2 Spokane Police officers resign amid investigation for on-duty sexual acts with domestic violence victims

Spokane Police cars are parked in front of the downtown precinct in April. | Kathy Plonka, The Spokesman-Review SPOKANE (The Spokesman-Review)– Two Spokane police officers have resigned within the past year amid internal affairs investigations into allegations that they had used their badge to seduce women who were victims of domestic violence. Preying on women following a call for help is a clear violation of the police code to serve and protect, said police Chief Kevin Hall. “This was unacceptable behavior,” Hall said Friday. “It’s not fair to the community and it’s not fair to the survivors or the victims of trauma to have people in authority and power victimize them again.” In one case, a woman told investigators that she called the Spokane Police Department in a panic. She asked to file a report alleging that she and a detective had been having a sexual relationship that included him sending her explicit photos and arranging hook-ups while on duty, according to Spokane Police Department internal affairs reports obtained by The Spokesman-Review. She was paranoid and fearful for herself and children, she told the police at the time, and thought that with “everything going on in her life,” the relationship with the detective needed to be known. That detective was 43-year-old Toby Bryer, a member of the explosives disposal unit, or the department’s “bomb squad,” who started his service with Spokane Police in 2011. Bryer initially responded to the woman’s home for a domestic violence threat call in March 2023. The two began texting, and Bryer then moved the conversation to his personal phone, according to the investigation. The victim declined to comment. Amid the text exchanges, the woman asked Bryer – who was married at the time – if he knew any “single cops.” “I’m single for 15 minutes,” he replied. For nearly two years, Bryer and the woman exchanged tens of thousands of explicit texts, photos and videos, including some using his SPD police vehicle as a prop. According to the reports, the two also had a tryst at the bomb squad’s hangar near Felts Field. Bryer also would drive around in his police car and ask her to flash him from her home and would watch from afar with binoculars, reports say. When the internal affairs investigation began, Bryer was placed on administrative leave. He resigned a day before his scheduled interview with investigators. In his resignation letter to Hall, Bryer cited PTSD. “While I had hoped to be able to return to my law enforcement position, it has become clear to me that significant symptoms from my work-related condition will prevent me from doing so,” Bryer wrote. He left the department on March 18. The Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission reported in June that Bryer voluntarily surrendered his Washington peace officer certification, making him ineligible to move to another police department within the state. Attempts to reach Bryer for comment have been unsuccessful. Department investigators later found Bryer violated multiple department policies, including: Refraining from engaging in on-duty sexual relations. Refraining from maintaining relationships with witnesses, victims or suspects. Unauthorized access of a computer. The police department determined Bryer should be fired, reports show. The woman reported her affair with Bryer because of a neighbor’s off-handed comment that led her to believe she was under investigation by the FBI about food stamps and housing. The woman was fearful Bryer might be involved in the investigation somehow, she told police, and uneasy based on some texts he had sent. After checking with the FBI, investigators determined Bryer was not involved in any federal investigations, reports say. After Bryer resigned in March, officers began to clear out his belongings on his designated shelf inside the bomb squad’s hangar. One officer found a Ziplock bag with a Grimm’s Fairy Tales book and women’s underwear inside, according to police reports. They also found a Playboy magazine. On July 11, an officer found a flash drive in a vehicle formerly assigned to Bryer. The drive was located in a “day box,” or a box meant to transport explosives for the explosive disposal unit. Thinking the drive had relevant information on it, an officer plugged it into his computer only to find the drive held explicit photos of Bryer, the woman with whom he was having a sexual relationship and other adult women, reports say. Investigators also discovered Bryer had looked up multiple drivers’ license photos on his department computer, taken photos of them and sent them to the victim. According to a witness interview from January, a different woman said she was aware Bryer was cheating and had slept with three other domestic violence victims. She initially had a relationship with Bryer that ended in 2020. That woman also told investigators Bryer’s friend, former Cpl. Chris Conrath, also would have inappropriate sexual relationships with domestic violence victims. Conrath, who started at the police department in 2010, began an affair with that woman after she and Bryer broke up. She told police during an interview that Conrath was cheating on his wife with multiple women. She stated that Conrath would take her on ride-a-longs in his police