OLYMPIA, Wash. -- More than 1,000 fictitious state driver's licenses and identification cards help cloak the identities of undercover law enforcement, long issued under a Department of Licensing program to safeguard those officers' lives.
One problem: It appears the program was too confidential. No state laws guide its use; no one at DOL even knows how it started. And, up until now, no one bothered to tell the Legislature it existed.
"At this point it appears there's no oversight whatsoever," Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, said of the program, "and (DOL) has been doing this above the law literally for years."
Shea and Rep. Jason Overstreet, R-Lynden, were floored last week when a recently passed Senate bill etching the state-sponsored fictitious ID program into law arrived at the House's transportation committee, upon which they both serve.
Neither of the Republican lawmakers is opposed to the IDs to help keep undercover cops safe. But they believe it's time the program got some oversight.
"I think the public deserves to know how these things are being used," Overstreet said.
The DOL's legislative effort was spurred by records requests from the Kitsap Sun in 2012 for a story about the issuance of confidential and undercover license plates, according to DOL spokesman Brad Benfield. DOL officials wanted to tighten disclosure laws surrounding confidential plates. But they also wanted the Legislature's blessing on the undercover identification card and driver's license program.
Benfield could not say when the DOL undercover license program began -- no one there now knows -- but those familiar with the program believe it has been "a reasonable thing to do," he said.
"Everyone who's involved in this program takes it very seriously," Benfield said.
Speaking on behalf of the state's law enforcement community, Mitch Barker, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said the program is imperative for effective -- and safe -- undercover work.
"It's a tool we absolutely need," Barker said, adding later: "I think a driver's license is a pretty cheap way to protect an officer."
Barker cites one of his own experiences as an example of why the program is needed. While working undercover as a Des Moines police officer years ago, he attempted to buy 2 pounds of marijuana from a drug dealer when he lost his backup officer. In a tavern parking lot, he told the dealer he needed to make a phone call. In that time, the dealer went through Barker's car, finding an insurance card making it clear he was a government employee.
Thankfully, backup did arrive before things got ugly.
"I thought he was gonna try to run me down in the parking lot," he said.
The undercover program helps further mask officers' identities, he said.
The confidential license program is run out of the DOL's licensing integrity unit, the agency's investigative wing, which is headed up by Fred Bjornberg, a retired Washington State Patrol detective sergeant, Benfield said.
Only a handful of DOL employees are capable of issuing confidential licenses. A qualifying applicant can't just go to the nearest DOL office to get one; they must go to Olympia to DOL's headquarters, Benfield said.
After five years, just like regular licenses, they expire.
The requesting agency must fill out a one-page form, which includes a space to fill in the desired fictitious name. The local, state or federal agency must present the reason for getting the fictitious ID on agency letterhead.
Among the dozens of law enforcement agencies whose officers and detectives have the IDs are the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office and Bremerton Police Department. Top brass at the departments say they're used for undercover law enforcement.
Benfield said that a department must prove the ID will be used for a "criminal justice function." Benfield said there have never been reports of misuse, though one officer who left an agency forgot to cancel an undercover ID.
He added that the program's always had internal rules to ensure it was not being abused. For instance, if a police officer's fictitious license were run through DOL's database by other law enforcement, the licensing integrity unit would be notified.
"We really have to have faith that these law enforcement agencies are using these properly," Benfield said.
The two Republican lawmakers on the House transportation committee plan to introduce amendments to the legislation that would define legitimate use of the licenses, ensure the program's transparency and create accountability should it be abused.
They appear to be the first two to have scrutinized the bill. It sailed through the Senate on a 47-1 vote. Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Beacon Hill, was the lone no vote.
"It was portrayed as a housekeeping bill," said Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island.
Rolfes said she assumed DOL had been issuing fictitious licenses all along for the purposes of undercover work. She said there were no issues raised about the program in the Senate transportation committee. But she commended Shea and Overstreet for probing the program more.
"I'm glad they're raising those questions," she said.
Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, said he voted in favor of the bill because he felt the program needed to be transparent in state law.
"If there's legislative oversight, we'll get more uniformity" in the program, Sheldon said. "It's predictable and, this way, it won't be abused."
Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, who is on the House transportation committee with Shea and Overstreet, said she supports the bill as is. But she said she will take a look at any amendments they might propose to the bill.
Angel said she recalls deputies using undercover licenses to help with their work during her time as a Kitsap County commissioner. She believes the current legislation has appropriate safeguards -- for both the officer and in deterring misuse.
"The most important thing is that the process keeps people safe and also keeps any fraud or abuse from happening," Angel said.
Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, said that she supports a confidential license program not only for the protection of law enforcers but for their families. But she'd have preferred the DOL had come to the Legislature before starting such a program.
"I think they should have asked first," she said.
This story was a collaboration with Austin Jenkins of public radio's Northwest News Network. His work can be heard on KUOW and KPLU.
Copyright 2013 - Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
