State investigating sheriff’s unusual intervention in Richland police personnel matter, which Richland officials called misleading and inappropriate.
April 12 update includes Sheriff Tom Croskrey’s
response.
April 14 update includes at the bottom of the
article a screenshot of a copy of the letter Sheriff Croskrey sent to the
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center on January 31, 2022.
The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, the state certification agency tasked with upholding police standards, is investigating Benton County Sheriff Tom Croskrey after a report revealed his unusual effort to get a retired Richland cop a benefit that his former employer felt was unlawful.
Croskrey’s effort to help a Richland police officer was revealed in an outside investigation commissioned by the city of Richland into questionable actions by former Police Chief Brigit Clary. The investigation report was first reported by The Observer on March 27.
It turns out that when Clary had refused to issue a “retired card” for a former Richland Police Department (RPD) officer Jeff Bickford, Croskrey helped him obtain one of the card’s benefits, with a letter to WSCJTC, records obtained under the Washington Public Records Act show.
Asked whether it was investigating Croskey’s effort to certify Bickford by sending the sort of letter that would normally be sent by his former employer the certification agency confirmed to The Observer that, in response to a complaint, it is investigating Croskrey — which in theory could lead to his decertification.
“While the Commission does not generally comment on ongoing investigations, I can confirm that we received a complaint against Sheriff Croskrey, and the WSCJTC Certification Division has an active investigation into the matter,” Kim Bliss, the agency’s assistant director of certification, wrote in an April 8 email.
“If there is evidence that an officer knowingly provided a false report to the Commission, the Commission may seek revocation or suspension of the officer’s certification.”
The Observer reached out to Croskrey in an email and asked about the appropriateness of his letter. Croskrey responded on April 12 that the January 31, 2022, letter to the WSCJTC was sent to “facilitate a dialogue relating to Jeff Bickford’s status.”
“Further, as it was clear in the first sentence that Jeff Bickford had been employed by RPD [sic] it was generally anticipated someone would contact me from the WSCJTC with questions as to the information and purpose of the letter. This is why I provided the specific invitation to call me and I provided a contact number,” Croskrey wrote.
Requirements and benefits of a retired card
State law allows law enforcement retirees to carry concealed weapons if they meet certain requirements.
RCW 9.41.060(10)(a) requires that the retiring officer obtain “documentation from a law enforcement agency within Washington state from which he or she retired that is signed by the agency’s chief law enforcement officer and that states that the retired officer was retired for service or physical disability, except for those law enforcement officers retired because of mental of stress-related disabilities.”
The card is a prerequisite to obtaining the federal equivalent under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) which states that officers must be “retired or separated in good standing as a law enforcement officer for reasons other than mental instability.”
Croskrey steps in after Richland denies a card.
In November of 2021, Bickford wrote to the Richland Police Department saying it was incorrectly delaying or denying his request for the retired card.“I understand that my request is being delayed or denied because I have what is being characterized as an open Labor and Industries (L&I) claim, based on my need for ongoing therapy—therapy which, of course, has become necessary to help me process the ongoing trauma of reviewing thousands of images of child sexual abuse and torture as an inherent part of my investigation as a law enforcement officer.
“I have provided written explanations from two doctors, each of which sets forth in detail that expert conclusions that I do not suffer from any of mental instability, diminished capacity, or other impairment that could reasonably prevent me from carrying a firearm.”
Clary, who became interim chief in January 2022, wouldn’t issue a retired card to the officer.
On January 31, 2022, Croskey sent a letter to the Criminal Justice Training Commission that essentially vouched for Bickford where his former employer had not. It said the officer “…separated from service after completing any applicable probationary period of such service, due to a service-connected disability.”
But when RIchland City Attorney Heather Kintzley and Clary learned of the agency’s move based on Croskrey’s letter, they sent a sharply-worded letter to Monica Alexander, executive director of the certification agency,on May 20, 2022, questioning the actions of both the state agency and Croskey.
The city, they wrote, “vehemently objects” to the certification agency’s “decision to utilize assertions from another law enforcement agency to make its LEOSA determination.”
