Former Soap Lake Police chief comments on report

SOAP LAKE - Now former Soap Lake Police Chief Jim Dorris said a lack of training and resources led to the problems revealed by a recent investigation of the department.

The investigation and audit was conducted last month by Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin with assistance from the Grant County Sheriff's Office and the Royal City Police Department. A resultant 44-page report reveals several issues with SLPD over the six years Dorris was in command, including improper evidence handling and officer training.

Dorris resigned from his position last month, stating ongoing health issues made him "unable to perform the duties of my position as chief of police to the expectations of the city and myself."

His resignation went into effect Saturday and he was reached by phone Monday in Philadelphia, where he is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

Doris said he has not seen the report, which Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee released to local defense attorneys in late May. The document states that, in numerous instances, Soap Lake police evidence was unsecured and dozens of items were not properly marked or packaged. The report also asserts Dorris did not adequately check the backgrounds and competency of new Soap Lake officers who, when hired, were not trained in accordance with state regulations.

After being informed of some of the report's findings, Dorris acknowledged there were problems with officer training, but said until he was interviewed by Ruffin, it was his belief the nature and amount of training was acceptable.

"My training on the training was inadequate," Dorris said.

Regarding reportedly inadequate background checks, Dorris again said he'd misunderstood what the requirements were.

As an example, he pointed to former officer Justin Bedford, who resigned from SLPD effective May 31, stating his desire to move on to other opportunities.

Dorris said when he hired Bedford in September, Bedford still had law enforcement certification from his previous employer, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

"Captain Ruffin said I should have gone ahead and done fingerprinting and whatnot with him when hired I him," Dorris said. "It was my understanding that when you hired a lateral (officer) or someone with a certificate (fingerprinting) wasn't required because it was already on file."

Dorris agreed, however, that Bedford could not technically be considered a "lateral hire," as he was transferred to a position unrelated to law enforcement prior to leaving the WDFW.

Dorris said the reported evidence mishandling was due in part to an overwhelmed and outdated system he inherited.  

"Part of the issue is the fact that the evidence locker had close to 30 years of back evidence that was dropped into my lap," he said. "We don't have the high-tech systems that the other agencies have. I just continued the system that was in place when I took it over."

Dorris denied six bags of marijuana plants were missing from the SLPD evidence system, as referenced in the report.

"As far as I know there was nothing missing," he said. "(The marijuana plants) are not missing. They're in a separate location. (The auditors) are aware of that, I took them up there and showed them."

Unlike Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee, who stated last week that the information in the report "will certainly have an impact on current and active cases originating from an SLPD investigation," Dorris said he doesn't believe the report's findings will have a large effect on cases.

"We've never had our evidence come into question," he said. "Granted, I'll agree the evidence locker is not the best, but we made due with what we had and everything was kept track of. It was archaic and it needs to be brought up to date and, unfortunately, I just didn't have time to do that."