Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 309941.cor.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 309941.cor.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/309941.cor.pdf ↗

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Copeland reviewed Officer Dejoumette's overtime and comp time records. He also took

statements from Brownfield, Merryman, Mike Amos, and two YPAL employees, Officer

Rey Garza and civilian Crystal Dodge.

On May 15, Captain Copeland prepared a six-page report, including an appendage

documenting overtime paid to Joe Dejoumette and Jeff Brownfield. The report detailed

his findings in response to Brownfield's allegations. Copeland found no illegal conduct.

He found no evidence of favoritism, but agreed that Officer Dejoumette suffered from

"poor time management skills," which resulted in deficient performance in both the

police department's Fraud Division and the Community Services Division. CP at 156.

Copeland also concluded that Dejoumette failed in his YPAL bookkeeping duties, in part

due to the department's failure to provide training. Copeland recommended an audit of

the yPAL bank account records.

In June, the Yakima Police Department transferred Jeff Brownfield to its patrol

division. In September 2005, a series of incidents led the police department to question

Brownfield's fitness for duty.

The first incident occurred during roll call and entailed a verbal altercation

between Jeff Brownfield and Officer Illeana Salinas over the latter's job performance and

her frequent use of the obscenity "f ... k." In tum, Officer Salinas accused Brownfield

of physical intimidation. The altercation sparked an internal investigation into the

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No.30994-I-II1
Brownfield v. City a/Yakima

conduct of both officers, which investigation upset Brownfield. The Department chose

not to discipline either officer.

A second incident occurred during the internal investigation of the verbal