Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Confirms Firing of Deputy Jennifer Tyler

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that Deputy Jennifer Tyler has been terminated as of August 29th. Tyler, who also ran for Sheriff in 2018, has sued the Sheriff's Department because she wants her job back and saying she's passionate about law enforcement and wants to be able to retire a member of law enforcement.

"Oftentimes that retirement consists of a radio call saying thank you for this opportunity. The officer is thanked for their service and there's a retirement party. There's a final chapter to everyone's career when they choose a path like this. I'm being robbed of my final chapter because of someone else's opinion."

Tyler says she doesn't want to leave Chelan County either because she loves the area.

The Sheriff's released a statement saying that Tyler had been the subject of workplace complaints including violations of policies and procedures. An outside investigation was conducted which confirmed policy violations according to Sheriff Brian Burnett.

"She will be afforded all due process rights afforded by the current collective bargaining agreement, which will allow an appeal of the termination to the Sheriff, the Chelan County Commission and through binding arbitration."

Tyler was fired from CCSO previously but was reinstated after a lawsuit against the department, something she says she's going to do again.

"I would project the same thing would happen. It took me 30 months of fighting the last time to get there. Even if it takes me 30 months this time to get there, I have no doubt an arbitrator will reinstate me."

Sheriff Burnett says they hired two outside investigators after receiving workplace complaints to avoid the appearance of bias.

"Both investigations resulted in findings of workplace policy violations. The findings of the independent investigation by the Chelan County Human Resources Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the termination decision."

Tyler was suspended in January and has been under that suspension until the termination.

Here's the full statement from the Chelan County Sheriff's Office:

(Wenatchee, WA) – The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office today confirmed the recent termination of Jennifer Tyler, a Deputy with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.  The Sheriff’s office cannot comment in detail on ongoing employee or litigation matters but can provide the following brief summation of the process followed in this case:

In late December, 2018 the Chelan County Human Resources Department received workplace complaints regarding Deputy Tyler. The complaints alleged violations of the policies and procedures of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.  Chelan County retained two outside investigators to conduct the investigations into the complaints.  The Sheriff requested the outside investigations in order to avoid any appearance that the investigation process would be biased.  Both investigations resulted in findings of workplace policy violations. The findings of the independent investigation by the Chelan County Human Resources Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the termination decision.

Deputy Tyler was notified of her termination August 29, 2019.  She will be afforded all due process rights afforded by the current collective bargaining agreement, which will allow an appeal of the termination to the Sheriff, the Chelan County Commission and through binding arbitration.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s office is proud of the men and women who serve our community and our mission to contribute to a safe and productive community, to earning public trust and providing highly trained professionals. We partner with the community, utilizing available resources to provide the highest quality of service to the citizens of Chelan County.