Pierce County Council Requests Investigation Into Sheriff Troyer

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — Over the past several days, calls have been mounting for Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer to resign following a recent report by the Seattle Times, which detailed a Jan. 27 incident in which Troyer called a large police response on a Black newspaper delivery driver. Now, the Pierce County Council has requested an official independent investigation into Troyer's conduct.

Audio of Troyer's 911 call has the Sheriff saying the driver, Sedrick Altheimer, had threatened his life, but when later interviewed by Tacoma police about the incident, Troyer claimed he and Altheimer had never spoken.

According to the Times, Troyer made several other contradictions in his statements about what happened that night.

Altheimer was frisked by officers and his car was searched before he was allowed to continue his route. However, he told the Seattle Times he felt he had been racially profiled.

During the Pierce County Council's Study Session Tuesday, Council Chair Derek Young ordered council staff to identify an agency capable of an independent investigation into the incident.

The council says it's unclear how long the investigation may take, as it's still in the very early stages.

Shortly after the announcement Troyer responded, saying he welcomed the investigation and that the council would receive full cooperation from his department.

It also remains unclear what the investigation could ultimately accomplish. Because Pierce County Sheriff is an independently elected position, other county leaders do not have the power to force him to resign. Neighboring King County recently grappled with that issue: in November voters passed a charter amendment making the King County Sheriff an appointed position, who could be removed by the King County Council.

Pierce County Council Chair Derek Young touched on the issue in an earlier statement last week, noting that while the Sheriff is "not under the administrative control of Council or the Executive" the county council will be watching the case.

"As we have more information, we will have a better sense of appropriate next steps available to us," Young said. "We remain committed to working toward making our county a place where every resident feels safe."

Meanwhile several other community groups are demanding Troyer's resignation. The latest is the Tacoma Democrats, who Monday unanimously voted in support of a resolution denouncing Troyer and pledging to support a recall effort if Troyer does not resign. Following the vote, Democrats Justin Camarata, Chair of the 27th Legislative District and Cassandra Brown, Chair of the 29th Legislative District issued a joint statement reading in part:

"Simply put, there are big problems with law enforcement in Tacoma. After the events of January 2021 that could have left another Black man dead at the hands of police, our membership believes its clear that Sheriff Troyer is unfit to hold his position and should resign immediately."

The Democrats' call for resignation echoes an earlier statement from the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance, who said Troyer had "abused the public trust, and abused, misused and weaponized his standing in law enforcement to harm Black and Brown Lives" and must be suspended.

Many others have also weighed in, though some have stopped short of calling for Troyer's resignation. Pierce County Executive called the incident "alarming" and a scathing editorial by News Tribune columnist Matt Driscoll called Troyer a "liability" who displayed a damning lack of judgement and broke the public's trust.

Troyer has defended his actions, claiming he did not even know Altheimer was Black. He also told the Times he would not be resigning.

"In 35 years, I have never had a complaint against me for racial bias," Troyer said.