Seattle’s interim police Chief Sue Rahr weighed in on the murder conviction this week of an Auburn police officer, critiquing law enforcement tendencies and a lack of accountability that led to the officer’s “troubling pattern of decisions.”
Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson was convicted Thursday of murdering Jesse Sarey in 2019. Nelson’s historic conviction marks the first time a Washington police officer was found guilty of murder for on-duty actions.
In a staffwide email sent Friday morning and obtained by The Seattle Times, Rahr said the verdict weighed heavily on her mind. She said she believed Nelson’s poor decision-making was enabled by leadership within the Auburn Police Department — and also said that was not unique to one agency.
She said Nelson, who killed three people during his tenure with the Auburn police, will bear the penalty but was not solely responsible for the outcome of the case.
In addition to Sarey, Nelson shot and killed Isaiah Obet in 2017 and Brian Scaman in 2011. Auburn has paid out $5.7 million to settle various claims alleging Nelson used excessive force, including $4 million in Sarey’s case and $1.25 million in Obet’s. The department previously gave Nelson a Medal of Valor for his actions leading to Obet’s death.
“His work history demonstrates a troubling pattern of decisions about how and when he used force,” Rahr wrote. “That pattern was supported and reinforced over the course of his career with very little course correction from his leaders.”
Rahr then encouraged her staff to learn from the conviction and hold each other accountable.
While the Seattle Police Department largely has been released from a federal consent decree that mandated reforms at the department over the course of 11 years, issues relating to use of force and officer accountability are still under oversight of a federal judge.
“We must work together, courageously, to support a culture where we are honest with each other about what good police work looks like, and don’t remain silent when we see a brother or sister officer on a trajectory that will ruin their career or cost a life,” Rahr wrote. “We owe it to each other.”
Nelson’s sentencing is scheduled for July 16. He faces possible life in prison for the second-degree murder charge and up to 25 years for first-degree assault.