Police Power Struggle at City Hall
A failed political maneuver to purge a strict police captain reveals the deep fractures within Seattle's municipal government.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A cut and dried plan to force Police Captain Sims out of the department failed in the meeting of the board of commissioners last night. If Sims had been forced out, Chief Jackson would have probably gone with him and Mayor Miller would have been happy. Acting Mayor Miller does not like Chief Jackson any too well and his antipathy to Capt. Sims has been openly expressed. On May 6, jailer Sheahan was reproved by Capt. Sims for using abusive language to a prisoner he was searching. Sheahan took umbrage at the reproof and retorted with hot words, which were construed as an act of insubordination. Chief Jackson filed charges against Sheahan, which resulted in Sheahan being suspended for ten days. The effort to get rid of Sims came out in a report from Commissioner Wallingford, recommending that Capt. Sims should be dismissed 'for the good of the service.' Sims is acknowledged to be a good, efficient officer, but is popularly supposed to have the 'big head,' and the men on the force say he is overbearing. The scheme did not work, as Wallingford and Miller were for unconditional dismissal, while other commissioners voted to keep the report on file without action, effectively blocking the move.
“The scheme did not work.”
City Hall power plays regarding police oversight and the 'good of the service' remain a fixture of Seattle politics. This episode shows that struggles over departmental culture and mayoral influence were just as heated in 1891.
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