"Had the sheriff required Hirzel to cancel his travel plans, it could have been seen as coercion, Knezovich said."

Too rich. I hope that every lawyer in Spokane now demands that every client be afforded the opportunity to go on out of state travel before deigning to allow themselves to be interviewed, and highlights that the Sheriff deems it coercive to do otherwise.

And he has a "constitutional right to not be interviewed."

Like the murdered man has a constitutional right to carry a gun on his own private property?

No doubt nothing will happen to this cop. But Spokane taxpayers might as well go ahead and loosen up the purse strings.

I am getting really tired of "Special Rights" for cops.

Some of the comments there are a real hoot as per usual. Sadly there are badge lickers of all types out there that don't have the common sense a dog has.

Its not hard to flip the situation around and know that the pastor would not be allowed a week vacation. He'd be the latest cop killer vigilante scumbum pothead who should be on deathrow. But hey, union rules are union rules even if they might conflict with police rules on interviews. Lets give the guy a break for a week.

And they wonder why four unfortunate cops get butchered in a coffee shop up there.

On a more positive note, I had a GREAT interaction with a PDX cop the other night. I wanted to tap-dance on the roof of my car afterwards.

So, I go to pick up my son at the airport at 10pm. We decide to let me stop in for a quick dance at the Norse Hall, which is now part of the Burnside-Couch couplet, and my night vision isn't the sharpest, and we're excited talking about his hiking in Brittany, etc, and a cop pulls me over.

He says, smiling, "we're patrolling for drunks. I was worried we might have our first one of the evening. I noticed you were kinda not very clear in your lane changes and didn't signal. Have you had anything to drink?"

"Not a thing. It's just that I can't find anything around here, it's all changed and there's all these construction barricades, and I'm not used to being out driving so late." (The latter statement being pure fiction, but I thought cultivating the helpless little old lady impression was important.)

"OK, you take care now."

I had to stifle the urge to leap out of the car and hug his knees.