Washington State Patrol

A look at some of the bad things the Washington State Patrol has done the past decade.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's it could happen here, the podcast that occasionally has
ads from Washington State Highway Patrol. On a completely unrelated note, Garrison,
you want to talk about the Washington State Highway Patrol today?
I sure would love to talk about our our good
friends at the Washington State Patrol Um. Because yeah, they

(00:26):
just they've've they've come up on my radar and in
an unrelated matter, and now we're gonna talking about So
now we're talking about them. Yeah. So this is the
show about things falling apart and kind of part of
societal and political stuff kind of crumbling. Usually that gets
related to some type of law enforcement agency more often
than not. And uh, in terms of like tensions rising

(00:49):
in stuff, there's a lot of you know, force gets
force gets exerted via law enforcement, and uh one such
law enforcement Yeah, well, and one such agency that does
this is called the Washington State Patrol UM. So they
were I I don't know, I I just discovered them recently.
Uh So they were founded exactly one hundred years ago, um,

(01:13):
and they were originally called the Washington State Highway Patrol Um.
Now they're just the Washington State Patrol. They were moved
highway but they still do the same thing. They're basically
glorified traffic cops, um, who operate all around all around
Washington State. UM. And we're gonna talk about some of
the ways that they've been making things worse within the

(01:36):
past decade. UM. I'm since they have a one hundred
year history, I'm sure we can find lots of historical examples. UM.
But we're we're gonna we're gonna do stuff that's more
that is more recent, because this is, you know, generally
trying to keep things around the current, the current crumbling. Um.
And because we're gonna talk about police, the first the

(01:57):
first thing we're gonna be discussing, oddly enough, is a
racism because I know, um, when you think of Washington
State Patrol, that's you know, it's it's kind of shocking
that they might have a race issue. UM. So anyway,
twelve years ago, researchers working with working with Washington State
Patrol found that troopers were searching drivers from minority communities,

(02:20):
particularly um local Native American tribes, at a much higher
rate than than white people. And they recommend an additional study,
which the Washington State Patrol declined to uh to investigate further,
they they're like no, um, no, no more studies. So meanwhile,

(02:41):
since then, the troopers have continued to continue to search
Native Americans at a at a rate much higher more
than five times than that of of of white people
in the area. Yeah. So but there are five times
as the popular there. There's five times as many Indigenous
people in Washington as white people right there, there's noth Yeah.

(03:03):
So an analysis by Investigate West showed that the Patrol
continued to do searches at a much elevated rates for
for black people, Latino Pacific Islanders, and Natives within Washington State. Um.
And yet when when troopers did decide to search white motorists,
they were more likely to find drugs in contraband. UM.

(03:26):
Which is something to Washington State Patrol actually acknowledges is
that when they search people of minority communities, they are
less likely to find to find illegal things. Yeah. I
mean that's yeah nationwide and very very robust data. So UM,
government records obtained via like information requests and various other

(03:49):
you know of public records searches UM also show that
there there there is a state law that Washington State
Patrol is supposed to collect and report semiannually to the
Criminal Justice Training Commission in Washington. UM about you know,
race and ethnicity data of motorists is stopped by troopers.
But uh so this is supposed is supposed to happen
semi annually. But the agency report of those findings only

(04:12):
three times in the past fifteen years, which isn't sounds
kind of like the Portland police were not doing the
things that federally they're supposed to do because they're so violent. Yeah,
so being out of compliance with a bunch of federal
rags three three times, three times in fifteen years is
not semi annually. Based on what I know, the term

(04:33):
semi annually to semi decade. So yeah. Um, based on
responses for over thirty public records requests UM from from
three different agencies looking looking at Washington State Patrol and
more than like fifty interviews with current and formal law
enforcement officials and people with experience interacting with Washington State
Patrol UM and also data from millions of traffic stops.

(04:56):
All this was looked at in total, examined about eight
million traffic stops from two US and nine tow US
in fifteen. This is what investigate West was doing. UM,
which was which was the most recent data available, and
the analysis found that, uh, it focused on incidents of
what researchers called like high discretion searches. That's when troopers
had the most like personal leeway to decide whether or

(05:17):
not to pull over and search a vehicle. UM. Black
drivers were twice as likely to be searched as white drivers,
and Latino specific calendars were eight percent more likely to
be searched. Of of these incidents where officers had discretion
and like they could choose whether or not to pull
someone over. UM, So it wasn't like it wasn't like
they were like obviously speeding or doing you know, like
like you know like like regular like actually observable traffic violations.

