Francis describes discipline as ‘selective’

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Civil Service Commission on Tuesday reviewed possible disciplinary action against Officer Rick Francis, who is accused of misconduct relating to his professionalism and firearm tactics.

Francis, a former Marine, has served with the Moses Lake Police Department for 13 years and along with Officer Nick Stewart was a 2017 recipient of the department’s Lifesaving Award for providing emergency first aid to a subject who was choking.

The disciplinary action under review stemmed from a March 2019 incident, in which Francis was the first officer on the scene responding to a nighttime call for a car prowling suspect.

The suspect in this incident, according to testimony, was hiding in various bushes and changing hiding spots as officers approached, as reported to officers by witnesses calling police.

As he arrived on the scene, Francis stated that he was on high alert, believing that an individual prowling cars in the dark and in freezing temperatures, hiding from the police in bushes, was desperate and a potential threat. When Francis discovered the suspect, holding a flashlight in one hand, he was reportedly hiding in a truck.

Francis told the commission Tuesday that, seeing the suspect’s hands moving furtively, he drew his weapon. Not having been sure where the suspect was hiding, Francis said in an interview that he was startled by the sudden discovery of the suspect, and began yelling and cursing at the individual to get out of the vehicle.

This was a mistake, the city and police department argued to the commission, because it escalated the situation and didn’t comply with the department’s core values, Francis said in an interview.

But cursing at non-compliant subjects is common practice in the department, Francis argued, including in a highly publicized video of Officer Brad Zook and K9 Rex apprehending a suspect last September. Francis also pointed to derogatory language used to describe suspects regularly used by administrative staff in social media posts.

After the car prowling suspect complied and exited his vehicle, Francis initially created distance between himself and the suspect, according to City Attorney Katherine Kenison. But Francis, seeing the suspect reach for his waistband and believing he may be armed, then inappropriately changed tactics, Kenison said.

“And with a gun in one hand, and a flashlight in another hand, he chose to go hands on in physical contact with the suspect, thinking as he said in his testimony that the subject may have been armed,” Kenison said.

This put Francis at risk, Kenison said, due to holding a firearm in one hand and a flashlight in the other. It also put fellow officers who had at this point arrived on the scene at risk, Kenison added, because they could not provide cover for Francis or shoot the suspect if he did pull a weapon, due to Francis blocking the line of fire.

Instead, the city said, Francis should have created distance and possibly sought cover behind the truck.

Francis argued that he got close to the suspect so that, if he did fire his weapon in self-defense, it was less likely to miss and possibly hit a nearby home. For similar reasons, he said he chose not to seek cover behind the truck, preferring that his bullets hit the truck rather than a house if he missed.

Francis attempted to holster his weapon as he approached to engage hand-to-hand with the suspect, but was unable to. He realized that the gun was inoperable and “out of battery,” meaning its slide was out of place, and he was not able to fit it into the holster.

He engaged with the suspect, bringing him to the ground and straddling him, then turned away to attempt to fix the issue with his gun, according to testimony. This raised two additional areas of concern, according to the city, stating that straddling a subject was a poor tactical decision and that the gun could have accidentally discharged at that moment.

“All in all it was just a total cluster of bad decisions that could have had some very significant consequences,” Kenison said. “He got lucky, and we got lucky, in that situation.”

Francis later said that straddling a suspect had been specifically taught in a recent defensive tactics training.

In closing statements, Francis called into question the context of the disciplinary actions against him, saying that the police department selectively enforces its core values and code of ethics based on their relationships with officers. Francis said that this type of fraternizing between supervisors and certain officers created opportunities for bias.

“I, on the other hand, am probably not the most likable guy in the entire world when it comes to administration,” Francis said. “I don’t kiss the ring. I don’t sit back when I see bad policy or see bad things happen.”

Being outspoken, Francis said, had made him a target for some administration staff. Francis claimed that when he tried to address with Fuhr what he perceived as biased treatment by administrative staff, Fuhr told him that he should quit if he didn’t like it.

Police Chief Kevin Fuhr agreed that fraternization between the ranks was common at the department, and said that he had personally often gone to breakfast with officers, including Francis.

“Every shift and every officer in this department, I have tried to build a relationship with, just so that I can check on how they’re doing, how their family’s doing,” Fuhr said. “If I don’t know them, then I don’t know if things are going good or bad in their life, and if they need any sort of assistance.”

Fuhr also noted that the department’s two captains had risen up through the ranks, and would naturally have developed relationships with longstanding officers. However, Fuhr denied that there was any preferential treatment or bias in disciplinary actions.

Fuhr also denied asking Francis to quit outright, saying that Francis raised an old issue about a captain that Fuhr had believed was resolved, and raised it during a meeting leading up to Tuesday’s hearing.

“So my comment to him was, if you’re not happy here, I’m not going to change, I think everything’s going well, you have the right to find employment somewhere else,” Fuhr said.

Tuesday’s hearing took place 10 months after the incident. Disciplinary action, if approved by the police chief, would typically be then sent to the city manager for approval, Fuhr noted. However, by the time the investigation, conducted by Cpt. Dave Sands, had concluded in May, Fuhr had been tapped to serve as interim city manager.

Fuhr said the department had hoped to hold out for a new city manager before the case proceeded, but they had run up against a statutory time limit that necessitated taking action before the new city manager could take over later this month.

The incident under review Tuesday was the second for which Francis had faced discipline, thus resulting in a day of unpaid leave, the second step of the department’s progressive discipline, Fuhr said in an interview. Francis was also previously disciplined via written warning for a December 2018 incident, in which the officer was counseling an at-risk youth.

According to Francis, the mother of a 14-year-old boy had called to inform officers her son was attempting to form a gang and was antagonizing the Norteños, a street gang.

Francis stated that he told the boy that he could be targeted for death if he didn’t apologize to the gang, and that by hiding at home he was putting his family at risk. When the boy refused to de-escalate his situation with the gang, Francis said that he tried speaking the kid’s language.

“I said, OK, if you think that you’re tough, take it away from the house where your (family) could get shot, take it out into the middle of some field and shoot it out with these gangbangers if you’re so bad,” Francis said.

Francis said he then unholstered his gun and held it up.

“If you’re so tough, just take it and get it over with so your parents and your siblings don’t get shot,” Francis said he told the teenager.

“It was a regrettable move on my part, but I was trying to get through to this kid,” Francis told the commission.

Though Francis said he regretted that he unholstered his gun, he added that the boy he was speaking with then made peace with his mother and apologized to the gang.

“And he’s still alive today,” Francis added.

Francis said that while he understood why he had been disciplined for that incident, he didn’t believe it was related to the incident in March or that he should be punished progressively for that second incident, if at all.

Kenison disputed that characterization.

“Whether you’re counseling an at-risk youth, or responding to a suspect while attempting to take them into custody, your tactical defense decisions need to be sound,” Kenison said. “Failure to exercise sound tactical decisions results in potentially catastrophic consequences.”

The commission did not come to a conclusion Tuesday, stating only that it would reach a decision at a later date.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.