Inappropriate Comments in 2017 Sheriff’s Training Session Raised in Campaign

An image from a training session for Sheriff's Deputies March, 2017 has been circulated on social media by Chelan County Sheriff's candidate Jennifer Tyler.   Deputy Tyler, who is challenging Sheriff Brian Burnett, posted an image that was used in a Power Point presentation during a first aid training session on handling people in a state of “excited delirium,” which is a violent or unpredictable mental state.  One of the slides featured derogatory remarks and off color language describing people with the condition.  The facebook post also referenced statements Sheriff Burnett recently made at a candidates forum touting the character and core values of his department.  The image with inappropriate language also pictured the Sheriff's Department Chief of Patrol Rick Johnson.

The Sheriff's Office issued a statement Tuesday alleging the PowerPoint slide was posted on social media to represent it depicted a quote from a Sheriff’s Office Administrator (Johnson), which the Sheriff's Office says was inaccurate.

Tyler denies the allegation.  When reached by phone Wednesday, Tyler said "the intent of the post was a direct response to the Sheriff's continued statements about our training and our core values. Regardless of who provided the training and regardless of the posted about the training, the training was given to Chelan County employees and I think they are trying to distract"

The Sheriff's Department statement explained the Power Point slide was created by local paramedic Mike Battis, who was the volunteer presenter at the training session.  Battis admitted the inappropriate slide was his “poorly worded attempt at humor”   The Sheriff's Office  said the presentation was not “approved by, sanctioned, or shared with the Sheriff or any member of the Sheriff’s Office Administration.” The news release indicated the administration was not aware the slide with the inappropriate language existed until a few hours after the image was shared on Facebook.

Late Wednesday, Sheriff Burnett said he was "disappointed his opponent didn't have enough integrity to bring up this concern a year and a half ago because we want to deal with those thing as they come up"  Burnett said the matter is being addressed and he is disappointed other employees and supervisors that were present did not report the incident earlier.  A procedural review will likely result in changes that could include prior approval of all presentation materials.