(05:39):
This is when like people could choose when they investigate West.
Thing got published, they contact Washingt State Patrol and the
spokesperson said that, uh, here's here's here's the quote that
the race race was not the only factor when troopers
decide whom to search, and that's partially because blacks, Native
Americans and Latinos are more like more more likely to
be regardless of how much discretion troopers have, which that

(06:04):
doesn't really make very much sense. Um, I don't know
what the person, I don't know what they mean is
they're more likely to regardless what, who is that bad
checking the copy? Which is weird because later on the
spokesperson said that, Um, same guy, we're in the basically

(06:30):
we're agrees that we're in a basic agreement that minorities
are searched at higher rates, but we find less contraband
so um. And he also he also noted that complaints
about like a racial bias encounted for little more than
ten percent of all complaints of the state patrol filed
last year. So I guess he thinks that's a good

(06:53):
He thinks that's a good stat Yeah, he's proud of that. Yeah. Um.
And another kind of uh, not great thing is that uh.
The analysis found that not only are Native Americans more
likely to be searched, but all of the most of
those searches happen always that like the edges of reservations UM.
The analysis found that the two highest concentration of searches

(07:15):
of Native Americans by state troopers are on the US
nineties seven, where it encounters um A reservation at ol
Mac about about a mile from its intersection at a
state wrote one fifty five, which is and more than
one thirty miles south of of the same when the
same highway enters another reservation. So nearly one third of

(07:38):
high discretions of high discretion searches, so when troopers can
decide whether or not to pull someone over like like
they they they have more discretion whether they can. So
one third of those happened on these two stretches of
highway right on the edges of these reservations, like they're
patrolling outside these reservations to specifically do this. Um there
was I I saw an interview on this topic that

(08:00):
we've talked that talked to to Native Americans in this
area and they're like, yeah, every time we leave the reservation,
we get pulled over. But then we watched tons of
white motorists go by and no one cares, like and
like and they're like you're doing like they're just speeding by,
it doesn't matter. Um. So yeah, that is that is
the first first you know, unsurprising tidbit about uh. Some

(08:22):
an organization who started as a highway patrol is, yeah,
they're gonna pull people over who are not white more
often that is that's pretty not not super shocky. Yeah,
and then makes a public statement like l o O
yeah yeah that that does. That does sound a lot
like with the Washington State Patrol. Uh sounds like, um,

(08:45):
so we're gonna so that that was That was the
first obvious thing. Uh. This next part is a little
bit more fun. Um. So in in in two thousand nine,
the Washington State Patrol made made the decision to fire
eight troopers, which is you know, pretty pretty rare um
And the reason why they got fired is because they

(09:06):
used fake diplomas to claim pay raises. Yeah, so there
was there was this whole scheme about getting fake diplomas
to get the troopers more money, like like like individual
people that there's this whole, this whole operation going on.
It resulted in the in in a in a people
getting fired. So troopers can can boost their pay about

(09:28):
two percent by earning a two a two year degree
or four percent with a four year degree. And there
was this group of of a troopers who just uh
started just forging diplomas see Garrison. This is a separate conversation.
But they didn't need to forge diplomas. They could have
just become doctors of of of of magic, like that

(09:52):
is what I've tried to do religious PhD. Yeah, so
there's all sorts of fake diploma mills. Come on, washing
didn't State Highway Patrol. This is pretty funny. So so
the investigation began after federal agents shut down a diploma

(10:12):
mill in the Spokane. Criminal charges were not filed, but
the patrol to decide to fire these eight troopers. Yeah.
So that is one of the more funny things we'll
be talking about today. And I think it's time for
an ad break um. Yeah, speaking of funny, here's these
ads that may or may not be the people we're
talking about. Rob No unrelated, unrelated. Uh we're back, which

(10:47):
is also unrelated. Yeah. Another thing that's putten pretty common
around police is that the past few years they generally
don't think COVID is really real, or that it is
the past few years. Now that Robert, we're less than
a month away from two. Yeah, I hate that. It's

(11:09):
like it's it's like it's almost two. Almost ten percent
of your entire life has been COVID. I'm not going
to think about math um. So generally they don't think
COVID is real, and also they think vaccines are the
mark of Satan or something. Well obviously they are. But yeah,
so in in in mid October this this past October,

(11:30):
Washingtons Tate Patrol announced that one hundred and twenty seven
of its employees lost their job after the state's COVID
nineteen vaccine mandate deadline of October eighteen. So, unlike the
Portland Police Bureau who who, the port who Port and
many other cities where city officials caved to the demands
of the police that vaccine mandates not be not be

