Pierce County Sheriff Hopefuls Talk Gun Rights, Transparency at GOP Forum; More WA Primary Election News

Next week's primary election in Washington will narrow down the race for sheriff of Pierce County, the top cop for Washington’s second most populous county and one of the largest police forces in the northwest. About a month ago, I went to the only public forum so far for the race and had one of the best burgers of my life. And, oh yeah, I learned what they told a friendly crowd about policing.

What Pierce County Sheriff’s Hopefuls Told Gun-Loving Local Republicans

It’s arguably the first wide-open race for Pierce County Sheriff since longest-ever-serving, two-decade incumbent Paul Pastor passed the torch to his longtime spokesman Ed Troyer¹ ahead of Washington’s 2020 primary. On top of serving nearly a million residents, the sheriff is responsible for the second largest jail in the Pacific Northwest and has a pulpit to influence both local and state policy.

On Pierce County’s Aug. 6 primary ballot this go-around are heir-apparent Patti Jackson, a longtimer on the corrections side of the sheriff’s office who recently transferred to Chief of Patrol shortly after a jailers guild vote of no-confidence to spur change; Cyndie Fajardo, a detective lieutenant and embattled former special investigations commander; and Keith Swank, a former Seattle police captain and perennial local candidate whose self-advertised claim to fame is allegedly clearing the CHOP/CHAZ protest zone in July 2020; Craig Gocha, a Puyallup cop-turned-sheriff’s-deputy-turned-Expedia operations guy; Mike Csapo, a Pierce County patrol sergeant who declined a meeting with the TNT Editorial Board;  and Darin G. “The Guy” Harris, a sergeant at Whidbey Island Air Station and a former Detroit beat cop. 

Last week, The News Tribune gave the nod to Jackson in the final endorsement written by longtime columnist, opinion editor and force of journalism Matt Driscoll² before his sudden, heartbreaking death at 43 early this week.

Given the weaknesses and/or baggage of the other candidates, the TNT Editorial Board reached the measured conclusion that Jackson “stands the best chance of leading the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department … into the future,” though “she’ll be faced with a daunting list of long-standing, systemic failings to address.” 

So I’ll skip the candidate-by-candidate rundown of credentials and platforms (here’s a video someone shared on Facebook if you’re interested) to focus on the more unique things they said to win over a group of pro-law enforcement voters gathered at a gun club outside Puyallup. You guessed it: gun rights. (The panel was billed as a firearm owner workshop and held at the Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club that was at the center of an episode of The Walk Home about the death of Manny Ellis.) My personal highlights³ are in the footnotes.

Guns came up early in the event with Sgt. Csapo, who told the crowd he speaks better “on the fly,"  launching into how the U.S. Surgeon General recently declared gun violence, a leading cause of death among kids, a public health crisis, and then connecting it to a monologue about a dearth of “personal responsibility” in Washington and the country.

Mike Csapo: It's all for the ban of all high-capacity magazines, assault-type weapons and other things that they want to implement at a federal level. … It's been a long road to get it to Pierce County to where it is right now, starting with you, you know, the laws being taken away from us, the police reform laws with a governor who stood up in front of the entire state and brag that he had the most restrictive laws in the country. Well, he did. And guess what? This is where we are now. Crime is rampant in Pierce County. All right, we have violent crime on a daily basis. We are understaffed. You do not have the people or the ability to go out there and combat it. And honestly, regardless of which one of us is elected sheriff, we need your help to fix it. We cannot do it alone.

After one question about reducing crime, guns came up again when the moderator, state Representative and Pierce County Executive candidate Kelly Chambers, asked if they planned to side with local firearm owners over state gun control laws.

Craig Gocha: … I have hundreds of deputies working under me, that I'm not going to put their livelihood, their jail, their family on the line because I want to make a statement on something that's right along that gray line (constitutionally)…

Darin Harris: I am an NRA member, a life member. So yeah, I like guns. And I want you to keep your guns. I'll be in the way if they try to take ‘em. Hundred percent. It seems like that's the road they're going on because that's the only thing they have left. Right? Their Pandora's box is getting empty with little things that they can do. …

Patti Jackson: … I understand how many law-abiding citizens are very careful and responsible gun owners, and that is something that people try to take away, and that is not something we will stand for as a department, as a person, as a sheriff. … We need to redirect our focus and go after the criminals and help keep those people in jail, and that is what our sheriff's department is aiming to do.

