Formal Education
Tulane University Law School,
J.D., 1973 (New Orleans, Louisiana).
Michigan State University,
B.A. English, 1967 (East Lansing, Michigan).
Other Accredited Education: 1977-2007
FBI National Academy
“short intensive course” for Police Legal Advisors: This course was
a full one week (32 class hours) including a field trip to the
Supreme Court especially designed for police legal advisors. I
attended four different sessions over a sixteen year period while
working as a police legal advisor. These in-resident programs were
sponsored by the FBI National Academy and IACP in Quantico Virginia.
Courses were CLE accredited by the University of Virginia and taught
by resident instructors at the National Academy and guest professors
from the University of Virginia. Attendees included attorneys
nominated by local FBI Offices from police agencies throughout the
United States. The seminars were designed to update attorneys
nationally on police history, procedures, rules and legislation
affecting the liability and practices of police agencies.
International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP) Legal Officers Section: IACP conducted regular annual
seminars for attorneys and chiefs of police. Seminars and courses
were taught by law professors, police legal advisors, some police
administration experts and other national experts on police legal
matters. I taught some of these courses for the IACP on police
practices, constitutional torts, criminal law procedure and
personnel liability. The seminars were designed to update police
attorneys nationally on police history, procedures, rules, updates
in case law nationwide and federal legislation and local trends
affecting the liability and personnel/labor practices of police
agencies. CLE credit was approved by the WA State Bar Association.
Professional
Experience with the Seattle Police Department:
January 1977-February 2009
Principal Police Legal Advisor, Seattle Police Department, Office of
the Chief, Seattle Washington (now retired)
For thirty-two (32) years I was employed by the
City of Seattle, Seattle Police Department (SPD) as the principal
Legal Advisor to six different Chiefs of Police.
The Seattle Police Department is one of the 50
major police departments of the United States with an annual budget
of over 213 million dollars. SPD has a sworn staff of 1277 officers
and 530 civilian staff. SPD handles over 806,000 calls for police
service and dispatches almost 234,000 calls with a total response by
officers (including traffic stops, on-view, precinct contacts) of at
least 521,000 officer contacts per year.
As noted above, in 1977 when I first worked for
SPD, I was the only civilian attorney employed by the Department who
reported directly to the Chief. By the time that I retired in 2009
SPD added four other civilian staff members who are attorneys. This
includes a legal advisor to the personnel division who specializes
is labor law, the current personnel director, the department risk
manager and the director of the Office of Professional
Accountability. I also advised several sworn officers who are
attorneys including one assistant chief, 6 sworn supervisors in the
Internal Investigations Unit, several detectives, two patrol
officers, two members of the Police Intelligence Unit and one staff
member of the Training Division. My job as principal legal advisor
was to advise them all, coordinate with them on legal matters and to
work with them to develop training, legal advice and policy in order
to insure that the legal counsel of SPD to all of its personnel was
as consistent as possible. I also coordinated legal review of SPD
issues with the King County Prosecuting Attorney and with the City
Attorney’s Office.
For the last several years working for the Chief,
I met monthly with the City Attorney for the City of Seattle to
insure, as much as possible, that the legal advice of the City and
SPD was consistent. This insured that the needs of the Department
for representation in complex matters and litigation were met and
that the laws of the City were understood and followed to the
benefit of the public. In addition I met regularly with Assistant
City Attorneys to coordinate the defense of officers and SPD staff,
and to meet SPD legal needs in the areas of contracts, personnel
issues and discipline, public records, local and state legislation,
criminal and civil discovery.
Several of the City Attorney’s Community
Prosecutors were housed in precinct offices of SPD (5 precincts)…I
coordinated legal advice with each of them on Department-wide issues
that affected the policy and delivery of police services throughout
the City, such as enforcement of court orders that protect the
community, SODA (Stay Out of Drug Areas) and SOAP (Stay Out of Areas
of Prostitution) orders that relate to illegal drugs and
prostitution, trespass orders and nuisance abatement orders. Other
issues that I developed with the City Attorneys Office included
pedestrian interference, shoplifting, trespass admonishments, parade
permits, potential conflicts with first amendment activities such as
demonstrations and labor disputes, domestic violence protection
orders, court ordered anti-harassment orders, unjust
evictions/harassment under the City’s tenant-landlord harassment
ordinance, public nuisances, and drug enforcement nuisances and
police stand-by for evictions and civil process under other
circumstances.
