Friday, September 14, 2012 • Bainbridge Island Review
chIeF CONTINUED FROM A1
the board of directors for both the National Alliance for Mental Illness and United Against Sexual Assault. He received the Medal of Valor, Good Conduct Award, Distinguished Service Award, Community Policing Award and was twice honored as the Officer of the Year. He was hired as Bainbridge Island’s deputy chief in 2008, but advanced to chief of police in 2009 when Chief Matt Haney left the department. After he took on the role, Fehlman’s former position of
deputy chief was cut as the department was reorganizing. Fehlman joined a city hall in turmoil, as key personnel left the city and Bainbridge Island struggled with major budget woes. And just one year after taking over as chief, Douglas Ostling, a mentally ill man, was shot and killed by Bainbridge police officers in his home. Fehlman was named in civil rights lawsuit filed against the city in 2010 by the Ostling family. He was accused of failing to properly train his officers to deal with the mentally ill. A jury ruled in the Ostling family’s favor earlier this year,
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and awarded the family a $1 million judgement. Fehlman, however, was unable to speak for himself in court. Shortly before the trial in May, he fell ill with lifethreatening pancreatitis and was hospitalized, and he was in and out of consciousness for 10 days. He also underwent heart surgery in the following weeks. Fehlman has been absent from the police department and on leave ever since. In June, the city’s police
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guild took a vote of “no confidence” in Fehlman which sparked an investigation over the summer into the union’s accusations. Fehlman’s resignation came as the city was preparing to release the results of the investigation into the alleged misdeeds. The investigation found a majority of the claims made by the guild to be unsubstantiated. Other claims were found to be partially true.
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