Former IMPD Spokesman Has Warning To Spokane About Straub

Paul Thompson is now a retired IMPD police officer. Not long ago he served as a spokesman for the Department during a number of the controversies that erupted during the tumultuous tenure of Public Safety Director Frank Straub, which is suppose to come to a close at the end of this month. Straub has applied for several law enforcement management positions around the country since the Ballard administration announced that he would be stepping down, and he's currently one of the three finalists being considered for police chief of the Spokane, Washington police department. Speaking to a local TV news affiliate in Spokane, KREM, Thompson had a warning about the problems Straub faced in his position here. Thompson accused Straub of not being fiscally responsible and insisting on the use of two full-time police officers as personal chauffeurs. KREM's Ashley Korslein attempted to get comment from both Straub and the Ballard administration on Thompson's criticism of Straub but neither returned her messages. The Ballard administration has not yet announced the three finalists that were to be named by this point for consideration as Straub's replacement as public safety director.