(11:53):
extended towards police, uh, this did not happen in Washington
and they actually got it enforced. So over a hundred
uh Patrol employees quit quit their job, including a sixty
four commissioned officers. It was like six sixty seven troopers,
six sergeants, and one captain. Um. Yeah, so, you know,

(12:14):
Washington State Patrol has about two thousand personnel within like
between like eight districts um, So losing like a hundred
and twenty seven of them is not a it's not
an insignificant loss. Um And it's it's been a it's
it has been been trying to hire a lot more
people in the in the past in the past like

(12:34):
a few months. Because of this, they've been they've been
trying to do a lot more recruitment, which is why
they're Um, I've heard from other people that they are
putting uh advertisements out on the internet to become a
Washington State trooper. This is something I've I've heard from
from people online when I've been doing all of this
uh deep deep, extensive research. So yeah, they are, they are,

(12:57):
they are recruiting. Uh So, if you want to be
a Washington Patrol officer, don't don't. Actually that's a bad idea. Um,
don't do that. Yeah, I mean us act you want
to like really funk with people who live on a reservation.
If that's if that's your goal, it's Washington State Highway
Patrol is your your dream career? Or have another option

(13:19):
for you. You could also just get COVID and die. Well, yeah,
that is an option. That's an option to thing I
think might be freedom is what makes this nation great.
Uh So I think you know of the choice. Anyway,
continue Harrison. I'm gonna send a picture inside our group
chat first because we're gonna were gonna be talking about

(13:40):
one one specific evil dude. Next, I'm setting a picture
in the group chat that I want you to look
at first, just so you get a sense of who
we're talking about. Oh, based, okay, I'm I'm excited. Yeah,
all right. Hit Oh no, oh no, the boat I
really brings it all together. Oh no, you said bow tie,

(14:03):
which does not make me optimistic. And Robert, oh no,
what is wrong with it? Who? Yeah? Who puts a
bow tie on a uniform? Like guys, I found a
better quality image. Um, good god, here we go, the
same image better He looks like Tucker Carlson and the
Starship Troopers universe when he gets drafted. So this is

(14:27):
the next guy we're talking about. Um, somehow feels like
I hate crime towards the Weasley family. So yeah, it
feels like a hate crime towards the guy based off
Tucker Carlson in Starship Troopers. So this would be a
big fan of ron Ron Weasley's family. This this is
this is Sean Carrum, a former Washington State Patrol a

(14:50):
sergeant um who resigned for reasons. We will discuss fun.
That's exciting. Yeah yeah anyway. Um. So in two US
and fifteen and Associated Press investigation uncovered about a thousand
officers in the United States who lost their badges over
a six year period for sex crimes or misconduct such

(15:12):
as like, uh, this is this is a quote here,
which I disagree with framing here, but this is this
is a quote propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited
on duty intercourse, which is uh, pretty bullshit way to
frame that because basically you're it's it's police raping people. Um,

(15:32):
and police officers being accused of like using their power
over people to rape them is extremely common. Yeah, and
it's often just like, yeah, well the person said okay,
And it's like, well they said okay to a person
with a gun and the legal power to murder anyone
they want or put them into jail. Like like there's
a lot of stuf. Yeah, you know, I would argue
you can't consent uh to sex with a police officer

(15:55):
who's on duty and in uniform because it's they have
the power to murder or anybody want or who just
arrest you. Like, like it's a lot of stuff. So,
like there was a studied at least a few years
ago that an analyzed data of like a five hundred
and fifty arrest cases from the years of two US
and five two US and seven. This is just two
years and UH and a four hundred officers employed by

(16:18):
like three D and twenty non non federal law enforcement
agencies located throughout a forty three states. Um AND findings
indicated that a police sexual misconduct includes a serious forms
of sex with related crimes, and the victims of sex
related crimes by police are typically younger than eighteen years old. UM.

(16:38):
So it's it happens a lot with miners. So there's
a lot like like more like a ridiculously common like
if you if you google is which I honestly don't recommend,
but you can find like dozens of stories coming out
like basically every like not you'll find at least one
new story every month of a kid getting raped by police.

