BELLEVUE, Wash. — A 19-year veteran Bellevue police lieutenant was fired Wednesday, after an internal investigation revealed she forged a workman’s comp document, and then lied when questioned by internal-affairs investigators.
According to Bellevue police, it was in a fitness class at a CrossFit gym last year when Lt. Lisa Flores realized she’d injured her knee.
But Flores submitted a workman's comp claim to her department, stating she actually hurt her knee one year earlier—claiming she was kicked while helping officers take down an intoxicated suspect. Flores never reported an injury at the time.
Police say Flores resubmitted a force response review form to the chief, making the document appear as if she actually did report being injured a year earlier.
Interim chief Jim Montgomery believed the document was forged, and he launched an investigation. "That investigation revealed that in fact, Lt. Flores falsified a workers compensation claim document," said Officer Seth Tyler of Bellevue police. “Then when we confronted her about that, she lied about the fact that she falsified the document," he said.
Wednesday night, five candidates from across the country--hoping to be Bellevue's next police chief, met with business leaders and officers. Each candidate was told what happened to Flores.
Last year, former Bellevue chief Linda Pillo was embroiled in controversy after former officer Doug Brennan let fellow officer Andy Hanke out of a drunken driving arrest. Within months, Hanke resigned, and Chief Pillo waited until her final day on the job to fire Brennan.
Tyler explained the firing as a good example of a “system that works.”
“Officers are expected to testify in court and the public relies on their testimony,” he said. Jurors, judges, lawyers, all rely on the fact that a police officer is going to be honest."
Tyler says Flores has the right to appeal through her union, but he says the department’s system of accountability worked quickly through the investigation.
“The public expects police officers to be held to the highest standard of honesty,” Tyler said. “Unfortunately, our chief had no choice in this case but to fire Lt. Flores."
KIRO