Keith Swank: … We didn't get the Second Amendment so that we could hunt or protect ourselves because that was a given. The reason why the Second Amendment is around is to keep an overbearing, tyrannical government from putting its boot on your neck, and that's why. There have been recent decisions by the Supreme Court about where we are with the Second Amendment. Just recently, the Trump bump stock ban was ruled unconstitutional. The Bruen decision ruled it unconstitutional, and Olympia opposes that legislation. That's unconstitutional legislation. We need to stand firm against it. …

Mike Csapo: OK, everybody's gonna tell you the same thing. … Here's a little-known fact most of you in this room don't know, but there's a few of us at this table who do. In the last 10 months, your deputies that work for you each and every day have been involved in eight officer-involved shootings. Eight in ten months. That is unprecedented. We've had two deputies shot in that line. Both of them uninjured, thankfully, one due to a ricochet. My point is this is getting out of control. Even back in the Lakewood days, we did not have this. Gun violence is a huge issue. We have to come up with means and ways to address it. Taking your guns is not the answer. I'm sorry, it's not. …

Cyndie Fajardo: … I will tell you my family (firearm) business is closing at the end of this year because we cannot put the surveillance requirements in our home because that's where our business is and put shutters on our windows, and essentially our 40-year business is shutting down because of the laws from the state of Washington. It's ridiculous. It is legal gun owners who care about guns. They care about safety, they care about education. Why are we the victims?

The candidates also had similar responses to one another when it came to the question of building relationships with communities who don’t trust the police.

Darin Harris: … Community policing is the key, right? You haven't seen it in, we're talking 40 years ago, right? Community policing was huge. Huge. You knew the police officer's name, their first name. You knew their partner. You knew the next shift that came up. … That's how it's done. …

Patti Jackson: Transparency is something that really needs to happen in Pierce County. One of the things that our community members complain about is that they're not certain of what's going on or why. It is very imperative that we are transparent because transparency builds accountability. …

Keith Swank: … The first thing they (community members) want is to see police officers rolling through, driving through the community. When we do that, studies show that it makes people feel safe. Even if they aren't safer, they feel safer. Therefore, they are safer. You see how that works? It's psychology. …

Mike Csapo: … OK, here's the thing: you can't have transparency without visibility. When was the last time you saw Ed Troyer? Yeah, exactly. We need to have a working sheriff. You need to have a sheriff that's out in the public. …

Cindy Fajardo: You can't build community trust if you're not in the community. We opened in 2014, the Parkland-Spanaway Precinct. It was a very big deal. It was all advertised. Do you know that now it is not a friendly precinct because, guess what? It's essentially not staffed. If you go there, you don't get to talk to a deputy. We've isolated ourselves away from the community. My office in Foothills, I don't have an office assistant. That door is not open to the public. That door has not been open to the public since 2012. The same goes for Eatonville. The same goes for the Peninsula. 

Craig Gocha: … We have to hold ourselves accountable because how are we going to hold our the public accountable for the crimes they can make if we're not holding ourselves accountable for the mistakes we make and the decisions that we take so we have to be out there. We have people in these hard questions, and we have to sometimes, you know, take that salt rub it in the wound learn from it move on, but you're not going to build trust with the community if you try to avoid the honesty that they need you to be here.

What do y’all think about the candidates’ comments? How do you think the top-two primary will shake out? If you watch the full video, does anything else stick out to you?

My parting thoughts on guns: It was slightly worrisome to me, especially given recent local incidents of violent and sometimes deadly vigilantism, to hear the candidates connect gun ownership and self-defense so closely to what everyday citizens should be thinking about when it comes to public safety amid declining (not rising) violent crime rates.

On accountability: I spoke with a lawyer and national policing policy expert who believes some law enforcement leaders are maintaining control over systems and funding by adopting language and embracing accountability measures and other reforms, like alternative response programs. He’ll be in my upcoming NPR story about the decertification process looking like the future of police accountability—but still having quite a few flaws.

