The firing of Troy Meade this week by Everett Police Chief Jim Scharf will most likely not be the last we hear of this case. Today the city hand delivered a letter officially firing officer Troy Meade effective tomorrow, July 1st, for unacceptable misconduct. The letter, signed by Jim Scharf and Sharon DeHaan, (the city’s Director of Labor Relations-Human Resources) outlined the basics of the case and gave a multitude of reasons for the firing. (the Herald newspaper has the entire letter in a link on their website, I’ve published the introduction earlier today here). On June 10th, 2009, Meade shot Niles Meservey in the parking lot of the Chuckwagon Restaurant. The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team conducted an investigation. The Snohomish County Prosecutor charged Meade with second degree murder and first degree manslaughter. In April 2010 Meade was found not guilty by a jury of the criminal charges but the jury did say that Meade failed to prove he acted in self-defense. Earlier this year, the city of Everett paid not only Meade’s court costs but also a civil settlement of $500,000.00 to the family of Niles Meservey as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. Now the City of Everett has fired Meade with Jim Scharf writing, “Nothing in Section 15.4, or within the standards for responsible policing, can justify your fatal shooting of Mr. Meservey on June 10. I so state based on undisputed facts and despite your efforts to rationalize your actions that night.”
It appears the next move in the case is for Meade to do one of three things…(1) accept his firing (2) contest his termination through a grievance or notice of appeal (3) resign before his termination becomes effective tomorrow. It will be interesting to see where this case goes from here. We’ll let you know.
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June 30, 2011
Everett, Everett Economy, Police Blotter