anne Kirkpatrick on Keeping the Community “Safe”

Of all people…

On Wednesday, April 16, 2008, the Spokane City Forum will bring Anne Kirkpatrick, chief of the scandal-ridden Spokane Police Department, speaking about “What it takes to keep a Community Safe”.

Interestingly, in the age of private security contractors, domestic spying, and use of illegal government powers, Kirkpatrick will team with the local head of a national company which engages in secret collaborations with the police.

If you would like to see which side of her mouth the Chief speaks on this occasion, or perhaps even hear her sing, “I fought the Police Guild and the Police Guild won”, as well as learn more about private/public cooperation in the age of the police state, please read the following details. Then don’t miss the event…

E-Mail: SpokaneCityForum@yahoo.com Phone: 509-777-1555 Fax: 509-747-1171 Remind me of upcoming Spokane City Forums…

Meeting Location: First Presbyterian Church 318 South Cedar Street Spokane, WA 99204 Meeting Time: 11:45 A.M.

Take me to… First Presbyterian Church

Cost to attend is $10.00 and includes lunch. Please make reservations at least two business days in advance.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 11:45 First Presbyterian Church, Spokane

Anne Kirkpatrick, Spokane Police Chief & Pat DeVries, President of DeVries Business Records Management

“What it takes to keep a Community Safe”

One of the most fundamental necessities in life is safety. To reach this level of safety, it takes a partnership between both civilian and governmental organizations. Anne Kirkpatrick and Pat DeVries will speak about what it takes to prevent crime from the Police Department down to the civilian level.

* Anne Kirkpatrick, Spokane Chief of Police, has been in law enforcement for more than 25 years, including three posts as Chief of Police in Washington cities. Her diverse experience has given her great perspective on leadership. She will speak in detail about the guiding principles important in leading a Police Department as well as discuss what it takes to lead “through the storms” that come.

* Pat DeVries is the Owner/President of DeVries Business Records Management, a company celebrating 20 years of operation. In addition to his professional experience, he has been leading the charge of crime prevention from the civilian sector. He is the President of “Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest,” a local division of a national civilian crime prevention organization. He will share his wisdom in what civilians can do to collaborate with the Police Department to make our communities safer for everyone.

Turning a pig’s ear into a silk purse

Certainly this is one of the best efforts at spinning a story you will ever seen.

First, read the public relations piece below the picture of Roger Bragdon, former Police Chief of Spokane. It comes from the Spokane City Forum web page.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Roger Bragdon, Spokane Chief of Police
“Community Oriented Policing- How We Can Get Involved in Reducing Crime”
Spokane has been recognized nationally and internationally for its unique community partnerships and programs to reduce crime. Chief Bragdon will address the topic of community oriented policing, its history, why it works and how it has evolved into one of the most successful policing strategies for Spokane – one that other communities are trying to adopt.

Now let’s look at what it says:

Is Spokane “nationally and internationally recognized for its unique community partnerships and programs to reduce crime”? Certainly it has received recognition but its programs are not unique. Nor has it been especially successful. In fact, the city became one of the leading cities for methamphetamine use and production in the United States under the watchful eye of the Spokane Police Department, with much of the problem occurring during Chief Bragdon’s reign and within a several block radius of his office.

At the same time, Spokane under Bragdon was well on its way to developing a “national and international reputation” for lack of accountability, impunity for police crime and corruption, and political leaders unable and unwilling to bring the good-old boy network to heel.

A pig’s ear indeed.

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A month prior to the aforementioned talk by Bragdon, the Spokesman-Review published a story on the involvement of Chief Bragdon and Deputy Chief Al Odenthal, among other SPD officials, in the leasing and planned purchasing of a Hillyard warehouse from retired Spokane Police captain Chuck Crabtree. Crabtree had once supervised Bragdon.

As reported in the article:

(quote)

The proposed purchase is not the first time Bragdon’s friendship with Crabtree has made news.

In 2003, Bragdon urged judicial leniency for Crabtree’s son, Jim Crabtree, a former Spokane County deputy sheriff turned drug dealer, who was convicted in a drug-related auto crash that nearly killed sheriff’s Sgt. Earl Howerton in 2001.

Jim Crabtree was sentenced to five years in prison for vehicular assault, two counts of possession and four counts of selling crack cocaine.

(end quote)

For more on Bragdon’s controversial reign, see –

The Spokane Police Guild unanimously voted this week to file a complaint against Chief Roger Bragdon over his order to dismiss a traffic infraction filed against the son-in-law of former Spokane County Prosecutor Don Brockett.

See item # 8 at This Week’s Corrupt Cop Story for more on the Bragdon/Crabtree matter.

For more on former Deputy Chief Al Odenthal, please read this blog posting at DogWalkMusing as well as the comments which follow it.