(17:00):
It happens pretty commonly. So over the past ten years,
in the Washington State Patrol, they've investigated and confirmed four
cases of what they call sex on duty UM according
to the agency, and this is including including Shan Carr. Now,
Sean Car's cases particularly sensitive for the agency because he

(17:21):
was married to the UH the daughter of the Washington
State Patrol Chief um and, and Shaun Carr was also
himself a sergeant, so he was connected to like the
big leagues at the Washington State Patrol. So Car met
a civilian woman who also works at Washington State Patrol
but as like you know, like has like an office job,

(17:42):
so they isn't isn't a trooper. Um. They met in
twelve and struck up an online friendship, and a few
months later they both of them told investigators that the
relationship did turn sexual. UM. Car admitted to six sexual
encounters for the next like five years with the woman,
of five of which happened when he was on duty
and like on state property or driving a vehicle or

(18:03):
while in uniform. UM. But the woman recalled as many
as as twenty and all but one of them were
when he was on duty and well. And so the
woman said that most of their encounters were were what
she would describe as consensual, but she described three incidents
where Car did pushed the boundary and she she she
has described being raped by him multiple times. UM, so

(18:28):
there was there was an incident. I think the first
one happened in the beginning of UH with inside his
patrol car in a church parking lot. UH. The woman
had recently started dating another man, and Carr wanted to
know who it was. When she wouldn't say so, he uh,
he grabbed her arm hard enough to leave bruises, and

(18:49):
the woman said that Car made her pick from two options,
give up the name of the man or give car
oral sex. Um. Car later told investigators that he said
us in a quote joking context, Oh that's you know,
I was thinking, because that's almost exactly my my tight
five for my stand up set. I mean some some

(19:11):
comedians for some reason do like making jokes like that
and not not not great usually not great to normalize
that kind of thing. So um. The woman said that
she did like like s his his like commands and
she's which she said, we're like very much not done consent. Yeah,
and she said it's very much not consensual. Um. She
She told investigators that he raped me on the side

(19:33):
of the road. Um. And if and if it was
anyone else besides Car, she she she she said she
would have called nine one one. Um. So the second
time happened when a car backed her into a corner
of a highway away station and forced her to have
sex with him. Um. She called it a coerced Car
said that consent was mutual. So despite the sexual assaults,

(19:56):
uh and and and like and you know and and
like assaults you know, like you know, grapping someone's army.
Hard to believe a bruise, she said. The woman said
she kept in touch with Car because she was going
through a difficult time in her life and she needed
somebody to talk to. Complicated. That's yeah, that this is
even like people who are abusive can also be emotionally

(20:17):
supportive sometimes, Like that's one of the things about abuse
that says a real, real motherfucker. It's not simple. So yeah,
Car Car may not have gotten in trouble had the
woman not confided in another patrol employee after she left
her job. UM. Then the other other patrol employee mentioned
the situation to someone higher up, triggering an investigation. UM.

(20:37):
And then in twenty nineteen, the woman formally reported Car
to uh TO to like the Patrol Office of Professional Standards.
So records started that the patrol of pretty quickly confiscated cars, badge,
and gun and placed him on home assignment, where he
remained until he and he resigned voluntarily. UM. The patrol
gave gave the case to the Sheriff's office to investigate

(20:58):
because of the criminally chur of the allegations. So Car's
personal file includes other on job violations, including using a
taser on a drunk driving suspect. He was handcuffed, and
records show that in February, Car was accused of frequenting
a coffee stand and making unwanted advances on an employee

(21:20):
by waiting near her car until her shift ended, and
making derogatory comments about her boyfriend. Um, so she was
also stalking this barista. Is what it sounds like? Um? Yeah, yeah,
that's that is what that sounds like. Terrifying. So yeah,
so Car after the woman told investigators that she was

(21:43):
raped after um, the the county sheriffs recommended hard to
be filed. But she wasn't willing to. Um, she wasn't
willing to testify. She did not want to. She did
not want to do that. Um. But but she she
didn't tell prosecutors that she did have one wish that
that Car again, the son in law of the state
patrol chief be be not not allowed to police again.

(22:07):
UM yeah, that's a pretty reasonable request. Car of obviously
denied all the accusations of non consensual sex and assault,
but you know, it did admit to a to a
consensual sexual relationship on duty UM, as well as other
you know, like patrol regulation violations. UM. He he resigned

(22:30):
in July before the patrol could decide whether or not
to fire him UM and then the state went about
trying to strip him of his law enforcement certificasion requirement
to carry a gun and badge and be hired as
law enforcement in Washington. Getting de certified forms conduct by
the Criminal Justice Training Center in Washington is very hard.