“Sheriff Croskrey has no authority to declare the separation status of any employee of the Richland Police Department, nor did he accurately reflect the fact of Mr. Bickford’s separation from employment”
Kintzley and Clary wrote that the city didn’t endorse Bickford for a retirement card “…because Mr. Bickford left active duty due to a mental or stress-related disability (i.e. PTSD).”
WSCJTC Deputy Director Jerrell Wills sent a letter to Clary on May 24, 2022, writing, “In compliance with RCW 9.41.050 and RCW 9.41.060, the WSCJTC will be revoking the LEOSA credentials of Mr Bickford.
Recent city investigation has roots in Clary’s employment in Federal Way
In October 2023 an anonymous tipster notified the city of Richland, the Benton County Prosecutor and The Observer and others that Police Chief Brigit Clary had left her previous job at the Federal Way Police Department in 2017 because she was about to be terminated after an investigation there.
The investigation of her in Federal Way had revealed nepotism in favoring her husband for overtime and untruthfulness in answering questions about it. And her untruthfulness landed her on the “potential Brady list” in the King County Prosecutor’s office.
The tipsters information led County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger to investigate and add Clary to the Benton County Brady list as well.
Prosecutors use a Brady list, which is named for a 1963 Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, to ensure that information about police officers with questionable records is disclosed to defense attorneys. The requirement stems from defendants’ constitutional right to a fair trial.
After receiving the tip on the first investigation the City of Richland launched its own.
At the end of November, the City of Richland hired an outside firm to “conduct a fact finding investigation into workplace concerns involving former Police Chief Brigit Clary.”
One of the concerns revealed in the investigation involved Clary’s sudden about-face after denying the retired card in early 2022, which in turn led to Croskey stepping in.
In October 2023, Bickford requested information from Federal Way about Clary’s record of misconduct, which had not yet surfaced publicly. She then signed off on Bickford’s request before her retirement at the end of 2023, a decision that the city’s outside investigator felt may have been “compromised” by her desire to keep information about her from getting out.
After the Richland report was released, Eisinger began looking for an agency to investigate the actions it described. His first choice was the state’s largest criminal law enforcement agency, the Washington State Patrol.
Communications Director Chris Loftis of the Washington State Patrol (WSP) told the Observer in an April 4 telephone interview that Eisinger contacted WSP Chief John Batiste in early March. Batiste decided there were no felonies involved, and the investigations would be more appropriate for another organization, according to Loftis
In an April 5 email to the Observer, Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger wrote that he was looking for someone else to conduct a full investigation.
“I am referring the February 26, 2024 investigation report … to an outside law enforcement agency to conduct a full investigation,” he wrote. “At the present, I am still working on identifying an agency who will review this matter.”
In a March 29 letter to the RPD, an anonymous writer asked the RPD to investigate Croskrey and Bickford for “fraud” citing RCW 74.04.004 and “forgery” citing RCW 9A.60.020 in the retired card case.
“I am writing anonymously as there are several of us that are afraid of retaliation,” the source wrote in records obtained by the Observer from the city of Richland through the Washington Public Records Act
The RPD referred the letter to Eisinger, records show.
Meanwhile the state certification agency has already questioned Croskrey about his letter supporting Bickford.
In an Action Log from the WSCJTC obtained through a record request, Chief Investigator E.J. Swainson wrote on May 26, 2022, “I explained it appeared that he and BCSO did not have the power or authority to provide a LEOSA endorsement. I read the law to Sheriff Croskrey explaining the section relating to leaving an agency for reasons of mental stress, in this case, PTSD. Sheriff Croskrey said RPD was wrong, that Bickford was fine.”
Swainson wrote “Croskrey asked me, ‘So what if I hire him for 1 day and then issue the letter?'”
“I asked what his relationship was to Bickford and why he had taken these actions to support him. Sheriff Croskrey declined to elaborate his relationship, but did explain that Bickford had been treated badly and incorrectly by RPD,” Swainson wrote in the Action Log
In an email response to questions about the issues surrounding his retirement card, Bickford provided two copies of “Notice of Peace Officer Separation,” that were submitted to the WACJTC. He asked the Observer to compare his clean form with Clary’s that included a long explanation of why she was under investigation.
There’s been no indication of when the investigation will conclude.
