WSU Police sergeant resigns after sexual misconduct accusation

Emily Pearce, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho
·3 min read
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Nov. 5—A Washington State University police sergeant who was accused of engaging in sexual activity while on duty submitted his letter of resignation Tuesday, according to a WSU news release.

The WSU Police Department has experienced a tumultuous year after receiving two internal investigations from the university regarding sexual harassment. These investigations have since concluded, finding former WSU Police Sgt. Matt Kuhrt violated WSU policies regarding sexual harassment, improperly used university resources and violated policies in the department's conduct manual, according to a news release.

The university investigation concluded that Kuhrt "engaged in predatory grooming behavior while in a supervisory role, made sexually explicit comments to coworkers, subjected coworkers to nonconsensual physical contact, and engaged in sexual activities while on duty and on university property," according to the news release.

Command staff initiated an internal investigation of Kuhrt in March 2020 but failed to notify Human Resource Services and Compliance and Civil Rights, in violation of WSU protocol.

Investigations from Human Resources and Compliance and Civil Rights were launched in March of this year, shortly after Kuhrt was reassigned to home assignment, according to past reporting. As the investigation continued, command staff were also reassigned to home assignment in July.

Kuhrt is the fourth member of the department to resign because of these disciplinary cases. Three administrative figures, including former Chief of Police Bill Gardner, former Assistant Chief Steve Hansen and former Capt. Mike Larsen, retired in August before disciplinary action for mishandling allegations could take place, according to past reporting.

The department hired a new command staff, appointing former City of Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins as WSU Police chief and former WSU administrative Sgt. Dawn Daniels as assistant police chief. Victoria Murray, the executive director for Finance and Administration, was appointed as acting associate vice president of Public Safety.

"Everyone, including me, are glad that this is now all behind us," Jenkins said in an interview. "We're glad that there is now accountability in the department and everyone is being held to the same standard. There's definitely a good level of optimism in the department right now, (we're) moving forward in a positive way."

The university notified the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, an entity that supervises licensing of law enforcement officers in the state, of the investigations' findings for the four officers. Jenkins said Kuhrt would have been terminated if he hadn't resigned.

Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications at WSU, could not comment if the university is concerned of lawsuits or other legal action. He said when WSU officials learned of these allegations, they immediately conducted an investigation. They found the allegations against the individual were true and the former police command staff failed to notify university officials, as they were required to.

"Under Jenkins's and Daniel's leadership, we're seeing a renewed commitment throughout the department to professionalism and strong efforts to improve and rebuild community trust," WSU President Kirk Schulz stated in the news release. "I want to thank the members of the (WSU Police Department) for working together to help ensure the safety and security of the Pullman campus."

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.