Sheriff Violated Several Policies, Pierce County Review Finds

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — A review of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer's conduct has found the sheriff guilty of violating four Pierce County Sheriff's Department policies — including one that protects against biased policing.

The report, the result of an investigation requested by Pierce County Council and helmed by former U.S. Attorney Brian Moran, reviewed Sheriff Troyer's conduct the morning of Jan. 27, 2021, when Troyer called a large police response on a Black newspaper delivery driver who had been out delivering his daily rounds.

In that incident, Troyer told 911 dispatchers that the driver had threatened to kill him, but later recanted that statement in an interview with Tacoma police officers. The driver, Sedrick Altheimer, was frisked but allowed to continue his rounds. He has since filed a lawsuit against Pierce County.

The Pierce County Council's review is separate from another review into the same incident from the Washington State Attorney General's Office, which ended with the attorney general filing two criminal charges against Troyer. Unlike the attorney general's review, this review was commissioned by the county and is not criminal in nature and could not result in any additional legal charges. The county's review only aimed to determine if Troyer misused his authority, deviated from standards, or violated a policy or law and to provide recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Ultimately Moran's team says they found Troyer broke four Pierce County policies during his encounter with driver Sedrick Altheimer that night:

1. Policy 386 (Off Duty Law Enforcement Actions)

Troyer has consistently maintained that he saw Altheimer performing what he believed was a suspicious activity and involved himself in an attempt to prevent crime. However, investigators say his "questionable observations, viewed from a distance, about crimes that might be underway" were not enough to justify his off-duty intervention.

2. Policy 402 (Bias-Based Policing)

Race has become a central part of the Jan. 27 controversy. Altheimer, who is Black, told the Seattle Times he felt Troyer had targeted him because of his race. Troyer denies that.

Troyer also claimed he did not know Altheimer's race before initiating contact with him. Investigators say they have no way of knowing if that is true, and Moran's report does not draw any conclusive decisions around questions of racism:

"Whether Sheriff Troyer, if confronted with the identical conduct and under identical circumstances involving a white male would have called 911 is unknowable by us."

However, the report does accuse Troyer of economic bias. During his 911 call to dispatchers, Troyer repeatedly described Altheimer as "homeless looking" as a justification for why officers should intervene.

"The 911 transcript reflects that after providing Mr. Altheimer’s license plate information, Sheriff Troyer gratuitously described Mr. Altheimer and his vehicle as follows: “he looks homeless in his car” and he was driving a “beat up truck, old homeless looking” vehicle," the report reads. "Implicit in these statements is the biased belief that because someone “looks homeless” or is driving an older, “beat up” car, they are more likely to commit crimes."

3. Policy 340.3.5 (Standards of Conduct—Performance)

This policy bans "conduct which any employee knows or reasonably should know is unbecoming a member of the Department or which is contrary to good order, efficiency or morale, or which tends to reflect unfavorably upon the Department or its members" which investigators say encapsulates [Troyer's] performance the night of the incident.

4. Policy 203 (Department Management)

Finally, Moran's team says Troyer failed to meet standards of how county employees are expected to engage with the community they serve.

What happens now

The Pierce County Council confirms they have received the results of the investigation, and will be reviewing them to determine how to best respond to the findings.

“Because we just received the report, members need time to review the information,” said Pierce County Council Chair Derek Young. “Once we have processed the information, we will review potential next steps to determine how Council wants to proceed.”

Moran's investigation recommends that Troyer face disciplinary action, but also notes that, as the head of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, Troyer would then be in charge of deciding his own discipline:

"Being mindful that the range of discipline available to an elected sheriff when disciplining a deputy lies somewhere on a continuum between no discipline and termination from employment, we conclude Sheriff Troyer’s conduct, and the results of that conduct, lie at very far end of the “seriousness” scale of that continuum. Ironically, the appropriate level of discipline would reside with Sheriff Troyer, the very person whose judgment in these matters has been called into question."

The report also suggests that the council provide a copy of their findings to Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett to see if Troyer's conduct "should be disclosed as potential impeachment evidence to defense counsel whenever he is a witness for the prosecution."

However, as the report concludes, it's likely Troyer's more pressing concern is the pending criminal charges from the Attorney General's Office, which will set the tone for what is to follow:

"Ultimately, Sheriff Troyer’s actions will likely be addressed first in the criminal justice setting. If convicted of a felony or a crime involving malfeasance in office, he could be barred from office. Outside of the criminal case that is now pending, Sheriff Troyer was elected by the public and answers to them. It remains to be seen if his lapses in judgment will prevent him from regaining the public’s trust and what consequences there may be for him personally, and by extension, the department he was entrusted by voters to lead."

>> Read the full investigation findings.

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Criminal Charges Filed Against Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer

Newspaper Carrier Files Suit Over Sheriff Confrontation: Reports