OPS 2020-0027 · August 16, 2020

Julie Family (aunt) on behalf of niece Erika Johnson

Julie Family, listening over the phone from San Diego to her Latina niece Erika Johnson's DV call in Lake Stevens, heard one of the responding LSPD officers laughing at her niece in the background.

DV failure-to-investigateRacial profiling
Complainant
Julie Family (aunt) on behalf of niece Erika Johnson
Erika Johnson — Latina DV victim
Officer(s) named
  • Officer Joshua Kilroy
  • Officer Richard Rutherford
Disposition
Within policy; Coaching (Aug 23, 2020)

What the file shows

The complainant's email to Chief Dyer, preserved verbatim in the file: "This specific white officer was laughing at her, I heard it, it was on the phone with me, I could hear her saying 'why are you here, I haven't done anything wrong,' I could hear him laughing… I want to make sure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity regardless of their color or race."

Sgt. Bob Summers's investigation took approximately thirty minutes on August 22. He spoke to the aunt on the telephone, told her LSPD expects professionalism, and reported back to Cmdr. Beazizo that the complainant "was satisfied with my follow-up." The two responding officers, Kilroy and Rutherford, received "Coaching" with no findings of violation. Cmdr. Ron Brooks's note: "I have read the documents associated with this entry and at this time this complaint is unfounded."

Importantly, Officer Kilroy is the same officer who, eight days earlier on August 11, 2020, told Donna Lemmon (OPS 2020-0026) that LSPD "didn't deal with" child sexual-abuse disclosures. Both files were open at the same time. Both closed without sustained findings.

Why this file matters

Same officer, same window, same pattern — laughing at a Latina DV victim and refusing to investigate a child sex-abuse disclosure from another DV victim. Both files closed by coaching at most, neither carries a Bias-Based Policing classification.