Bellevue cops disciplined for rowdy behavior at Seahawks game
Two Bellevue officers who were profane and belittling to a Seattle police officer who asked one of their friends not to litter have been disciplined, but not fired.
The incident happened Sept. 16 at CenturyLink Field after the friend, who is a Bellevue utilities employee, tossed a beer cup in front of an officer.
The officer asked her to pick it up.
The utilities workers and the Bellevue officers responded by surrounding the Seattle cop and swearing at her.
Shortly after that incident, a fan with his family inside the stadium complained to security about the officers' language. The utilities officer described her friends as "Bellevue's finest," and sugguested that the fan who complained be careful when driving in Bellevue. The three were asked to leave CenturyLink.
One of the officers, Andy Hanke, drove home under the influence of alcohol, police learned after an internal investigation. But because he wasn't stopped and because there was no forensic evidence, it was not clear how intoxicated he was.
Still police determined he drove while drunk and so iolated the department's obedience of laws policy.
Corporal Dion Robertson was demoted from his supervisory role with the bomb squad to an officer's position. Police said that resulted in a "significant annual loss in pay."
Hanke was given 30 days suspension from duty without pay and was removed from the bomb squad, also resulting in what a police spokeswoman as "significant loss in annual wages."
Both officers were found to have violated policies for personal conduct and behavior, investigators said. A woman detective who was with the group was cleared of allegations.
"I am convinced that these officers have learned a very hard lesson and their actions in the future will always meet the high standards of behavior that the Bellevue community rightfully demands of their police. The discipline given to these officers is firm yet fair", said Police Chief Linda Pillo.
"After the media's description of the events, some citizens demanded I terminate these officers," Pillo said. "Once the facts were uncovered through a comprehensive administrative investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Standards regarding the off-duty alleged conduct, it was clear their actions, although embarrassing and disheartening, did not rise to the level of termination."
Pillo said the officer who drove under the influence and the officer who used profane language while being described as Bellevue's finest "have learned a very hard lesson," and believed their behavior would change. Robertson wrote a brief, two-paragraph statement saying he was "completely out of line" and that his behavior was inexcusable. Hanke also released a brief statement saying his behavior "was inappropriate, disrespectful and lacked the professionalism you expect from me in my position."
The incident happened Sept. 16 at CenturyLink Field after the friend, who is a Bellevue utilities employee, tossed a beer cup in front of an officer.
The officer asked her to pick it up.
The utilities workers and the Bellevue officers responded by surrounding the Seattle cop and swearing at her.
Shortly after that incident, a fan with his family inside the stadium complained to security about the officers' language. The utilities officer described her friends as "Bellevue's finest," and sugguested that the fan who complained be careful when driving in Bellevue. The three were asked to leave CenturyLink.
One of the officers, Andy Hanke, drove home under the influence of alcohol, police learned after an internal investigation. But because he wasn't stopped and because there was no forensic evidence, it was not clear how intoxicated he was.
Still police determined he drove while drunk and so iolated the department's obedience of laws policy.
Corporal Dion Robertson was demoted from his supervisory role with the bomb squad to an officer's position. Police said that resulted in a "significant annual loss in pay."
Hanke was given 30 days suspension from duty without pay and was removed from the bomb squad, also resulting in what a police spokeswoman as "significant loss in annual wages."
Both officers were found to have violated policies for personal conduct and behavior, investigators said. A woman detective who was with the group was cleared of allegations.
"I am convinced that these officers have learned a very hard lesson and their actions in the future will always meet the high standards of behavior that the Bellevue community rightfully demands of their police. The discipline given to these officers is firm yet fair", said Police Chief Linda Pillo.
"After the media's description of the events, some citizens demanded I terminate these officers," Pillo said. "Once the facts were uncovered through a comprehensive administrative investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Standards regarding the off-duty alleged conduct, it was clear their actions, although embarrassing and disheartening, did not rise to the level of termination."
Pillo said the officer who drove under the influence and the officer who used profane language while being described as Bellevue's finest "have learned a very hard lesson," and believed their behavior would change. Robertson wrote a brief, two-paragraph statement saying he was "completely out of line" and that his behavior was inexcusable. Hanke also released a brief statement saying his behavior "was inappropriate, disrespectful and lacked the professionalism you expect from me in my position."
Three month investigation and no terminations? I will never be able to look at a Bellevue poiice officer with any degree of respect. What a travesty of justice.Â
@George I know a few guys always named George that were always in trouble with the law. So like you I can never look at a guy named George with any degree of respect.
Chief Pillo  should have taken there  batches.   If they act like that without the batch.   Who wants to see them behind there  batch.   Probly  much worse,  they fooled somebody to get the job  thought they did  psych evaluation.  obviously  not dealing with a full  deck............      Â
I feel  anybody in Law Enforcement  should get twice the penalty as they know the laws, and uphold them.  That's what they get paid too do.  that's the career they chose it's a good one if they keep there  nose clean.
Guess that's  one of the perks to being  a  Bellevue Police Officer  you get to  break the Law  and it's  ok
Drink and Drive  that's  perfectly ok too.    How can these individuals uphold the Law when they break them  as well as anybody.          Hey  I'm  Bellevue  Police Officer it  entitles me to be an ASS
Hard lesson? BS! They should no longer be allowed to be a Cop.
It never rises to the level with those kind of people. Yes, normal people would be terminated for this type activity. These were drunk armed cowards out of control in public, with blazing contempt for citizens. This should scare the heck out of every man, woman and child in our community.Â
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I will say that Bellevue Police Chief Linda Pillo took care of business much better than the yahoos at Seattle Police.
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SPD would have hidden video if available and dragged the so called investigation out until folks forgot about incident
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Hummmm imagine Pillo as seattle top cop because she seems tough as nails and is pleasant on the eyes.
Oh look it is not only Seattle PD that has 'issues' I hope they also got a ticket for ...LITTERING and...umm.... ...LITTERING and...umm.......LITTERING and...umm....
a situation I recall recently with a officer as they were picking up a stolen vehicle I reported was to ticket a person who was parked in a fire zone... not such a big issue but their vehicle was blocking the view of people leaving to parking lot and was a hazard... they just told me... I can do that if I have time... I was surprised when I later discovered no ticket was placed on the vehicle and my request was ignored... some cops are bad and lazy but there are good people on the force... I help officers and comply with their requests as they definitely have a hard job where the bad guys they catch get a wrist slap and re-released... that would degrade anyone's sense of accomplishment if you had to see the same thing you have done multiple times undone by the legal systems... this state alone needs to come down much harder on criminals than they are right now...and that does mean stiffer penalties but the cops have to hold up to the standards the public are expected to follow on or off duty!
AND THAT IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG!!
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About the same time as these officers got their punishment after a very fair and through investigation, a department MAJOR and two CAPTAINS were receiving their punishment for a DV-related, potential workplace violence Ménage à trois gone horribly wrong.
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The MAJOR reduced to LEUTENANT, as well as the female CAPTAIN, who was at the center. . .so to speak.
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The issue with BPD is where is the senior leadership?! Whoâs minding the store? One of the BPD deputy chiefs has been quoted by many of the rank-and-file as clearly establishing as department policy that what happens off-duty is NOT a reflection of what is expected on duty.
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Donât look at the dirt falling out of the bottomâyou got to look higher to see where it has started if you want to correct it.
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While I think the conduct of the officers while âOff Dutyâ is certainly not acceptable for anyone yet alone a police officer. That conduct still occurred off the cityâs time clocks and out of uniform. Unless there is some wording in their contracts about conduct outside of work, I do not think they should have been punished for their actions.
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The SPD officer that witnessed the person littering should have cited that person with the appropriate fine and ticket. If that person then failed to comply with the officers directive they should have been arrested like anyone else would have been. If the friends were interfering with that arrest I believe that is obstruction and they also could have been arrested. That would have ended the whole situation right then and there.
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Using swear words and offensive language at a sporting event is fairly common. While personally it does not offend me and would not offend me even if I was there with my kid. I understand it does upset other people. They did the correct thing in that situation and reported the actions to the stadium and appropriate steps were taken. I donât think the chief of police needed to talk with the family and apologize. If anything it should have been the officers and city worker once they sobered up.
 @DreamTravlerÂ
They threatened others with the fact that they were Cops. If one of them is ever involved in anything even close to "questionable" a jury will likely award money. This kind of person has no business being a Cop.
 @DreamTravler As far as I know, ALL police officers have as part of their employment a set of standards to meet about their behaviour while off the clock. If you read the story, it says "Still police determined he drove while drunk and so iolated the department's obedience of laws policy." and "Both officers were found to have violated policies for personal conduct and behavior, investigators said.".  There are many professions and many jobs where what you do off the clock is considered the employers' business, and if you violate those standards, you can be fired. Being a law-enforcement officer is one of those.
