`I Don't Feel Like The Fall Guy' -- In Wake Of WTO, Police Chief Stamper Announces He'll Retire

Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper's decision to retire has caught city and state officials by surprise and caused some to wonder aloud if Stamper is taking a fall for Mayor Paul Schell.

Stamper and Schell both tried to squelch that speculation this morning.

"I don't feel like the fall guy," said Stamper, appearing relaxed and relieved during an interview at a coffee shop near his Queen Anne Hill home. "I'm not into being a martyr or a victim."

Schell said he and Stamper together must shoulder the responsibility for the rioting that erupted downtown during mass demonstrations against last week's World Trade Organization conference. Still, Schell said, Stamper's decision to step down is for the best because the intense criticism surrounding the Police Department's handling of the WTO crisis has put Stamper in an almost impossible position.

"Given the current climate, he would be unable to be effective in his job," Schell said. "Everything he said would be viewed as trying to save his job. This way, he can ensure that the facts get out for a change, and he has every reason to hold his head high."

At the East Precinct this morning one officer, upon learning of Stamper's departure, asked: "Is he going to take the mayor with him?" Schell was asked that directly at a news conference this morning and said he has no intention of stepping down.

Schell said he first learned of Stamper's decision through an aide on Saturday. Stamper made it official in a letter to Schell yesterday. Although officials in City Hall have speculated for months that the chief's career in Seattle was winding down, Schell said Stamper's plan to retire so soon came as a surprise - and was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Schell praised Stamper's accomplishments, saying the chief has often been unjustly criticized as he went about changing the relationship between police and the community.

"As long as you are an agent of change, you are not liked by those who you are changing," Schell said. "But history will treat him very kindly."

At a meeting with legislators later this morning, Schell reiterated that, saying he believes Stamper will be remembered as one of the greatest chiefs in Seattle's history - and that "he was not axed."

He'll be on the job until March

The retirement is effective at the end of March, said Bob Royer, Schell's spokesman. That timing will allow Stamper to remain on the job to answer questions from the City Council and others about the Police Department's preparation and response to the mass demonstrations against the WTO that erupted in violence.

Before it was all over, nearly 600 people were arrested and $2.5 million in property damage was done to downtown businesses, which suffered $17 million in lost retail sales.

George Griffin, a deputy chief of staff during former Mayor Norm Rice's administration, said Stamper's legacy here is one of major accomplishment.

"Our city is safer, crime is down, and community policing is working because Norm Rice hired Norm Stamper," said Griffin. "For (Stamper) to be a scapegoat for the WTO problem is not right. He has served the city well. He has really done a lot in terms of outreach to communities, to the African-American community."

`The honorable thing'

Chris Young, a five-year veteran patrolman working out of the West Precinct, said he was shocked by Stamper's decision. At the same time, Young said, "I think it was the honorable thing for him to do if he's taking responsibility" for the embarrassment police suffered at the hands of WTO protesters. "Somebody had to," Young said.

Though the Seattle Police Officer's Guild had been considering a no-confidence vote against the chief, Young said he personally liked and admired Stamper.

"I think it's too bad . . . I thought he had done a great job. He was progressive and had good ideas. I didn't want or expect him to resign."

Victor Minor, a community policing officer working out of the East Precinct, also stuck up for the chief and expressed sadness at his departure. "I'm baffled by it. I understand people's drive for it, but I don't understand the need for him to do it at this time," Minor said.

Like Young, police guild President Mike Edwards praised Stamper for taking responsibility for the WTO mess, which has left many in the rank-and-file bitter and angry at the administration.

"I'll give him credit where credit is due - it sounds like he's accepting responsibility and is holding himself accountable," Edwards said.

Stamper has had a contentious relationship with the police union, which has blamed him for failing to address staffing shortages and criticized his leadership style. Edwards described him as an "absentee chief" whose attention has been focused outside the department, to the detriment of its officers.

"So the problem that you wound up with was there was no real direction," Edwards said. The lower ranks tried to fill the leadership vacuum, "but we wound up pushing in too many different directions."

Capt. Daniel Oliver, president of the union that represents lieutenants and captains, also said that Stamper, though a "charming man," is a hands-off chief who has left the operation of the department to assistants.

"He said it himself. His focus has been as an ambassador to the community. He saw his mission as a liaison to the community, and he let the seven assistant chiefs run the department. Because of that, there was the disconnect that people have talked about."

Praise from the governor

At this morning's meeting between Schell, legislators and city officials, State Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, expressed dismay. Kline said that while he usually finds himself on the side of left-wing causes, and not with police, "I'm kind of sorry to see Chief Stamper take the fall for this."

In Olympia, Gov. Gary Locke praised Stamper. "I respect Chief Stamper's decision. But I am also sad to see him resign as Seattle chief of police after six years of dedicated service to our citizens," Locke said.

Council members focus on Schell

City Council members reacted to Stamper's news with surprise, skepticism and criticism, much of the latter aimed at Schell.

Council President Sue Donaldson defended Stamper's leadership and placed blame squarely on Schell for allowing the chief to leave.

