King County Sgt Patrick Saulet. Dominic Holden photo.

Sgt. Patrick "KC" Saulet, who has one of the worst misconduct histories on the King County Sheriff's Office, ordered local newsman Dominic Holden to move at least a block away from a public transit facility where several police officers had been questioning a lone black man. Holden, who had taken pictures of the incident with his cellphone camera, is the news editor at Seattle's urban weekly, The Stranger.

In 2006, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Saulet had 12 sustained complaints against him and "one of the worst misconduct histories in the King County Sheriff's Office." Two years later, The Stranger reported that Saulet had been reprimanded five times for excessive use of force and four times for improper personal conduct.

Holden complied with Sgt. Saulet's orders, but asked who was in command. Seattle Police Officer John Marion spoke up: "I'm going to come into The Stranger and bother you while you're at work."

That was over a week ago. Sunday, finally, Sgt. Saulet was suspended by Sheriff John Urquhart. His previous boss, then-sheriff and now GOP Congressman Dave Reichert had ignored earlier recommendations that Saulet be fired for misconduct.

Meantime, acting Seattle police chief Jim Pugel has launched an investigation into Marion's conduct and apologized to Holden. The Department of Justice 18 months ago announced findings that the Seattle Police Department had long engaged in a pattern of excessive force that violates the Constitution and federal law.

Related stories in Seattle media:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/...

http://slog.thestranger.com/...