I also helped to develop SPD’s enforcement policy
under Washington’s Medical Marijuana law with the King County
Prosecutor (now as amended by the state to establish “personal use”
amounts). Our draft has been circulated statewide as a model policy
for other agencies to use. I tried to make it consistent, at least
locally, with the City of Seattle’s recent Ordinance making minor
use of marijuana the lowest priority of criminal enforcement by our
officers, with recognition that it is still illegal to manufacture,
transport and distribute illegal substances under federal law.
For almost two years I acted as the Chief’s
designated hearing examiner to provide hearing rights and relief to
motorists whose cars were impounded under City ordinance and State
laws when they were arrested for the crime of driving while license
suspended (DWLS). A post-impoundment hearing was made available
within a day or two of the vehicle impound. I conducted more than a
thousand hearings for the initial enforcement period directly with
the owner or driver of the vehicle. In many cases we were able to
immediately release the vehicle based on affidavits without a
hearing if the driver or person dependant on the vehicle was an
innocent owner, requested a hardship release, or the driver on a
first offense DWLS promised to pay their fines and obtain a valid
license.
I also developed legal advice, policy and
enforcement by officers with respect to unlawful camping, long-term
parking violations, illegal dumping, unlawful noise, impoundment of
vehicles, regulation of pawn shops, metal recycling, used goods
dealers, return of property, abandoned property and civility
ordinances.
During the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings
in Seattle (November-December 1999), we worked around-the-clock to
support officers and staff from several police agencies from all
over Western Washington who worked the crowd management issues. I
worked to coordinate legal advice with the Assistant City Attorneys
involved and the local courts, concerning the planning,
demonstration management during the event and provided legal advice
for the housing and management of over 500 arrestees for two days at
the Sandpoint Naval facility, appeared in Superior Court to
facilitate attorney access for arrestees at Sandpoint and address
complaints. We wrote the after-action report which focused on
“lessons learned”, screened post-event claims and assisted with the
discovery of records for several lawsuits that were filed, settled
or tried in U.S. District. The benefit of lessons learned and a full
accounting of what happened is still being used today by SPD to plan
for major events and to facilitate lawful protests. Agencies
throughout the United States have now learned from the work we did
in Seattle before and after WTO.
Other major events that I staffed for legal
support and after-action involved crowd control issues include
Seattle’s Mardi Gras celebrations dating back to the early eighties
and one Mardi Gras in 2001 that involved an alcohol-fueled riot and
injuries to by-standers. The 2001 Mardi Gras resulted in one claim
settlement (the death of Kristopher Kime) and, in another case, we
won a defense verdict for the City stemming from the same event.
Claims alleging “failure to protect” by SPD were reviewed and the
“lessons learned” allowed us to prevent injury in subsequent events.
As legal advisor I coordinated with outside legal
counsel from the law firm of Stafford, Frey Cooper and other
attorneys who represent officers and SPD sworn staff in defense of
the City or in the defense of individually named officers. We also
supported the “inquest process” when any officer was involved in the
death of an arrestee or any person under their control. As a member
of SPD’s Force Options Research Group formed to explore less than
lethal weapons and tactics alternatives, we gave legal advice to
manage the introduction and risks of new technology such as the stun
devices (Tasers are now fully deployed to all SPD patrol officers)
and OC “teargas” spray made popular as an alternative to deadly
force in the 1980’s. We wrote the policy of SPD with respect to all
less lethal devices…policy based on local experience and our
research. Every application of the use of the Taser is now captured
in a standard/mandatory use-of-force report which we developed in
the early 1980’s. Use of force reports are “industry standard” now
in the State of Washington.
I routinely appeared in court to support the City
Attorney’s Office in their prosecution of misdemeanor cases. Our
staff managed production of witnesses, records, statements, prepared
affidavits and other discovery demands made on the Chief of Police
and all investigative units of the Department. These demands
included records requests and court orders made by the City and
defendants. I appeared in court on behalf of the Chief to provide
personnel records and disciplinary records of officers that are
reviewed by courts in camera, depending on the nature of the
criminal case.
Since “Brady” motions for officer disciplinary and
personnel records during discovery in criminal cases are more and
more common today than ever before, I helped to educate SPD (and now
most other law enforcement agencies in Washington) about the need to
comply with the requirements of Brady v Maryland when an
officer’s credibility is called into question. This discovery is
based on relevant internal investigations of misconduct regarding
untruthfulness, either during internal investigations or in their
testimony in any hearing or court, state or federal. Failure to
disclose can result in dismissal of past criminal cases where an
officer testified and records are not produced. Failure to disclose
relevant records can result in civil liability to agencies as well.