@DreamTravler One of the women in the group made sure to tell the family that they were Bellevue Police, and to be careful when going to Bellevue. When security talked to the officers, they let them know they were with the Bellevue police department.
When they tried to use their employment as an excuse for their behavior, that is when discipline by the department became appropiate.
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Seems we can never go a week or two without another feel good story about some northwest cops...
There was no difference that day with regards to their actions than the gang bangers they arrest.
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How terrible for the Seattle Officer and how embarrassing for the City of Bellevue.
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Police reflect the City that they work in.  Keep an eye on these folks Chief.  You will see more to come in say a year or two when they get their courage back to misbehave.  Some people are cut out for police work and others simply are not.
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Too bad they weren't fired and Bellevue could have gotten better quality people.
I don't expect our police to walk on water like Jesus, but neither do I expect them to be total and complete thugs, which in general, they are.
Where is the apology from the chief to the family that had to listen to the crap from the drunk Bellevue police officers, the chief fell all over herself calling the SPD to say she was sorry but the chief fell flat on her face making any kind amends to the familiy. Chief your no better then your officers.
@Dhnr  In an earlier article, back when this first occurred, the gentleman to whom you are referring was interviewed and he said the Chief DID apologize to him and assured him that there would be an investigation. He actually posted here in the comments section about his meeting with her and her assurances. Â
GOOD! While I would be happier if these three individuals were fired, I can understand that trying to fire them would have resulted in lengthy litigation from the police unions involved. Further, losing two people from your bomb squad is a significant decrease in a department's capability.
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And I sincerely hope that they are in the alcohol-abuse system: 90 AA meetings in 90 days, interlocks on their cars, etc.
 @svensson this has to be one of the best post  yet  I have read.   But along with the  AA meetings  I would  also have them  do  a 2 year out patient program for Drugs and Alcohol,  And  Anger  Management.       Better  yet  they should  just have been  fired,  there  probly  just  as cocky with a Loaded Gun  in there hand also.     It was probly a city of Bellevue vehicle they drove away  drunk in........................  Â
Their behavior isn't surprising. Â Police in the Seattle area are a bunch of racist thugs that think they're above the law. Â These officers should have been fired.
Sad to see cops being stupid
But gotta give BPD credit for willing to cleanup and move on.
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Can't say that for top brass of SPD...take them forever to admit wrong to rid the few bad apples within SPD
its funny reading these cop press releases...blah blah blah high standards blah blah in the future they will be perfect wonderful cops blah blah well maybe he drove drunk BUT...blah blah
Drunk driving rowdy cops? Say it isn't so LOL
what happened to collegial courtesy - if not anything else ? Is their good behavior so thin that a few beers makes them jerks? True colors. Maybe one of the hiring tests should be to test them while drunk. It may reveal character flaws you otherwise don't see ;-)Â
Good, an apt punishment for once.Â
How convenient that the female officer was cleared of all allegations... Wasn't she the one that instigated the incident with the SPD Officer????
@Landcruiser
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She wasn't an officer - she was a Bellevue "utilities worker". Like yo, I think she also needs to be held accountable & have some repercussions for her actions.
Oh my Gosh Officers! You are not god after all. Just human like the rest of us. Now please in the future behave like adults.
I am still waiting for your public apology to the Seattle police officer you belittled and to the family that you made uncomfortable at the game.
I bet they were armed too.
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I've been thinking about the problem of police misconduct and how best to handle it. The issue as I see it, is the only penalty that can be applied against the police in civil court is to fine them money. Broadly speaking, that money pretty much comes out of the general fund or is paid by insurance a municipality holds which is purchased via the general fund.Â
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As it currently stands, the logic is that the financial penalties will be the motivating factor to correct bad behavior. That doesn't apply however, when the departments budget isn't affected and the paychecks of those involved doesn't take a hit. Pay some kid $40,000 because a cop kicked him? The cop and his department don't take that hit, your local school does. No one is going to actually advocate that we actually pay the misconduct settlements out of the police budget because they wouldn't be able to operate.
