Small-Town Troubles -- Carnation's Police Force A Source Of Pride, Pain

CARNATION

Carnation Public Safety Director Gunnar Otness and a handful of police officers protect this small community of 1,500 where, so far this year, one car has been reported stolen.

Most of the 24 or so other calls to the Carnation Police Department have involved reports of theft, vandalism or domestic violence.

But now the small-city police force is under investigation by three agencies, including the FBI. Otness and Frank Sloan, a patrol officer, have been placed on leave. The patrol officer is accused of inappropriate behavior.

Beyond the accusations lies a deeper issue: what having its own police department means to a small city. Carnation's troubles may indicate that while small cities often want to run their own police force, rather than contract with the county or merge with neighboring communities, the price can be high.

To be sure, Carnation police take their jobs seriously and work hard. For most of the officers, the investigation is their first real face-to-face confrontation with adversity within the ranks.

But the department has had problems, magnified in part because of its size. For example:

-- In 1995, Sgt. Susan Holan killed two people and injured a third when, drunk, she drove the wrong way onto the Interstate 5 express lanes in Seattle.

-- In 1982, Police Chief Richard Reeve, convicted of filing a false claim for reimbursement of law-enforcement training funds, was fired.

-- In 1977, Marshal Thomas "Buzz" Thomas, on the job for two weeks, was arrested for allegedly leaving Texas without arranging to make payments on a car. The matter turned out to a "paper mix-up," and Thomas resigned a couple of years later.

Just what the FBI, the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the King County Sheriff's Office are now investigating in Carnation has not been revealed, but the accusations range from improper conduct to violation of civil rights.

The investigation by the AWC was requested by Mayor Jack Stein and Otness, and is expected to be finished by mid-March. The FBI and Sheriff's Office have declined to explain the status of their cases.

Keeping the force a priority

Quartered on the second floor of City Hall, a former fire station, Carnation police officers are in and out answering calls. They concede it is often slow. Sometimes they back up Duvall police and county deputies, or help out the State Patrol along Highway 203, which runs through the city.

City Administrator Randy Suko says the commitment to running a local police department has never been greater.

"Citizens here want to see those police cars moving through the streets," he said. "It gives them a sense that when they need help it's only a few minutes away."

Three full-time officers, one full-time provisional officer, two part-time and four reserve officers make up the force so that Carnation has police protection 20 hours a day, seven days a week. Duvall police or county deputies respond when Carnation officers are not on duty.

Of Carnation's $885,756 in operating revenue, $304,192 goes to the Police Department, up from $278,135 last year. Included is revenue from a $90,000 police-operations levy, which must be approved annually by voters.

In 1995, the levy failed the first time around. That led to the resignation of Police Chief Greg Webb, who didn't like putting officers' jobs on the line each year.

"If they go through that yearly uncertainty," Webb said, "they start thinking about a change. Like everyone, they have mortgages, car payments and a living standard to maintain, and uncertainty makes it tough."

If city officials approve a recommended increase, entry-level officers in Carnation will soon earn $3,100 a month, compared with $2,279 last year; the raise is proposed to make the jobs more competitive with salaries offered in other Eastside cities.

To manage on his shoestring budget, Otness has had to buy used patrol cars. And if someone is sentenced to a short term in jail, the city must pay to a fee to use the King County Jail, because Carnation has no lockup.

Says Otness, hired two years ago after 31 years with the Seattle Police Department: "Out here, it's hard to get recruits, first because of salary levels and secondly, finding officers who want to live in small towns. And you find they are always testing elsewhere, hoping to move to a larger department."

He's lost four full-time officers to bigger departments over the past two years. An officer from Idaho with five years' experience stayed a month before joining the Bothell Police Department at a higher salary.

Morale high, says administrator

Don Morrison, a former Carnation city administrator, said the expense of paying Carnation's police recruits while they are in the training academy is often a bigger concern than availability of candidates.

Morrison thinks it may be time for Carnation to pursue the possibility of contracting with the county sheriff or Duvall for police services.

But Suko says morale both in the department and in the community has never been higher, despite the shadow of the investigations.

"Since the whole thing transpired," he said, "the remaining two full-time officers, the two part-time officers and reserves have pitched in, working overtime, arriving at work early and increasing coverage on weekend nights. They're a dynamite group of people." Louis T. Corsaletti's phone message number is 206-515-5626. His e-mail address is: lcor-new@seatimes.com