NOTE: The Bellevue Police Department made its investigation into former Lt. John Manning available on March 27, following a public records request that was delayed due to the former lieutenant appealing its release in King County Superior Court.
The Bellevue Police Department released late last week its 518-page investigative report into allegations a former lieutenant lied about a fellow officer’s training record and made derogatory comments about her to staff and higher-ups.
Lt. John Manning resigned earlier this month, before disciplinary action could be taken by police administration against the officer, who was under an internal investigation, the results of which could have been grounds for termination.
The investigation documents a history of conflict going back to 2008 between Manning and complainant, Lt. Lisa Patricelli, which came to a head when Manning reported his former subordinate had falsely reported attending police training courses in October, those allegations turning out to be false, according to the report.
Patricelli attended six training classes in October 2014, parsing them out over several days, however, an “unknown person wrote Patricelli’s name on the rosters of the three other classes she did not attend (Oct. 23).”
On Oct. 23, 2014, Manning allegedly texted his friend and Deputy Police Chief Michael Johnson about Patricelli being signed in for classes she did not attend, adding other officers had noticed and were upset. Trainers and officers questioned confirmed seeing Patricelli at the classes she reported attending, which Johnson confirmed to investigators, the report states. He told investigators he did his own informal investigation into Manning’s claims, but was “frustrated and annoyed” that the former lieutenant would not accept the results. He said Patricelli was upset when he told her about Manning’s claims and reaction, according to the report.
“I got a bit resentful about the entire incident to be frank,” Johnson said, adding he felt Manning took advantage of their friendship and his rank, the report states.
The report includes a number of text messages between Manning and Johnson, where the deputy chief told the former lieutenant he had confirmed Patricelli had been in the classes she claimed on sign-up rosters, later asking Manning not to text him at that particular phone number.
“Actually, a free beer or two would probably make me feel better about this,” Johnson texted Manning, according to images in the report.
Manning told investigators he did not report his concerns about Patricelli’s attendance at training courses through the proper chain of command because he did not consider it a policy violation at the time, according to the report, and had texted Johnson as a friend, later acknowledging he understood Johnson had a duty to respond to the allegations.
Patricelli reported a history of conflicts with Manning that began in 2008, when he was her supervisor. Patricelli was upset by a poor evaluation from Manning, and provided him feedback about his performance as a police captain. She said his reaction made her cry.
She reported Johnson promoted her to detective lieutenant in early 2013, telling her he was discouraged from doing so by Manning, but the deputy chief would not corroborate the former lieutenant’s statements.
“… there’s just been a number of times over the years where he’s expressed to me that he’s not a fan. He doesn’t like her; he doesn’t trust her; doesn’t understand why others do and just has never had any real good experiences with her,” Johnson said in a statement to investigators in the report.
He said he conferred with Manning when considering Patricelli for a specialty position, and described how the former lieutenant discouraged it; he said she was dramatic and disorganized and a bad fit for the position, according to Johnson’s statement to investigators.
Manning was demoted by former Chief Linda Pillo in 2013 for having an extramarital affair with Capt. Autumn Fowler, who was also demoted to lieutenant as part of the chief’s disciplinary actions. An anonymous police captain reported the relationship to the department and Manning’s wife. Police reported Manning and Fowler were demoted for not reporting the eight-month affair and due to department policy requiring officers to avoid conflicts of interest.
