New Prosser police chief left former job after a $760,000 settlement to ex-officers

The new Prosser police chief left his last job just a month after his previous employer paid $765,000 to settle four lawsuits with former officers.

The former Unalaska, Alaska, police chief was directly involved in one lawsuit, only a minor player in two of the other civil suits and not involved in the fourth one.

But he was accused of not improving the situation at the troubled department, and in one case, making it worse by threatening an officer with criminal charges, according to court documents.

Still, Prosser Mayor Randy Taylor told the Herald that Jay King comes highly recommended by his colleagues, and none of the lawsuits specifically named him as a defendant.

Taylor said the lawsuits came up as part of the background investigation, and he was comfortable that they have the right person to lead their 16-person department.

“Jay brings the right amount of experience and leadership to our city,” Taylor said in a news release announcing the decision. “We are excited to have someone with his caliber of experience join our team.”

The Prosser City Council picked King to replace the retiring Chief David Giles. King was one of 11 applicants and three finalists chosen for the role.

King took over the department this week in the city of 6,200.

He brings more than 28 years of law enforcement experience with him to the position, most of that working for the Montgomery, Ala. police department.

He rose through the ranks to the level of a major. He established the city’s motor pool program and was the accreditation manager.

But his move to take over the police department in the Alaskan Aleutian islands, population 4,000, ended with him resigning and accusations of harassment and ignoring officer misconduct, according to a report from KUCB.

He joined the department in 2020 after the city spent more than two years looking for a chief.

Between October 2020 and May 2022, four former employees sued the department, all with accusations that they had been wrongfully terminated or forced out through harassment.

The Northern Justice Project, an Anchorage-based law firm focusing on civil rights cases, represented the four former officers.

Unalaska’s attorneys denied the accusations before reaching the settlement agreement.

Alaska officer lawsuits

The complaints in the three lawsuits that happened during King’s tenure as chief each describe a troubled department with problems that predate King joining the department.

The attorneys who represented officers Ann Sotelo, Anthony Recco and Sgt. John Merrion described a department where problem officers stayed in their positions while others found themselves harassed and pushed out.

“It is notorious for turnover, hostility, retaliatory firings and even physical confrontations between employees,” attorneys James Davis and Goriune Dudukgian wrote. “Worse yet, this dysfunction prevents the department from doing its job and actually serving the people of Unalaska.”

Most of the problems focused on two officers who predated King’s time with the department. The attorneys note that King didn’t do anything to correct the problems.

They accused him of being “an incompetent and abusive manager” and said “the city’s failure to take any corrective actions is ridiculous and cowardly.”

But one officer, Sotelo, specifically pointed to a tense interaction with King in May 2021, according to court documents. It started when she discovered in the patrol room a paper with airplane flight information for King’s girlfriend.

She talked about it with a fellow officer, and left the paper where she found it, according to court documents.

After King learned she had seen the paperwork, the attorneys claim the chief interrogated her, and told her he would seek criminal charges if she lied.

He later denied making the threat, according to court documents. His then Deputy Chief Bill Simms contradicted him.

Taylor told the Herald he had heard the story from King’s point of view and that it seemed that the department let issues build up.

“We have policies and procedures nailed down pretty well,” Taylor said. “If an employee complaint surfaced in our department, it would be handled quickly. ... When I look at what the investigator said ... it’s not the way that we do things.”

Prosser’s police chief pick

Prosser started searching for Giles replacement last October, and enlisted the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to help conduct the search.

Giles left the role after serving as the department’s chief for 10 years. He had served 23 years with the Drug Enforcement Administration before taking the position, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The 16-member department has an annual budget of $2.3 million, according to the association’s advertisement. The rural city that also is the county seat of Benton County doesn’t have a high violent crime rate.

They were looking for someone with at least 10 years of experience, particularly with a small agency in a rural area.

The job comes with an annual salary range of $108,000 to $130,000.

In all, 11 candidates applied and that was narrowed to three finalists, including King. The other two were Washington State Patrol Sgt. Darin Foster and former Monticello, Ill., Police Chief John Carter.

All of the finalists came with some history. Foster sued the state patrol in 2020 because the agency hadn’t calculated his promotion information correctly. The case was ultimately dismissed because of a settlement in a similar class action lawsuit.

Carter resigned his position in Illinois with a letter alleging he had been forced out of the position because of the mayor.

Glover and Taylor said a thorough background check was conducted for King.

The mayor said he looks for consistency among what people tell him about the candidate.

Taylor told the Herald that the city’s investigator traveled to Alaska and Alabama to conduct the background research. The investigator talked with people who had worked with him and worked for him as part of the two-month process.

“The Rotary Clubs love him. The police associations love him,” Taylor told the Herald. “We’re pretty comfortable that he’s not a bad egg.”

The city council confirmed Taylor’s pick during the Feb. 28 city council meeting.

New Prosser chief

As part of the announcement of the decision, King said his history as an officer shows he is determined to be a public servant.

Along with his experience in Alabama, King participated in the FBI National Academy. As part of that training he was recognized for his participation in the International Partnership Program.

In May 2021, he received a life saving recognition award from the Anchorage Airport Police Department.

The city also noted he has been a member of several professional and civic organizations during his career. This included Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence, both the Alaska and Alabama associations of police chiefs and the FBI National Academy Association.

“My professional philosophy encompasses the mission of safeguarding life and property, a vision of ridding the community of crime while providing the best level of service possible,” he said as part of Prosser’s news release.

He is guided by his core values including “service, integrity, respect, leadership and innovation,” according to the release.

This was not the first time King made it to a list of finalists. In October 2022, he traveled to Mill Creek, Wash., to apply to take over the chief’s position, according to the Everett Herald.

He said that he prefers policing in small towns were everyone knows each other, and believes when officers respect community members they will get respect back.