Does DivestSPD have informants within the Seattle Police Department at the highest levels? One idiot cop seems to think we do.
The Office of Police Accountability recently wrapped up a batch of investigations into erstwhile Chief Adrian Diaz. One revolves around a 2023 article we published about K9 Officer Anthony Ducre, a recurring villain in the DivestSPD Cinematic Universe.
The piece concerned a beef between Ducre and Lt. John O’Neil that escalated into dueling OPA complaints, Equal Employment Opportunity investigations, and ultimately, seven-figure lawsuits. Ducre believed that O’Neil leaked the information to us as retaliation, and he was preparing to file yet another complaint against O’Neil when Chief Diaz called him up out of the blue.
Ducre claimed that Chief Diaz told him, “I don’t want you to retaliate against [O’Neil],” and promised to find the source of the alleged leak. According to the investigation, Ducre was “upset” because, among other things, the article implied that he was a racist. For the record, it simply stated what happened: Ducre filed complaints against two Black supervisors. In his complaint targeting O’Neil, Ducre alleged “anti-white” racism. Ducre told the OPA that he identifies as “half Black.”
In the end, Ducre decided not to file another complaint “out of fear,” he claimed. Diaz admitted calling Ducre around that time but denied discussing the article or O’Neil. Call records showed that Diaz called him on Jan. 6, 2023. The day after, the article was published.
Diaz told the OPA that he was calling to check on him because Jan. 5 was the first anniversary of the day when Ducre bungled a call, resulting in the death of his dog and a man in crisis.
Because it could neither prove nor disprove either account, the OPA issued “inconclusive” findings. It did, however, solve the mystery of who “leaked” the story to us. We got it through a public records request. It’s right there in the article.
Case closed.
Hey, before you go…
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