Review of suspended officer pushed back

Bainbridge Island city officials remained mum this week about why Police Commander Sue Shultz was placed on paid administrative leave on Nov. 19.

Now, island residents may have to wait a little longer to find out.

City Manager Doug Schulze has said that the commander was placed on administrative leave as the result of a complaint filed with the city early last summer. An independent investigator was also hired to look into the claims.

Schulze was scheduled to meet with the commander on Dec. 5 to discuss the investigation’s results, but the meeting has been pushed back to Dec. 10 at the commander’s request, according to Schulze.

Schulze also provided a peek into his plans to find a new police chief at the city council’s meeting Wednesday.

Schulze is currently preparing an advertisement for recruitment and search firms to handle the job. He plans on advertising for the task in December.

Schulze said that he would like to have a search firm selected by early January.

The city’s police department has been without a chief since September when Jon Fehlman resigned from the position, following a suspension over the summer. Fehlman was placed on suspension after the city’s police guild took a vote of “no confidence” in the chief in June.

The city has hired an interim public safety director, Larry Dickerson, to keep the department running in the absence of its chief.

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