Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Responds to Social Media Post Regarding Community Presentation

From the Chelan County Sheriff's Office:

The Sheriff’s Office received information regarding a social media post that has been circulating which appears to be a quote from the Chief of Patrol.  The Chief of Patrol never made this statement.  The Sheriff’s Office would like Chelan County citizens to be aware that the content of the PowerPoint slide on the social media website was not approved by, sanctioned, or shared with the Sheriff or any member of the Sheriff’s Office Administration (to include the subject of the post).  The Administration was not aware of this slide, which was presented in March, 2017.  The Sheriff’s Administration first became aware of this at approximately 1:00 p.m. today.

The slide was part of a PowerPoint presentation created by an outside instructor, but was then presented at a First Aid training session hosted by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, without the knowledge or approval of any Sheriff’s Office employee.

The instructor who displayed the PowerPoint slide during training has submitted the following response:

To whom it may concern,

During a First Aid and CPR class that I taught for Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in 2017, I made a poor attempt at humor. I taught this class as a private citizen, and was not attempting to represent any agency. I have spent nearly 20 years working in EMS and was asked to teach this class as a guest instructor. I received no compensation from Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, nor had any contacts with them regarding the contents of the curriculum. 

During a comprehensive class, I covered the topic of Excited Delirium. I had a slide with the clinical definition on it, and then I made a poorly worded attempt at humor for a “real world definition.” That slide was made out of poor taste, and is not consistent with my thoughts on the matter or my personal beliefs. 

I thought that the Chief of Patrol, whom I know both personally and professionally, was going to be in attendance. The slide referencing a real world definition was my attempt at teasing him. It wasn’t intended to have any impact on the curriculum, and was clearly defined as a joke with all of the people in attendance. At the time (and up until yesterday,) no one approached me in any capacity about this incident. The Chief was not present during the class, and there were no administrative personnel in attendance. For the subsequent classes I removed the slide. I removed the slide after I did

a self evaluation of my course, and decided that slide was not how I wanted to represent this topic. It is a very serious condition, and I should not have attempted to make a joke out of the matter. 

I sincerely apologize for my poor attempt at humor, and humbly ask for forgiveness. 

Respectfully,

Mike Battis

EMT-Paramedic 

The text in the PowerPoint slide is not a quote from the pictured Administrator, any Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Command Staff member, or any other Chelan County Sheriff’s Office employee.  The Sheriff’s Office is committed to deal with mental health and use of force issues in a professional manner.

The PowerPoint slide was posted on a social media account in a way as to represent it as a quote from a Sheriff’s Office Administrator, which is completely inaccurate.