Trill Clinton
01-31-2015, 12:27 PM
This week, the Seattle Police Departmentissued an apology (http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/01/28/seattle-police-jailed-elderly-man-for-walking-in-seattle-while-black) to a 70-year-old black veteran who was arrested last summer when a female officer apparently falsely accused him of threatening her with a golf club.
William Wingate, a 69-year-old Seattle man (http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2015/01/seattle-police-apologize-to-man-for-2014-arrest/) who regularly used his golf club as a cane, was standing on a street corner last summer when Officer Cynthia Whitlatch pulled up next to him.
In a exchange captured on her police cruiser's dash cam, Whitlatch accused Wingate of threatening her with his club, repeatedly warning him, "You're being audio and videotaped."
But as the police department conceded (http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2015/01/27/spd-returns-mans-golf-club/), there's no evidence at all—much less a recording—showing that Wingate threatened Whitlatch in any way. Via a Seattle Police Department press release:
The City Attorney's Office and SPD took a second look at this case and recommended that it be dismissed.
Deputy Chief Best personally met with the man, returned his golf club, and offered an apology for his arrest.
Video of the man's arrest was just released to a media outlet as a result of a public disclosure request. It is being published on the SPD Blotter in the interest of fostering better police transparency.
Wingate had actually ended up pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a weapon in exchange for two years of probation, which were dismissed early.
Not dismissed, however, was Whitlatch, the arresting officer.
The officer who made the arrest received counseling from her supervisor, a course of action that the department believes to be an appropriate resolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92zfXkRdnk
William Wingate, a 69-year-old Seattle man (http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2015/01/seattle-police-apologize-to-man-for-2014-arrest/) who regularly used his golf club as a cane, was standing on a street corner last summer when Officer Cynthia Whitlatch pulled up next to him.
In a exchange captured on her police cruiser's dash cam, Whitlatch accused Wingate of threatening her with his club, repeatedly warning him, "You're being audio and videotaped."
But as the police department conceded (http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2015/01/27/spd-returns-mans-golf-club/), there's no evidence at all—much less a recording—showing that Wingate threatened Whitlatch in any way. Via a Seattle Police Department press release:
The City Attorney's Office and SPD took a second look at this case and recommended that it be dismissed.
Deputy Chief Best personally met with the man, returned his golf club, and offered an apology for his arrest.
Video of the man's arrest was just released to a media outlet as a result of a public disclosure request. It is being published on the SPD Blotter in the interest of fostering better police transparency.
Wingate had actually ended up pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a weapon in exchange for two years of probation, which were dismissed early.
Not dismissed, however, was Whitlatch, the arresting officer.
The officer who made the arrest received counseling from her supervisor, a course of action that the department believes to be an appropriate resolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92zfXkRdnk