(22:51):
Very few people have actually been decertified. Yeah, And to
to be certified, the panel must be a panel must
be convinced on duty behavior rose to the level of
official misconduct and constituted a crime committed under the color
of authority as a peace officer. That's the that's the

(23:12):
color of authorities an interesting way to phrase that. Cars
attorneys argued that the state failed to make to meet
this high bar and there was quote no legal basis
to decertified car. Meanwhile, the c j a t S
the Criminal Justice Training Center alleged his behavior did constitute
official misconduct and failure of duty, but without actually they

(23:35):
didn't actually include the sexual assault allegations. Instead, it contended
that he used state resources for his own benefit or
neglected to do his duties when he was engaged in
sexual activity on duty. So they didn't actually include sexual
assault or anything in this. They just said you were
basically like you were because you were doing because you

(23:57):
were having like sexual activity on duty, you weren't doing
your job and that's the reason that we want to
decertify you. Um. So, the date of Washington has about
eleven thousand certified officers at any given time UM and
since to us in three they've decertified like two hundred
and thirty and at least four of them for on
duty sex and one of those cases was overturned on

(24:19):
appeal um. But in one around mid May, the c
j TC in its final order said that Cars constituted
uh crimes of of failure of duty and official misconduct by,
among other things, quote, intentionally choosing to pursue his own
sexual gratification rather than using his on duty time to
perform his lawful responsibilities as a peace officer. So he

(24:43):
he did get decertified, but again not actually discussing the
actual like assaults and rapes. Um. Yeah, So the the
the sheriff County prosecutor's office designed declined to pursue charges
on the case last year when the woman was unwilling
to testify, but the deputy prosecuting attorney UM did say

(25:06):
that she she believed they just happened, like like she
she believes this that the stuff happened. But because of
the lack of evidence due to time passing and the
woman not wanting to testify, there it's hard to prove
guilt in court, so they're not going to pursue these
charges at the moment. Yeah, So that that is uh,
that is Shawn Carr. So that yeah, he is not

(25:28):
not not allowed to police as of one. That is
a cursory glance at stuff that you Washington State Patrol. Oh,
I guess one of the one other thing I found
out today is that so Washington State Patrol has a

(25:52):
has a psychologist for UM recruitings basically for if you
want to join the patrol, you have to go like
through like a psychological screening. Sure, that makes sense. And
he just just resigned because he was he was he
was probably going to get fired. UM. This was after
Seattle Times and Public Radio Northwest News Network UH published

(26:14):
a peace show showing that since uh, the psychological screenings
rejected where is it? Uh rejected of white candidates over
the past four years. Um, but the psychologists that they hired,
uh rejected of black candidates, of Hispanic candidates, and forty

(26:37):
one percent of Asian candidates. So again, I'm not pro
people being police in general, but there is a clear
disparity on who they are wanting to become police, like
who like who are they? They're letting in a lot
more white candidates than they are letting in candidates of color. Um.
So this this uh, this psychologist screener is is no

(26:59):
longer on the job as of like a few days ago. Um. Yeah,
so just another another level of stuff because yeah, you know,
there's they want there to be more white officers than
anything else. Um. So yeah, that is that is the
Washington State Patrol. I guess the one other thing I
want to do is I'm gonna again send in the

(27:20):
group chat. Their their current logo, their current logo current
you're smirking. I hate it when you do this. I'm afraid.
I don't know, Sophie. Maybe it'll be fine. It's actually
it's it's it's kind of fun. That's their logo. That
is their current logo. They design it in like paint, Yes,

(27:46):
they probably they probably did design it in MS paint.
Oh man, Yeah, that that looks like it belongs in
an angel Fire website. Gar So do you know what
angel Fire was? I do not. Oh my god, you
fucking teenageers. Um. Yeah, that looks like it belongs in
an angel I will. I will let all of the
other people who feel very old right now know that

(28:07):
it looks like something you'd see in an angel Fire website,
like shittlely animated blinking across the screen. Yeah, you know,
it looks like something from a ninety nineties website. All right, Well,
now I'm both angry about the police and I feel
a thousand years old. So this is good? What a good?
What a good? What a good feeling? Well that that

(28:28):
wraps that. That wraps it up for today. Um and
hey again, I have heard that they are recruiting and
they should have a new psychological screener soon. So great,
there we go. I'm imagining the primary psychological screening is
you're white, right, that's that's that is what it used
to be. I mean, I'm imagining that's what it's going

(28:50):
to be still probably maybe not all right. Well, this
has been a great time. I'm sure everybody's feeling good.
Uh goodbye, bye, get out of my house. It could
Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. For
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(29:11):
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