SPD's third highest-paid cop caught napping on the job in a bus lane

Sgt. Paige Maks made $231,000 in overtime in 2022 and was previously investigated for allegedly pointing her gun at her wife.

Sgt. Paige Maks sleeps in her car during an emphasis patrol.

One of SPD’s highest-paid employees was caught napping in her cruiser downtown last year, according to an OPA report released on Friday. An anonymous tipster submitted a video showing Sgt. Paige Maks parked in a busy bus lane on 3rd Ave with “her head tilted back against the headrest and mouth open.”  

Maks, who made $390,000 last year ($91,000 more than Chief Diaz), was reprimanded for sleeping on duty. She violated SPD’s professionalism policy, according to the report, because she could not monitor criminal activity, answer 911 calls, or supervise her subordinates, all of which required her to be awake.  The OPA wrote that “the community distrust [her] actions potentially caused cannot be overstated.”

Regarding Maks’ parking job, the OPA argued that it was inconsiderate but not unlawful, as police cruisers are exempt from city and state traffic laws. Maks’ vehicle was completely obstructing the bus lane, requiring buses to maneuver around her to pick up passengers.

Maks told the OPA that she parked there to deter “high-dollar” vandalism at a nearby restaurant. She and other officers were assigned to an emphasis patrol as part of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s overall strategy to create a visible police presence downtown.

Emphasis patrols in the West Precinct contributed significantly to overtime spending last year. According to city salary data, 46 beat cops holding the rank of officer made more than $200,000 in 2022, and 20 of those worked downtown. Half of the top 10 patrol earners were assigned to West Precinct beats.

Sgt. Maks took home $231,000 in overtime. Only two other SPD employees earned more in 2022: SPD executive Scott Bachler and Special Events Lt. Bryan Clenna.

In 2019, the OPA investigated Maks for an alleged off-duty DV incident after the Anacortes Police Department notified the OPA. Maks’s wife told her former employer she had kicked Maks out of their home for getting drunk and pointing a gun at her on two occasions. 

Both Stg. Maks and her wife denied the allegations to APD and OPA, so the OPA issued “inconclusive” findings, arguing that it couldn’t “meet its burden of proof to establish criminality … due to the [Mak’s wife] recanting of the past statements attributed to her.”

Still, OPA added that Mak’s wife could not provide a convincing motive for why her former supervisor would’ve fabricated claims against Mak.