VANCOUVER, Wash. — A Vancouver police officer who made an unsuccessful bid for Clark County Sheriff last year has been suspended pending the outcome of multiple internal investigations, the City of Vancouver confirmed Tuesday.
Corporal Rey Reynolds with the Vancouver Police Department was placed on leave Dec. 21 due to an open internal investigation pertaining to the agency's standards of conduct policy.
OPB reported that at least one investigation is tied to a podcast appearance Reynolds made while campaigning to be sheriff in which Reynolds compared drag events to criminal sexual offenses.
According to the Kim Kapp, the City of Vancouver's public affairs manager, an investigation into Reynolds was opened on Sept. 8, 2022, followed by another investigation on Oct. 24 and two investigations on Dec. 20.
Kapp clarified that the two Dec. 20 investigations stemmed from two separate incidents. These investigations are not "linked" to the previous ones, she said.
The city did not provide any further details about the incidents that led to these investigations, but did outline the VPD policies that may have been violated.
The Sept. 8 complaint involved VPD's policies on employee speech, expression and social networking, in addition to an alleged violation of their oath of office. The complaint on Oct. 24 involved alleged violations of those same policies, in addition to VPD's standards of conduct policy.
Both Dec. 20 incidents involved complaints related to VPD's standards of conduct, but one also involved an alleged violation of the agency's policy on use of force and restraints.
VPD's policy governing internal affairs processes stipulates that complaints can come from any source, either internal or external to the agency. For an investigation to commence, those complaints need to contain specific details of "known or suspected acts or omissions."
The policy states that an employee can be placed on administrative leave if the complaint involves concerns about their ability to perform essential functions of their job "such as allegations of violation of criminal laws or dishonesty," if the complaint involves misconduct that could undermine the city's ability to provide a safe and non-violent workplace, or if removing the employee from duty is in the best interest of the employee, VPD or the community.
Reynolds ran to replace retiring Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins during the 2022 midterm election. He ultimately lost to John Horch, who has been with the sheriff's office for his entire law enforcement career, by just over 18,000 votes.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge.