SEATTLE — Two members of the Seattle Police Department command staff are under criminal investigation related to alleged crimes against women, a KING 5 investigation has exposed.
The two members of the top brass under criminal investigation are Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis and Deputy Chief Eric Barden. Both men are still on the job. Neither man has been charged with a crime.
The investigations come to light at a time of great turmoil for the department. As of late May, SPD was facing legal action from at least seven employees alleging racial and gender discrimination within the department.
Now, KING 5 has learned that Davis is under investigation for alleged sexual assault and Barden is being investigated for alleged domestic violence.
Internal emails obtained by KING 5 show the investigations originated from complaints to SPD’s internal investigation division – the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) – then were referred to outside agencies because they were criminal in nature.
KING 5 has confirmed a former employee of Seattle’s Community Police Commission prompted the investigation into Davis. That woman asked to remain anonymous.
“It’s been horrible how this has impacted my life,” she said.
Davis, a 25-year veteran of the department, served as a liaison between the commission and SPD.
The woman said she met Davis at a work event on her second day.
Dozens of text messages exchanged between the woman and Davis that KING 5 reviewed show they had a relationship beyond the workplace. She alleged after meeting at a restaurant in March, Davis sexually assaulted her.
Davis’s attorney said the accusations are untrue. He sent an email saying, “Chief Davis has served as a police officer with the Seattle Police Department for 24 years, maintaining an exemplary record and standing as an important member of our community. These allegations are false, and he welcomes any investigation to clear his name.”
“The stress has been debilitating. It’s affected my performance, my productivity, my sleep, my day-to-day life,” the woman said. “The next day, the next few days I felt really ashamed about what happened to me.”
Documents obtained by KING 5 show that in Barden’s case, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department received a referral in May from the OPA, saying it had received a complaint of “domestic abuse” against the assistant chief.
Barden didn’t respond to inquiries for this story.
“These types of allegations you’re referring to are serious no matter what position you occupy in the department,” said Ed Obayashi who conducts sexual harassment and sexual assault investigations for higher management in law enforcement.
Multiple law enforcement experts were troubled to hear that two top-level police officials in the same department are under separate criminal investigations, and that both remain on the job.
“The recommended practice in law enforcement is when anyone is under criminal investigation it’s that they should be on administrative leave,” said Obayashi.
“For a law enforcement member of that level, it is very unusual to see them under criminal investigation,” said Walter Katz who is with the Council on Criminal Justice.
In mid-May, then Police Chief Adrian Diaz put Davis on administrative leave. KING 5 now knows it was after receiving the sexual assault allegation. The leave didn’t last long.
The next week Mayor Bruce Harrell took Diaz off the job and replaced him with former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr. On her first official day at the helm, she brought Davis back to work. KING 5 has learned that she made the move before the alleged victim was ever interviewed.
“I brought Tyrone Davis back because when I reviewed the judgement available to me, it was my judgement that he did not need to be on administrative leave for the investigation to move forward. There was no indication he would interfere with the investigation, there was no information that he would cause any kind of disruption in the workplace so I didn’t see a compelling reason to keep him on administrative leave,” said interim Police Chief, Sue Rahr.
In Barden’s case, internal sources confirm that Diaz tried to put him on administrative leave, but under Rahr’s leadership, that directive wasn’t carried out.
“I was outraged, I was outraged, this is ridiculous,” said the alleged victim the Davis case who went on to say she’s furious that both men are on duty and that it’s the wrong message to women.
“It tells me I don’t matter, that these people that the public, these women do not matter,” she said.
Sue Rahr stands by her decision to bring Davis back. All she would say about Barden is that he was “never on administrative leave.”
“We take these charges very seriously and we conduct a credible investigation,” said Rahr.
Police experts, however, said best practices aren’t being followed in these cases.
“Police transparency and neutrality essentially mandate administrative leave to run its course until the investigation is complete and there is an outcome,” said Obayashi.
These are allegations and neither man has been nor may ever be charged with a crime. However, KING 5 is reporting this news because both are in highly visible positions of power and five experts from across the country said it is unusual and not best practice to have officers on the job while they’re under criminal investigation.
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