Also: Pierce County deputies have been involved in eight nine shootings (after deputies shot and killed an armed first-degree DV assault suspect last Thursday) in the last 11 months?? That does sound unprecedented, Sgt. Csapo. I heard former Deputy Gocha was involved in a few himself at different departments awhile back.

More Law & Safety in the WA Top-Two Primary

Attorney General

With incumbent Bob Ferguson (D) leading the race for the governor’s mansion, former U.S Attorney Nick Brown (D), state Sen. Manka Dhingra (D) and Pasco City Council Member/Mayor Pete Serrano (R) are vying to be Washington’s chief legal representative, law enforcement officer and consumer advocate, among other roles. Following the money, Brown and Dinghra have both raised $1M+ to Serrano’s $200K. (More: WA State Standard, Crosscut, The Columbian)

Supreme Court Position 2

Nobody pays nearly enough attention to judicial races—and the money that’s funneled into them. Four men are running to join the nonpartisan Supreme Court bench after the seventh-ever female justice steps down at the end of the year. Under the state constitution, Justice Susan Owens is retiring because she’s turned 75 (she was also on medical leave earlier this year). But, the guy’s in this race seem fine. Judge Dave Larson works at the Federal Way Municipal Court, Country Dave Shelvey was a ’90s radio host, Salvador Mungia has the most endorsements and campaign cash, and Todd Bloom is a CPA and military vet. 

Other Races and Measures 

Superior Court Judges in: Kittitas County, Pierce County, Spokane County, Whitman County.

There are no statewide measures related to criminal justice after the legislature approved Initiative 2113, which rolled back police pursuit restrictions earlier this year. 

The city of Des Moines wants to increase property taxes in 2025 by $1.40 per $100,000 in assessed value to fund four new patrol officers and a community service officer; retain four positions funded by ARPA stimulus; and be able to pay to put more people in the deadly SCORE Jail and then send them to city court. 

The city of Snoqualmie is running a sales tax increase of 10 cents per 100 dollars, estimated to generate  $226,000 per year for police staffing, training and equipment. The city of Gig Harbor is running a similar increase to help with its budget deficit, police staffing, and other law enforcement expenses, per The News Tribune.

Per The Spokesman-Review, Spokane will also run a sales tax increase on the November general election ballot to help cover its budget deficit and pay for more officers, equipment, fire stations, etc.

From the Source

WA Federal Court: defense expert from acquitted ex-Tacoma cops’ trial describes another of his violent arrests. Original story on the lawsuit against Tim Rankine and Masyih Ford from my friend Patrick Malone at The Seattle Times. More of the docket for free.

Now for my first go at curating news links. Again, it’s just me here and I’m still at work adding sources, particularly in Oregon and Idaho, and topic, so please send me links of stuff you’d like to see more of: jared@pnwjusticejournal.org.

The Weekly News Links

Local Policing

• King County Jail Booking For Drug Use, Other Misdemeanors In Downtown Seattle – PubliCola
• Seattle Still Wants To Contract With The Score Jail For $2M+ A Year To Book More Misdemeanors – Seattle City Council, Seattle Mayor, Seattle Times
• Puyallup Voters Didn’t Want A New Police Station. The City May Spend $115m Anyway – The News Tribune

Politicking

• Now King County And The City of Seattle Are Fighting Over Jail Restrictions And Public Safety – The Seattle Times
• Seattle Police Chief Claims (Perhaps Wrongly) That State Law Doesn't Block Police From Questioning Teens – Axios
• Burien V. King County Sheriff Saga: City Manager Complained To Chief, Sheriff About Lack Of Immediate Response To His 911 Calls – PubliCola

Lawyering & Judging

• Jury Awards Former Port Of Seattle Police Chief $24.2m Over Wrongful Firing – Seattle Times
• WA Supreme Court Considers Cutting Public Defender Caseloads – WA State Standard
• Tacoma Will Pay $2 Million Over Allegedly Deadly Wreck With Police The News Tribune
• When Cases Intersect With Family Interests, Many Judges Choose Not To Recuse – ProPublica

