OPA: Cop who shouted ableist slur over loudspeaker not biased

Though Ofc. Kevin Canny berated Alki Beach motorists for "driving like re***ds," OPA found he was not "expressing a prejudice towards a specific group of people."

Seattle Police Officer Kevin Canny was reprimanded for shouting an ableist slur at drivers who wouldn’t move out of his way during a traffic jam in Alki Beach last summer, according to a disciplinary report released this week. Canny was responding to a call about teens dancing on a car and couldn’t pass through the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Canny’s dashcam recorded him yelling at the cars in front of him to move:

I have zero patience for people driving like re***ds today. Okay. Let’s go. Get out of the way, my lights are on. That means pull over. Driving 101…driving 101. Get out of the way. Get out of the way. There’s a police car with lights on. That means move. Get out of the way. Get back in your car or I take the car. Let’s go. Move. Get out of the way. Get out of the way. It’s a $1200 dollar ticket, man.

In his interview, Canny told the Office of Police Accountability that it was an “excited utterance,” but he admitted it was a “mistake.”

When the OPA asked if he thought his word choice was offensive, he said, “In my own personal opinion, my personal life, no. Professionally, yeah,” implying that he didn’t see anything wrong with the slur itself.

The OPA pointed out that Canny’s language “was derogatory concerning intellectual disabilities” and originally sustained bias findings. However, Canny’s chain of command talked the OPA director into removing those allegations, arguing that the statements showed no prejudice.

Ultimately, the OPA decided that Canny's words were merely a “highly unprofessional outburst.” The recommended disciplinary range included a one-day suspension, but Chief of Police Adrian Diaz opted for the lowest end.

Canny was previously given an oral reprimand for destroying evidence and abusing his discretion to downgrade a man’s DUI arrest to negligent driving.