RENTON, Wash. -- A top police commander and sergeant are to blame for at least one of the YouTube cartoons mocking the Renton Police Department and regional jail.
The video is one of nine recently posted on YouTube satirizing the Renton Police Department and the jail in an extremely unflattering way, at times coming across as racist and sexist.
The cartoon depicts a jail employee as a clown who offers nonsensical reasons for refusing to book a suspect brought in by Renton Police. The jail clown tells the officer he can't book the man because he's too drunk, his backpack is too big and he's too loud. The video also depicts jail employees as lazy.
The clown says, We spent the last two years shirking duties and calling in sick for no reason. I was told we'd all be promoted.
The Renton Police officer mockingly thanks the clown for teaching him the ways of SCORE, the regional jail in Des Moines known as the South Correctional Entity.
According to the internal investigation, the offensive video was produced by Renton Police Sgt. Bill Judd, who showed it to a top commander, Deputy Chief Chuck Marsalisi. Judd told investigators the Deputy Chief thought it was funny and advised him on how to post it anonymously on YouTube.
Both men have been demoted for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Marsalisi is now a sergeant, Judd is now a patrol officer.
There's a process of investigation, said Preeti Shridhar, Communications Director for the City of Renton, on the officers' discipline. We work closely with the human resources department. Based on that and based on their recommendations, the action was taken.
Renton Police Department says this internal investigation only addresses one video, not 8 others that were the focus of a cyberstalking investigation.Police say they still don't know who produced those offensive videos and are continuing to look into the matter.
