Crippled Spokane police dept. handles one crisis at a time after 9 cops suspended for shootings
Police officer contemplates a rough day in patrol cruiser (Shutterstock.com)
May 04, 2016
Police in Spokane, Washington this week said that they were unable to fully deal with more than one crisis at a time after nine officers had recently been put on leave because they were involved in shootings.
According to KHQ, at least three officers had been placed on leave over a five day period, "and it's having a real effect on the force."
In all, a total of nine officers had been benched while shootings they were involved in are investigated. It comes at a time when the department was already short-staffed.
Police said that they were forced to pull officers from an Amber Alert crisis on Monday to deal with the latest officer-involved shooting.
Washington State Patrol and the Spokane County Sheriff's Office were not expected to step in to help the Spoke Police Department.
Watch the video below from KHQ, broadcast May 3, 2016.