SPD fires officer involved in golf club incident

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Joe Copeland

Joe Copeland Jan 12, 2018

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>SPD fires officer involved in golf club incident</h1>
                <h2><p>The Seattle Police Department says it has notified Officer Cynthia Whitlatch that she is being fired for her behavior in arresting a 69-year-old pedestrian who was carrying a golf club as he took a walk near Cal Anderson Park in July of last year. The notice outlines her right to</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/joe-copeland-crosscut-com/">Joe Copeland</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>The Seattle Police Department <a href="http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Letter.pdf?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">says it has notified </a>Officer Cynthia Whitlatch that she is being fired for her behavior in arresting a 69-year-old pedestrian who was carrying a golf club as he took a walk near Cal Anderson Park in July of last year. The notice outlines her right to appeal. There was no immediate comment from the Seattle Police Officers' Guild. The Guild <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/spd-chief-fires-officer-who-arrested-man-with-golf-club/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">earlier promised </a>to appeal if Chief Kathleen O'Toole upheld a recommendation that Whitlatch be fired.</p><p>The Police Department has apologized to the pedestrian, William Wingate, who is African American and was on his daily walk of 10 miles.</p><p>Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess said in a statement, “The Chief of Police has sent a strong and appropriate signal. Officer behavior that compromises public trust is not acceptable in Seattle."</p>
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The Seattle Police Department says it has notified Officer Cynthia Whitlatch that she is being fired for her behavior in arresting a 69-year-old pedestrian who was carrying a golf club as he took a walk near Cal Anderson Park in July of last year. The notice outlines her right to appeal. There was no immediate comment from the Seattle Police Officers' Guild. The Guild earlier promised to appeal if Chief Kathleen O'Toole upheld a recommendation that Whitlatch be fired.

The Police Department has apologized to the pedestrian, William Wingate, who is African American and was on his daily walk of 10 miles.

Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess said in a statement, “The Chief of Police has sent a strong and appropriate signal. Officer behavior that compromises public trust is not acceptable in Seattle."

By Joe Copeland

Joe Copeland is the former senior editor&nbsp;for Crosscut, where he has been an editor since 2010. Before that, he was an editorial writer and columnist for the Seattle P-I and editorial page edi