Spokane Police Officer Fired
Police Chief Scott Stephens has fired one of his officers for off-duty misconduct after Officer Alan Edwards misused police equipment in order to get the address of a woman he met in a bar.
Chief Scott Stephens made the decision that there was no way he could have allowed Edwards to stay on the force because Edwards lied to one of his fellow officers in order to get this lady's address, a violation of a policy that is supposed to protect the privacy of citizens in the community.
Officer Edwards was a hard-charging cop. When the gang unit when out to arrest a suspect in a 2009 attempted murder, he let KXLY go on the raid with him. He was also a veteran of the SWAT Team.
But, last December, Edwards became enamored with a woman he had met at a Spokane Valley bar and then used his police powers to track down her home address.
"He was trying to pursue some sort of relationship with this person and he absolutely went about it the wrong way," Chief Stephens said.
The chief says the night of the incident Edwards called one of his on-duty colleagues and asked her to look up the woman's name on the officer's computer in her patrol car.
"He contacted an on-duty officer and then led them to believe that what he was doing was a legitimate law enforcement purpose that he was following up an alleged theft and had this person run the name for him," Stephens said.
Edwards took down the woman's address and then showed up at her home, unannounced and uninvited later that night.
"It was a very brief conversation he had with this complainant in that he said he was there to check on her welfare, that he was basically worried about her and she pretty soon just told him to go away and he did," Stephens added.
When Edwards was confronted later about the woman's complaint against him Edwards admitted his involvement. His unwelcome advances cost Edwards his job and hurt the credibility of his fellow officers.
The decision for Chief Stephens was not only professional but was also personal.
"Officer Edwards and I served on the SWAT team together for six years. I do consider his a friend but I take my oath and my duty to the citizens of this city very seriously and although difficult I'm going to do what I believe needs to be done."
Typically the Police Guild rushes to defend an officer when they are disciplined by the chief's office, however in this case the guild apparently believes Alan Edwards needed to be fired.
Edwards was notified about his termination Wednesday; the effective date of his termination is March 1.