WEST RICHLAND, Wash. – The West Richland Police Department is the second department in the Benton County area to have a vote of no confidence against its police chief in a year. In Prosser, it led to an external investigation and Chief Jay King’s placement on administrative leave. In West Richland, nothing has happened since a meeting in February according to an attorney working on a related case.
The City of West Richland sent out a press release on February 29, 2024, that said in part:
“The City of West Richland is aware of the West Richland Police Officers’ Association’s no-confidence vote on Police Chief Thomas Grego. The City is committed to transparency and accountability, and takes these matters seriously. An independent, outside consultant is conducting.”
Nonstop Local made a public records request to find out more about what the Climate Survey looked like. We also received emails from the West Richland Police Association and the City’s HR team.
All of that information gives a timeline of what’s happened since the first vote of no confidence sent in November by Officer Jared Paulsen President of the WRPOA.
That initial vote of no confidence passed with 11 votes in favor, six votes against and two members abstained.
Between that time and February 22, 2024, the city hired an outside consultant to act as a third party. They interviewed staff and looked at data from the department to see what was going on.
On the 22nd staff met to talk about the consultant’s findings.
The survey is assessing the Department’s work culture, among other aspects
In the recording of that meeting, she talked about what people had said in interviews with her before the meeting.
Officer Paulson disagreed with the issues brought up at the meeting.
“The association had asked to look into the issue that we’re talking about is the weaponization of an IA process,” he said at the meeting “That’s where our concern is. That’s what the lack of trust is. That’s why we did the vote.”
Paulson said the IA process, also known as an internal affairs investigation, has been used to target people.
The consultant disagreed and said no one had shown her evidence of that.
Throughout the meeting, the consultant had multiple back-and-forths with people attending, including Paulson, but by the end told them she would interview more members of the staff and look into the objections brought up at the meeting.
Two days after the meeting, Paulson sent out another email saying in part:
“The relationship between the West Richland Police Officers Association and Chief Grego is broken. There have been serious events in recent weeks that have made this situation exponentially worse.”
That email also said the vote of no confidence went to 18 members voting in favor, with only one abstaining.
Nonstop Local has reached out to the City of West Richland for comment and received a response that they may respond soon.
The WRPOA said they will not be able to speak on this case, but deferred us to their lawyer who also said they may be available for comment soon.
