As required by the City of Seattle, the SPD recently published its first biannual report relating to marijuana enforcement. The report is designed to provide another level of oversight for marijuana enforcement in our city and flag anomalies or outliers in enforcement.
When reviewing data captured for this report, SPD staff discovered that 66 of 83, or approximately 80%, of marijuana tickets were issued by one officer. In some instances, the officer added notes to the tickets. Some notes requested the attention of City Attorney Peter Holmes and were addressed to “Petey Holmes.” In another instance, the officer indicated he flipped a coin when contemplating which subject to cite. In another note, the officer refers to Washington’s voter-enacted changes to marijuana laws as “silly.”
The officer’s actions have been reported to OPA and he will not perform patrol duties during the course of the investigation.
Please know that officers who perform professional and constitutional police service and enforcement will always have my full support.