NorthwestJuly 13, 2003

Associated Press

TACOMA -- Seven abuse complaints have been filed against employees of the Tacoma Police Department since 1996, and at least three of them remain on the payroll, The Tacoma News Tribune reported Saturday.

The city released heavily redacted Internal Affairs files related to three of the employees Friday and planned to release the remaining four Tuesday.

In one complaint, a Tacoma police detective was accused of punching his girlfriend in the face twice in a Lakewood parking lot in 1998. Investigative records indicate he choked her, broke her necklaces and shouted obscenities at her. The alleged incident happened a few weeks after he kicked in the door of her home, demanding that she return an engagement ring.

The detective, identified as Michael Justice, avoided a court conviction on charges of fourth-degree assault and kept his job after serving a 10-day suspension without pay, the newspaper reported. The suspension was ordered by then-Police Chief James O. Hairston.

The Internal Affairs files emerge as the city of Tacoma and its police department struggle to redefine policies regarding domestic violence after Police Chief David Brame fatally shot his wife then killed himself April 26.

Acting Police Chief Don Ramsdell, promoted to assistant chief in 2002, was not a member of the department command staff when the complaint involving Justice was investigated.

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He declined to comment directly about the internal affairs investigations, or how they were handled by previous police department leaders. The department, he said, is working to develop a response to domestic violence complaints that includes "a complete evaluation of the facts and circumstances of each case."

"We are listening to and talking with local and national domestic violence experts, and are currently in the process of revising our policies and procedures relative to domestic violence incidents," Ramsdell said.

"The bottom line is that when department members are involved in sustained allegations of domestic violence, they will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination," he said.

A civilian police department employee, Ted Garn, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault in 1999 after he threw his girlfriend into a freezer after an argument, The News Tribune reported. He was convicted of fourth-degree assault in 1999.

After an internal investigation, Hairston gave Garn a written reprimand. As a civilian employee, Garn did not carry a department-issued weapon. He is on paid extended leave from the department, unrelated to the 1999 complaint.

A third department employee, a female officer, received disciplinary counseling in 2002. The complaint alleged that she improperly used police department equipment to perform criminal background checks on her husband.

The newspaper said it did not publish the woman's name because she was not accused of physically abusing her husband.

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