"It is unfortunate that the mayor has taken this action at this time," Donaldson said. "Our city needs to heal. Throughout his career, Chief Stamper has been extraordinary at bringing people together and bridging divisions . . . and we need that leadership now more than ever."

Councilwoman Jan Drago said Schell benefits the most by Stamper's decision.

"He now has two people to take the fall," she said, referring to Assistant Police Chief Ed Joiner, who was in charge of WTO planning and who, she said, also was planning to retire. "I wasn't prepared to place blame on Stamper yet; I don't have the information. As far as I'll go now is Schell. He had a flawed strategy and from that a flawed message and a flawed plan."

Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski, a frequent critic of both Stamper and Schell, was ambivalent - and a little suspicious - about Stamper's announcement, though not particularly surprised.

What she found most disturbing was Schell's failure to tell council members the chief was moving on. "It's sad and indicative once again of the lack of relationship between the mayor and the council," she said. "We had to learn about it from reporters calling in the middle of the night."

That the mayor had a chance to draft a response to Stamper's resignation letter - a response Podlodowski believes is self-serving - leaves her thinking the retirement was orchestrated, perhaps in an effort to deflect WTO blame from the mayor.

"But this does nothing to change the fact that Stamper works for the mayor," she said. "I'm still looking for the way the mayor intends to take responsibility for what happened."

Councilman Richard McIver, who was stopped twice by police and nearly arrested during the WTO protests, said he hoped his own angry - and very public - remarks about the "degrading and humiliating" incident played no part in Stamper's decision to leave.

"I'm sorry to see it happen. I'm sure he feels some responsibility for what happened," said McIver. "I was surprised and disappointed about the resignation."

Two types of detractors

Seattle lawyer Jenny Durkan, one of the four members of a citizen-review panel appointed by Schell earlier this year to examine the Police Department's internal-review process, said it's right for the chief to step down.

"But we should all be a little saddened," Durkan said. "Norm Stamper is a decent man who poured it all into the job and worked to shift a fundamental culture in the department. I think it tells us a lot about ourselves as a city. For all its genteel exterior, Seattle is a pretty tough town that demands a lot from its leaders."

Durkan said the chief had two types of detractors: those who legitimately questioned his leadership and those who resisted his efforts to modernize the department.

"I think his legacy will be mixed," Durkan said. "The short-term legacy will be the scenes and pictures we've all seen in the last week. But his long-term legacy will be the fundamental shift to community policing, which he worked hard to accomplish."

"I think there are legitimate questions about leadership," though, she said, noting of Stamper's retirement that "realistically, it will take a lot of heat off Mayor Schell, of course it will."

Another member of the citizen-review panel, Seattle attorney Mike McKay, was harsher, saying he called for Stamper's resignation in a speech last Friday to the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

"I thought it was time in light of his horrible preparation and response to the WTO problems, coupled with the lack of confidence in the wake of the investigation of police oversight," McKay said.

He had planned to retire anyway

Stamper, 55, became Seattle's police chief in February 1994.

He said he had planned to retire from his $120,000-a-year job in January after seeing the department through the WTO conference and any possible trouble from the Y2K computer bug.

But he decided to announce his plans now, he said, not wanting his role in the upcoming investigation into the WTO riots to be viewed as self-serving.

"It is not like he is struggling for his job," said Royer, the mayor's spokesman. "It is just that it gives him a freer hand to be the police chief and take part in all of the questions that need to be answered in terms of what happened and why."

Schell once again this morning stood behind the plan he and Stamper approved for the WTO, noting that violence, injuries and property damage could have been much worse. Schell castigated news media, saying they were out to find scapegoats.

"I'm not into blame," he said. "There was a full eight-month planning process involving a lot of different agencies who did the best they could. (Stamper) supervised it, but it was done by an expert team. It is you guys (the media) who want to assign blame."

Other controversies

Though Stamper is credited with numerous accomplishments, his tenure in Seattle has also been punctuated by controversy.

In April 1998, Stamper made comments to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist that 30 years ago, as a young officer in San Diego, he engaged in gay bashing, racial slurs and unnecessary arrests. He told the columnist, "Gay bashing was not only acceptable, it was more or less required, a way to credential yourself as a cop."

The controversy prompted Stamper to cut short a vacation and apologize to the department. Despite the apology, the incident stung many officers.

In addition, Stamper has endured criticism from the police union over staffing shortages and the resulting overtime. The union claimed the shortages compromised officers' safety.

The last part of Stamper's tenure was marked by the citizen panel's recommendation to create a civilian-led Office of Professional Accountability to provide oversight of Police Department internal investigations - an unprecedented step that was endorsed by Schell and the chief.

The panel, which looked into the alleged theft of $10,000 from a crime scene by a homicide detective, issued a report in August that was highly critical of Stamper. The report contended that Stamper became disconnected from the daily operations of the department, particularly the powerful Internal Investigations Section. This lead to serious breakdowns in internal investigations, according to the report.

The citizen-review panel concluded that many officers believed if Stamper wasn't overly concerned about internal investigations, they should not be either. It was that attitude, the panel has concluded, that contributed to the failure of officers to go to superiors when they heard allegations of the theft.

Seattle Times reporters Charles E. Brown and Jack Broom contributed to this report.