Incarcerating

• Garfield County Jail To Close After Paying $2.5m Over Unnoticed Suicide – The Spokesman-Review, KUOW
• Man’s Suicide In Basement Cell Prompts Renewed Calls For More Jail Oversight in Wa – WA State Standard
• WA Prisons Delayed Releases For Nearly A Third Of Inmates, Costing Millions – InvestigateWest
• WA Judge Orders State To Bring 43 Men Sentenced As Kids Back To Juvenile Detention – Seattle Times, KUOW

Safety & Well-Being

• Mental Health First Aid Program Trains Bystanders To Help In A Crisis – Seattle Times
• Pierce County Residents Have Requested Millions For Eviction Prevention – The News Tribune 
• New Juvenile Rehabilitation Center Coming To Pierce County – The News Tribune
• Innovation In Child Care Is Coming From A Surprising Source: Police – Vox

Data & Technology

• The FCC Voted To Slash Phone, Video Costs In Prisons And Jails, Reduce Kickbacks – Prison Policy
• The Fight Over Shotspotter In Chicago, And Whether It Should Go, Is Escalating – The Trace
• An Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her – NY Times
• A National Crime Data Piece In The Dispatch Is Super Inaccurate. Here’s To Be Better  – Jeffalytics

More National Headlines I'm Watching

• Wandering Officer: Records Show Deputy Charged In Sonya Massey’s Fatal Shooting Worked For 6 Agencies In 4 Years, Was Discharged From The U.S. Army For Serious Misconduct – Associated Press, The Intercept
• Rising Deaths In Custody: 1,185 People Have Been Shot And Killed By Police In The Past 12 Months – Washington Post
• As Self-Defense Laws Proliferate, Few Shooters Are Deemed Justified. Especially When They’re Black – The Trace
• Sending Unarmed Responders Instead Of Police: What We’ve Learned – The Marshall Project

Some Fun Stuff

Highly recommend the new Netflix documentary How To Rob a Bank (produced by journalists!) about one of the most prolific bank robbers of all time who terrorized the Seattle area in the ’90s. True crime doesn’t always have to feel so gross!

The TV show Cops is filming in Pierce County again. The News Tribune’s Peter Talbot reports some sightings. 

Seafair weekend is here and that means the Blue Angels are coming. I, for one, used to love them as a kid but have grown to hate them as a resident of the South Seattle neighborhood where they practice. The Times’ Pacific NW Magazine did an interesting writeup on how pilots make the team. Enjoy the festivities if you’re into that sorta thing!

Grace Deng at the Washington State Standard profiled the Washington Corrections Center’s annual powwow. A reminder: Indigenous people are incarcerated at higher (and growing) rates than any other group in Washington.

And that’s it! We did a newsletter. Thanks for being here, and I will talk to you next week.

-Jared from the PNW Justice Journal

P.S., in these early days of the PNWJJ, I’m running a 50% off Founding Member Discount for a one-year Insider subscription. Tell your friends! 

Footnotes:

1. Troyer, who was on TV so often that some folks already thought he was the sheriff, ended up winning handily in the wake of him and the sheriff’s office mishandling the investigation of Manny Ellis’ 2020 death in Tacoma police custody. If you’re not familiar, Troyer’s tenure got off to a rocky start after he followed his neighborhood’s newspaper carrier late at night thinking he was a porch pirate, and the Attorney General’s Office accused him of, essentially, Swatting a Black man doing his job a la Central Park dog lady. Troyer has been lying relatively low since a jury acquitted him of false 911 reporting (though, he did say he’d hire the officers acquitted of killing Manny Ellis earlier this year). He announced his pending retirement after 40 years on the force this spring. 

2. Matt's singular snark drips especially from the arguments that electing a sheriff is “bonkers” and Troyer’s tenure was defined by “us-versus-them division.” Here’s a GoFundMe to support his wife and two kids. And here’s a TNT roundup of his best work.

3. A few highlights that didn’t come through in the quotes: the awkwardness of doing the Pledge of Allegiance with mostly folks in their 60s-plus; all the choked-back laughs when Harris said, “If we're not first, we're last,” unironically; and Swank really selling his “make Pierce County safe again” tagline at the end of almost every answer.