3 WSU police commanders retiring after mishandling of investigation into officer’s misconduct

PULLMAN, Wash. — Three police commanders with the Washington State University Police Department will retire after the university said the officers failed to advise university leadership of an officer’s alleged sexual activity while on duty in 2020.

According to a release from the university, Police Chief Bill Gardner, Assistant Chief Steve Hansen and Capt. Mike Larsen have all informed school leadership that they will retire instead of possibly being fired after they were given notice last month of pending disciplinary action.

The officer at the center of the investigation, Sgt. Matt Kuhrt, allegedly engaged in sexual activity while on the Pullman campus.

According to school officials, in December 2020, a WSU officer informed command staff about the alleged activity concerning Kuhrt after receiving third-hand information from a person who had advised about the reported sex acts, which occurred in the presidential suite at Martin Stadium and at the campus observatory.

While the commanders had conducted a departmental investigation and could not find a witness willing to file a complaint against Kuhrt, which resulted in insufficient evidence to take personnel action, school officials said the Office of Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR) was not informed as required by WSU policy.

Although Kuhrt did face departmental action for misconduct while on duty, it was not until March 2022 that university leaders found out about the alleged sexual activity and the investigation that was conducted.

After that, CCR and HRS launched an investigation, which resulted in Kuhrt being placed on home assignment.

Last month, school leaders said the chief, assistant chief and captain were placed on home assignment, and their roles were reassigned to other officers.

“These are positions of great public trust, and WSU will not tolerate this kind of behavior nor the negligence of departmental command staff,” said WSU President Kirk Schulz. “When university leadership recently became aware of these allegations and the questionable way they had been handled earlier within the department, we immediately initiated a full investigation.”

The university’s investigative findings reportedly found the command staff to have “exhibited gross misconduct, incompetence, and neglect of duty in their response to the claims of sexual misconduct involving the officer.”

As for Kuhrt, the university is still investigating his actions.

For those who have taken over the command staff’s roles, retired Pullman Police Department Chief Gary Jenkins will serve as the interim chief, Sgt. Dawn Daniels, who served temporarily as acting chief, will be promoted to assistant chief, and Victoria Murray, executive director for finance and administration, is serving as acting associate vice president for public safety.

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