car during their affair and the two would have sex while he was on duty, according to reports. The woman told investigators that both Bryer and Conrath knew what one another were doing and would even joke about working together to get women’s numbers. They were “protecting each other,” the woman said, and she was “sick” of Conrath “getting away” with it. Following the woman’s interview, Spokane Police opened a separate investigation into Conrath in February, according to reports. His employment with the department ended June 20. Reached by phone on Friday, Conrath told The Spokesman-Review he resigned and declined to offer further comment. The Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission reported Conrath also voluntarily surrendered his Washington peace officer certification. Documents from the commission show Conrath was accused of: Engaging in on-duty sexual relations. Unauthorized use of department equipment or property. Failure to take reasonable action while on duty and when required by law. False or misleading statements to a supervisor or other person in a position of authority in connection with any investigation or employment-related manner. Discrediting Spokane Police Department and the law enforcement profession. “All I know is that Chris has told me Toby has done this a lot and Toby has told me Chris has done this a lot,” the witness told investigators in her interview. “I don’t want them to be out there having any contact with vulnerable women.” Conrath has been on notice before: In 2016, he was suspended for “conduct unbecoming” of an officer after he kissed a domestic violence victim and later met up with her at a hotel in Spokane Valley, according to previous reporting from The Spokesman-Review. Spokane Civil Service Commission meeting notes from January 2023 documented emails a man sent to police asking them to tell Conrath to “stay away” from his wife. “Tell the creep to stay away including try to contact her on the social media or by email like he has for at least 7 years,” the man wrote. At the time of Conrath’s 2016 investigation, Lt. Dean Sprague wrote in his report that a victim in these types of situations tends to be vulnerable and looking for anchor points, places to find trust and safety. “A police officer is seen as a figurative and sometimes literal ‘savior,’ ” he wrote. It’s unclear why Conrath wasn’t fired in the aftermath of the 2016 incident. Hall, who took over the department last year, said he doesn’t know why this behavior wasn’t addressed sooner, but there is no reason to believe that behavior goes beyond the two who have already resigned. Hall has the utmost confidence his department, he said. “We didn’t find any type of indication that this is embedded in the culture of the Spokane Police Department,” Hall said. “That doesn’t mean that we’re not on the watch for it. …(We are looking) for different ways to prevent this moving forward (and) looking for different ways to empower our supervisors to be aware of what their folks are doing.” The internal affairs reports documented by the Spokane Police Department and the hundreds of texts between the woman and Bryer total nearly 6,000 pages. It also includes witness interviews, corroborating evidence and multiple reports from different officers, many of whom documented their experiences in great detail and reported it to the correct chain of command. In one instance, Bryer’s supervisor transferred the investigation to another person in order to avoid any conflicts of interest. In another report, an officer said he received a phone call from Bryer’s personal phone and later texted him that he did not want to talk so he wouldn’t compromise his integrity, the reports say. Following the internal investigation, the police department’s Administrative Review Panel, made up of multiple lieutenants and captains, analyzed the reports, per department policy. They determined all was fair and accurate. “The investigators did a fantastic job of investigating this misconduct,” Hall said Friday. It’s unclear how many women may have had sexual encounters with Bryer or Conrath – both of whom at one point appeared on the show “COPS” – during the course of their duties. Reports show five witnesses were interviewed as part of the investigation into Bryer. “There were allegations by the victims who came forward in this case that there were others, but they didn’t know names or contact information,” Hall said, adding that if there are more victims, they should call police. “We would certainly encourage that.” There are no further sanctions the department can take against the officers in these cases unless anything turns criminal in nature, Hall said. “There are reasons why we have the policies in place. We make it very clear that (officers) are not to engage in any kind of relationship with any victim, witness, suspect that they come across in the course of their duties. “And the purpose of that is because these are vulnerable, trauma-affected individuals who are very easily manipulated,” Hall continued. “I (also) don’t think that it’s fair to victim-blame. They were domestic violence survivors, they were preyed upon, and then they were victimized again.”The post 2 Spokane Police officers resign amid investigation for on-duty sexual acts with domestic violence victims appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com