I routinely supported the King County Prosecutor's
Office in its prosecution of criminal cases, especially in narcotics
cases that involved confidential informants and confidential
witnesses. Our staff managed and arranged the production of
witnesses, records, statements, affidavits and other discovery
demands made on the Chief of Police and all investigative units of
the Department. Requests and court orders were made by the State and
individual defendants and then supervised by the courts when
appropriate. I personally appeared in court directly on behalf of
the Chief, since all formal requests for records are directed to the
Chief’s Office.
For my entire career with SPD, I worked with staff
and City personnel to develop state and local laws written to better
serve the public and officers of the Seattle Police Department. We
often testified before the Washington State Legislature on laws that
affected law enforcement in the interest of victims, either
representing the City of Seattle or the Washington Association of
Police Chiefs and Sheriffs (WASPC). I was a member of WASPC’s
legislative committee for over thirty (30) years and testified on
bills that I helped to write or develop during that period.
Recognitions:
Leo Poort has been formally recognized by the
Seattle Police Department for outstanding service in support of
all of SPD staff, sworn and civilian.
Leo has been recognized by the Legal Advisors
Section of (WASPC) as the “legal advisor to police legal
advisors” in Washington State.
On March 18, 2009 Leo Poort was awarded WASPC’s
Shanahan-Deveny President’s Award of Excellence “in recognition
of his strong commitment to leadership within the law enforcement
profession”.
A sampling of legislation
that I worked on and testified on with the local and state
legislators to develop or amend includes the following major pieces:
-
Seattle’s
Criminal Intelligence Ordinance: (1979-1981) which
restricts the investigative methods and the gathering of
personal, political and religious information as a part of any
criminal investigation. I worked for the Chief of Police for two
years as part of a committee of more than a dozen persons. The
committee included City Council members, Council staff, and
local citizens, Lawyers Guild, the ACLU and staff of the City
Attorney to write a 60 page ordinance. It features a civilian
auditor who reviews sensitive criminal investigations and SPD
authorizations are required to investigate persons and groups
that may be involved in politics, community activities or
religious groups who are protected by the first amendment in
most of what they do.
-
Criminal History Privacy Act: the protection of non-conviction records
(mandated to be adopted by federal law which regulates access to
FBI records of conviction nationally) Amendments allow access by
victims to seek civil redress as needed.
-
Public Disclosure Law: amendments allow protection of open investigations,
criminal or disciplinary investigations. (WASPC priority)
-
Juvenile Justice Act: the privacy of juvenile criminal history records
(WASPC priority)
-
Uniform Controlled Substances Act: amendments 1988 (during the
“crack house” epidemic in Seattle) worked with Senator Phil
Talmadge, Seattle and WASPC
-
Domestic Violence Act amendments in 1985 to clarify the need for probable
cause and to reduce risk of double arrests: both victim and
primary aggressor. Worked with then Asst City Attorney Douglas
Whaley and WASPC
-
Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence Act: Senator Debbie Regala and
WASPC Worked with an assistant chief of SPD prior to the Brame
incident, then after the Brame incident drafted a model policy
with other police legal advisors for the all law enforcement
agencies in the state. This was a WASPC priority item.
-
Firearms and Dangerous Weapons RCW 9.41:
established forfeiture of
weapons used in the commission of a felony and restrictions on
carrying weapons if convicted of certain crimes or subject to
court orders of protection in DV cases or anti-harassment
orders. These amendments were Seattle legislative priority
items.
-
Drug Forfeiture Laws: as a part of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act
amendments regulating procedures for forfeiture, sale of
property and disposition of proceeds and property seized by
warrant or arrest under state laws. This was a WASPC priority
item.
-
Sex Offender Registration Act:
I worked with SPD
detectives and staff to develop the level I, II and level III
classification (now used by the State) using public records to
notify potential victims about convicted sex offenders who
reside in Seattle. The notification and State mandatory
registration system was successfully defended in its application
by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office. I worked with WASPC and
State Senator Ida Ballasiotes, whose daughter was brutally
murdered in Seattle by a convicted sex offender.
-
Civil Commitment of Dangerous Sex Offenders:
WASPC and WAPA (Washington
Prosecutors Association) priority item
-
One Party Consent: amendments to the Privacy Act to allow protection of
police officers while working undercover to monitor live
conversations for safety reasons. Seattle Police and WASPC
priority item.