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We need the power to remove an officer from duty via ruling of a civil court judge. Victims of misconduct could still seek restitution but in place of large punitive awards -that hurt the community who must pay them- we should be able to directly terminate the employment of bad cops and if necessary their superiors.Â
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Not only would we stop bankrupting ourselves (while often enriching scumbags) but we would remove the ability of the police to shelter those among them that don't deserve to be cops.
 @Larry*X*K @Root Please if Cops had to buy their own malpractice Insurance, like doctors do, then maybe we'd see better behavior from them.
 @Root Please Scary to think of a drunk with a gun and a badge.
 @swan Happens ALL the time, EVERYWHERE.
 @Root Please I know that is why I look at police misconduct.net
Demotions and suspended without pay is much better than what Seattle police would do in the same situation.Â
If these are "Bellevue's finest", Bellevue has got PROBLEMS! Oh well, at least they didn't shoot someone... yet.
We should see this on PoliceMisconduct.net tomorrow. This is my daily read because the police don't do a very good job of getting rid of the bad cops and I know most cops are good but if you have a rotten apple you got to do something about it.
 @swan The issue is the unions do too good of a job preventing the firing of bad cops instead of being a proponent of the best quality from their members.Â
 @swan I never heard of that web site and just spent some time on it. All I can say is "holy crap". I have dash cameras in my trucks and my Jeep. Looks like I need to add more.
Tangible consequences? Â Gasp! Â Right on!
I'm glad to hear that the suspension is WITHOUT pay and that both officers were demoted resulting in a signifigant loss of pay. Once again, here are a couple officers who feel they are above the law and need to be knocked off their high horse. Mouthing off to an officer, threatening a citizen, and driving under the influence would normally get you arrested so it seems these two idiots got off easy.
 @d_2 @Tattooed_AngelÂ
Too bad the "utilities worker" was not ALSO held accountable. Her actions started the ball rolling.
Bull Sheet
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These badged thugs should be removed from the force.
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Do you joe citizen feel safe knowing they  might be the link between you living and dying.
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Being a cop is a tough job and requires you have your sheet on straight. Â These cats clearly don't. Â Save the public from them get them the heck out of the force.
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It's clear to me...  as a Bellevue LEO, you can drive under the (alleged) influence and get a slap on the wrist.  Where is the probation?  Where's the public service?  Hours talking to kids about the dangers of driving under the influence.  30 days w/o pay?  Ohhhh....  that's sending a message.  The only regret they have is getting caught.  Listen... these guys have a complex.  One that's exacerbated behind the badge.  Trust me, a leopard does not change its spots.  At this point, and for the sake of the public, I hope these guys did in fact learn a lesson.  Cautiously optimistic.Â
 @d_2 You really think kicking someone off the force for DUI with zero forensic or physical proof would stick? He'd turn around and sue that department and not only win his job back but probably a promotion too.
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 @Dredd57 Is this your attempt at being sarcastic again? Where did I say, kick them off the force? Read it again.. the word is alleged. My response detailed, 'probation', ' public service'. Nothing about losing their job entirely. < not sarcastic.  Oh... and <roll-eyes>
 @d_2 Well then, we've arrived at quite the conundrum, because I would have supported booting him off the force for a DUI, I thought that was your inference too. My problem being the fact there was zero evidence.
Awwwww a 30 day unpaid vacation. Oh no! kicked off of the bomb squad too? How ever will you survive?
 @Rockberry You're right, they should have been put to death for swearing at a police officer and littering. *rolls eyes*
 @Dredd57 You're a racist!
See how that works? I just throw anything out there just like you do.
*rolls eyes*
 @Jill The ability to take a blanket insult and respond with a rather humorous post? I'd give you more credit than above average. Haha.
@Jill @Dredd57 @Rockberry well I'd wager at least half the people are below average intelligence.
 @Dredd57  @Rockberry I'm marginal. For two hours last Thursday, I was above average. I know, it's impressive.
@Dredd57 Don't be so crabby about us ignorant folk on this here forum. It's not like you're improving the statistics!
 @Rockberry "Throw anything out there?" Is that what you *think* I did?Â
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Does this forum have any marginally intelligent people? Seriously, I'll settle for marginal.
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 @d_2 Do people normally roll their eyes when they are happy?
 @Dredd57 Roll eyes = sarcasm? Intellectually speaking... your statement was quite evident that it is sarcastic. However, the 'roll-eyes' snip is clear that you disagreed and embellished. Now.. I don't expect you to understand it, but it is easily understood. That - is elementary.