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"Officer Cynthia
Whitlatch was served today with a termination notice for
sustained policy violations involving bias, abuse of police
discretion, and escalation of a contact on July 9, 2014,"
Seattle police said in a statement.
Whitlatch stopped William Wingate, now 70, as he walked down a
city sidewalk leaning on the golf club, according to court
documents.
In dashboard video of the incident, Wingate can be seen standing
on a sidewalk, casually leaning on the club before the officer
approaches and yells at him to drop his weapon. He refused for
several minutes before he was arrested.
Whitlatch said Wingate had swung the club at her before she took
him into custody. Nowhere in the roughly seven-minute clip can
he be seen swinging the club.
The department's release of the video led to calls for
Whitlatch's dismissal. The incident was also highlighted during
waves of nationwide protests demanding reform in policing
tactics following the deaths of several unarmed black men at the
hands of white police officers in the United States.
The Seattle Police Department, which has been under federal
monitoring for excessive force, promised a full investigation
into Wingate's arrest.
Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole said in a letter to Mayor
Ed Murray on Tuesday that she was terminating the officer's
employment based on findings by the Office of Professional
Accountability that the arrest was motivated by racial bias and
marked by "abuse of police discretion."
An email to Whitlatch seeking comment was not immediately
returned. She could not be reached by telephone.
Charges against Wingate were dropped after his arrest and the
police department has apologized and given back his confiscated
golf club.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere)
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