-
Health Records: allows law enforcement access to emergency health
care information under state law as would otherwise be
restricted by HIPAA (RCW 70.02 Medical records –health care
information access and disclosure - amended in 2006) WASPC
priority item.
Professional
Experience continued:
May 2009-January 2009:
Police Officer Certification Manager, Washington Criminal Justice
Training Commission, Burien WA
I was responsible for administering the investigation, determination of
facts, finding of probable cause leading to the revocation of police
officer credentials for cause under Washington State law. Coordinate
hearings on appeal of any finding that any police officer or
sheriff’s deputy should have their CJTC certification revoked.
Propose formal statement of findings on behalf of the Commission
that lead to “decertification”. Track the certification credentials
of all law enforcement officers throughout the State of Washington.
Educate local police departments and sheriffs in the process to
insure that the certification process is followed to insure that
serious local discipline that could lead to revocation of CJTC
certification is reported.
January 1974 – January 1977: Municipal Prosecutor, Office
of the City Attorney Bellevue WA and Police Legal Advisor, Office of
the Chief of Police, Bellevue WA
I worked as a misdemeanor prosecutor for the City
of Bellevue in the Bellevue District Court. I enforced criminal law
violations and infractions of the Bellevue Municipal Code, including
DUI cases, trespass, theft, domestic violence assaults, traffic
infractions, sign code violations, other land use code violations
and several ordinance appeals to the Superior Court. One
criminal-ordinance appeal that I argued in King County Superior
Court resulted in an early appearance before the Washington State
Supreme Court. The issue I argued on appeal was on the facial
constitutionality of Bellevue’s loitering and prowling ordinance.
The ordinance was adopted from the Model Penal Code and thought to
be valid as written by the City of Bellevue. Although it lead to the
demise of this ordinance in 1975, it clarified the standard required
under the Supreme Court’s standard to avoid the “vagueness an
over-breath” standard and is still good law today. This was a
valuable lesson learned.
Using 50% of my time as an assistant to the City
Attorney, I was the first dedicated police legal advisor to the
Bellevue Police Department. In that role, I instructed and advised
all officers and supervisors in new state laws and arrest, search
and seizure, the laws affecting their interviews of suspects,
line-ups, handling domestic violence cases and drafting search
warrants in a variety of felony cases including narcotics cases. I
also handled personnel cases that lead to the discipline of officers
and civilian employees of the police department, civil service
appeals and internal investigations. I advised the local LEOFF board
for both police officer and firefighter disability retirements
following months of disability leave. I coordinated issues with
other law enforcement agencies and the King County Prosecuting
Attorneys in felony matters. I wrote BPD policies and reviewed the
practices of the Department for the City and managed the risks of
police conduct in the practice of use of force and arrest, search
and seizure that could potentially lead to civil liability. I worked
to educate officers and write policy to avoid sanctions and
liability under existing labor laws, discrimination laws and
potential violations of Federal Civil Rights Act [Title 42 USC 1983
and Title 18 USC 241, 242]
August 1973-December 1973
Legal Internship, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Snohomish
County WA
I prosecuted misdemeanor cases in Arlington
District Court and Snohomish County District Court under supervision
of Robert Schillberg (the elected prosecutor) and various other
prosecutors on staff with the Office of the Prosecutor. I was
admitted to the Washington State Bar in November 1973.
1967-1970
High School English Teacher, Milan High School, Milan MI
I
taught Senior English and Literature, Creative Writing and one class
of 9th Grade Language Arts.
I
coached varsity baseball and football for three years.
I also taught classes (part-time) at the Milan Federal Correctional
Prison which housed mostly younger federal offenders in Milan, MI
including classes in high school English for credit and GED classes.
These classes were taught both in the evening and during the summer.
In-service Training (small sampling):
·
Police Liability and the Management of Police Discipline - Americans
for Effective Law Enforcement
·
Labor Relations and Negotiations - Federal Bureau of Investigation
and Washington Association of Cities
·
IACP/FBI Academy/LOS Short Course for Legal Advisors 1980
·
National Law
Institute University of Virginia (Quantico 1988)
·
FBI National Law
Institute University of Virginia (Quantico 1992)
·
Investment in
Excellence - The Pacific Institute
·
Isolation and Quarantine Legal Issues Seminar - The University of
Washington Law School and Medical School with local and state law
enforcement.
·
Washington Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators –
presenter on criminal law and liability 1989
·
Stress Recognition and Management for Law Enforcement Executives –
staff instructor sponsored by the WA CJTC