The investigation into longtime Clark County Sheriff’s Office Detective Kevin Harper revolved around an affair he had with a known heroin addict, according to a case summary released Thursday.
Washington State Patrol detectives conducted a criminal investigation and collected evidence that showed Harper witnessed the woman using heroin, did not seize her cellphone during the execution of a search warrant and gave her money when he knew or should have known that it was to help the woman buy heroin, the document states.
Detectives have completed their criminal investigation into Harper and have forwarded the information to the Attorney General’s Office for consideration of charges.
Harper, 57, met Tracy Wasserman in August 2015 when he responded to investigate a death and possible overdose of one of Wasserman’s friends, according to the WSP report.
Over the next few months, the two maintained contact via phone, text and social media, and their relationship grew from professional to friendly and eventually to sexual in nature, the document states.
The relationship became known to law enforcement when a reliable confidential informant alerted Vancouver police Sgt. Spencer Harris of the affair on Sept. 9, 2016. Harper has been on administrative leave since Sept. 26, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office conducted an internal affairs investigation into the allegations until deputies became aware of the potential criminal activity. At that point, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins asked State Patrol detectives to step in.
During the course of that investigation, State Patrol detectives discovered evidence that showed Harper and Wasserman met up during Harper’s work hours and sometimes in Harper’s work vehicle, the document states.
On three separate occasions, Harper documented Wasserman preparing and using heroin, according to the document.
WSP detectives sifted through 4,000 photographs that Harper took of his cellphone displaying text message conversations between himself and Wasserman, the document states.
In those conversations, Harper tells Wasserman “he wrote a search warrant to seize every phone in the trap house but did not take hers,” according to the case summary.
The photos also show multiple text exchanges in which Harper provides “help” in the form of money so that Wasserman can purchase heroin, according to the document. She also admits to Harper that she has “boosted,” or resorted to theft, in desperation to support her habit, according to the WSP document.
“The character of this agency will not tolerate that kind of action if the allegations are found to be sustained,” Atkins said. “The allegations are serious and it’s not something that we take lightly.”
Atkins said he sat down with State Patrol detectives and members of the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday to review the case. Now that the criminal investigation is complete, the internal affairs investigation can restart, the outcome of which is what Atkins said will help him determine Harper’s employment.
Harper has worked for the sheriff’s office since 1988 and has been a major crimes detective since December 1996.
He is the lead investigator for numerous crimes charged in Clark County Superior Court and the allegations against him have the potential to affect a number of cases. Charges have already been dropped in an attempted murder case because of the investigation.
Camara Banfield, chief criminal deputy for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said that over the next few days, the prosecuting attorney’s office will be reviewing dozens of cases that Harper is associated with and will make a determination on whether they will move forward with those charges.
“We feel very confident that most of these cases will not be affected,” she said.
In the cases that are impacted, Banfield said they will move as fast as possible so those defendants are treated fairly.
“We want to move quickly, because that’s what our justice system deserves,” Banfield said.
Over the next few days, the prosecuting attorney’s office will comb through the case and look for instances where Harper was the only detective involved in the investigation and weigh that against other evidence, she said.
One case that Banfield said was most impacted by the misconduct investigation has already been addressed.
Harper was the lead investigator in a criminal case against Troy Meyers and Michael Conley, two men accused of stabbing an acquaintance last year.
Meyers’ attorney, Shon Bogar, argued in December that not having information on the allegations against Harper was delaying the case and violated his client’s right to effective counsel.
Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik said at the time that his office wasn’t privy to the allegations into Harper but ultimately agreed that the situation created a time crunch and decided to drop the charges.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled at a later date.
Sgt. Todd Barsness, who previously oversaw the major crimes unit and was Harper’s supervisor at the time of the alleged misconduct, is being called into question about what he knew and at what time, Atkins said.
Washington State Patrol’s report concluded that Barsness knew that Harper was having an affair but that he did not attempt to cover for Harper, the document states.
Atkins said that the internal affairs process will help completely determine what Barsness knew and when he knew it and if any of the agency’s policies was violated.
Barsness has been moved to the patrol unit as a result of the investigation. Sgt. Duncan Hoss is currently overseeing the unit.
