Police chief: Officer who issued majority of pot tickets in city this year has been reassigned

SEATTLE – A Seattle police officer has been reassigned after a review found he wrote about 80 per cent of marijuana tickets issued in the city during the first half of 2014.

Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said Wednesday on the department website that the unidentified officer issued 66 of 83 citations for public pot use in Seattle.

She says that in some cases he added notes to the tickets or addressed them to Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes. In another case, the officer reportedly said he flipped a coin when deciding which person to cite.

O’Toole says the officer also wrote that the voter-approved state initiative legalizing recreational marijuana was “silly.”

The police chief said the case has been referred to the department’s Office of Professional Accountability. She says the officer won’t be on patrol duties during the investigation.