Washington law enforcement agencies are required to take rigorous steps to weed out bad cops before they ever earn their badges.
But several cases of alleged misconduct suggest some officers’ backgrounds may still fall through the cracks, raising questions about the candidate vetting process.
Over the past year, three law enforcement officers in Whatcom County jurisdictions have been placed on leave or fired, with criminal investigations launched in each case.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office terminated deputy-in-training Austin Case July 12 after investigating some of his social media conversations. Court records show Case, who is fresh out of the academy, made unwanted sexual advances on two women, threatening one with arrest for violating her DUI probation. The other he threatened with his gun, police said in court documents.
Case is scheduled for arraignment in Whatcom County Superior Court Friday, July 21, on charges that include unlawful imprisonment, extortion and rape.
Bellingham Det. Adam (Bo) McGinty was investigating a high-profile case against three administrators at Bellingham Public Schools but was abruptly taken off the case and placed on leave on June 7. The administrators were charged with failure to report claims that a student had been sexually assaulted.
It’s unclear what McGinty might have done to warrant an internal investigation and a separate criminal investigation, conducted by Mount Vernon police. Bellingham Deputy Chief Don Almer would only say the allegations against McGinty do not involve domestic violence or other violent crimes, public safety issues, use of drugs or alcohol, or “acts of a sexual nature.”
In August 2022, the Ferndale Police Department fired officer Michael Langton after his arrest on suspicion of attempted child molestation, allegedly targeting a girl between the ages of 12 and 14.
Prosecutors dropped the charges in February of this year, saying they didn’t have sufficient evidence to prove Langton’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The former officer also had been placed on leave in 2021, after Ferndale officials received information that Langton had contacted Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. Langton was also involved in a civil lawsuit alleging racist behavior in February 2020, according to court documents.
McGinty in Mississippi
Before McGinty joined the Bellingham force, he was sued in federal court in May 2014. The three men who brought the case claimed McGinty, while an officer with the Hattiesburg, Mississippi police, wrongfully arrested and jailed them, and improperly charged them with disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and interfering with a police officer, according to court records.
McGinty and the Hattiesburg Police Department denied the claims in a court filing. The case was settled and dismissed in July 2015.
While the Mississippi lawsuit was still active, McGinty was looking to get hired by the Bellingham Police Department.
Almer said BPD checked McGinty’s background — a standard part of the hiring process — in late 2014 and early 2015. Police officials involved in the background check “did not find anything that eliminated him as a candidate,” Almer said.
McGinty disclosed his involvement in the lawsuit, to Bellingham, Almer said, but at the time Hattiesburg officials offered no information on it.
“When our background investigator contacted the Hattiesburg city attorney, the city loss control manager and the lieutenant of their agency’s internal affairs, no one knew anything about the matter and had no information whatsoever to give our background investigator,” Almer said in an email on Tuesday, July 18.
Almer elaborated in a Thursday, June 20 interview, saying his background investigator found it “weird” a city in the midst of a lawsuit would have no information on it.
“We were told in no uncertain terms, ‘We have no idea what you’re talking about,’” Almer said.
The deputy chief chalked it up to differences in standards in different states.
“We have far more standards and rules and guidelines and bright lines in Washington state than in other parts of the country,” Almer said. “It makes no sense to us.”
Bellingham police changed how it conducts background checks after the McGinty hire. Now, officials visit an applicant’s previous employer in person — even if they must travel as far as Mississippi, Almer said.
Screening new hires
State law requires officer candidates to cross several hurdles on the way to joining a law enforcement agency. The purpose, as BPD’s policy manual states, is to verify an applicant’s “personal integrity and high ethical standards.”
Officials from Bellingham, Ferndale and the county sheriff’s office all said their agencies’ standards go beyond the minimum state requirements.
State-mandated background checks include a review of a candidate’s work history, including complaints and investigations against the officer. State law requires previous employers to provide this information, although it’s unclear how this requirement could be enforced with an out-of-state agency such as Hattiesburg.
Washington state also requires officer candidates to undergo a psychological evaluation and take a polygraph test. Their social media histories are reviewed, along with any past affiliations with extremist groups.
The elements of the psychological evaluation, as outlined in Washington Administrative Code, focus on factors that might affect job performance: discrimination and bias, decision making, conflict management, stress tolerance and other “characteristics that allow for insight into an individual’s potential to adequately perform the essential duties of an officer,” the code states.
A licensed psychologist or psychiatrist is also required to look for “job-relevant mental and emotional impairments,” including “psychopathology, personality disorders and inappropriate behavior patterns.”
Court documents say that Case, the fired Whatcom County sheriff’s deputy, stalked a woman’s location on Snapchat and told her he would have her arrested after seeing she was at a bar, in violation of her DUI probation. A different woman told police Case entered her home against her will, showed her his gun after forcing kisses on her and asked her if she was scared, court records say.
‘Not foolproof’
Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo said his agency’s screening methods are meant to catch the type of predator described in the allegations against Case.
“Multiple phases of the deputy sheriff selection process … are intended to ferret out past disqualifying conduct and identify indicators of the potential for future conduct that is criminal, inconsistent with a regard for the rights of others or otherwise do not reflect our values of integrity, excellence and teamwork,” Elfo said in an email. “This would include … a tendency to abuse power, abuse women, etc.”
“As comprehensive as these processes are, they are not foolproof,” Elfo added. “Thus, we very closely monitor conduct on the part of new deputies during their probationary period to assess any indicators of current or future misbehavior.”
Since Case was still in training and a probationary hire, Elfo was able to fire him swiftly.
Reasons to terminate probationary employees “need not constitute just cause,” Elfo said, and such dismissals “are not subject to review by the Civil Service Commission.” Deputies who are still in training also lack the right to appeal their termination through union arbitration.
After completing its internal investigation of Case, the sheriff’s office will submit its findings to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, which could decertify the ex-deputy.
If that happens, Case could never become a cop again.
Meanwhile, the criminal charges against him carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
