Racist comments, jokes about sexual identity net suspensions for 2 Lakewood cops
Two veterans of the Lakewood Police Department, including a sergeant who was the president of the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, were suspended after investigations found they made inappropriate comments about colleagues’ sexuality and race in 2024 and failed to report it, according to public records obtained by The News Tribune.
Sergeant Jason Catlett and detective Noah Dier originally were demoted by the Lakewood Police Department in July, but following arbitration with the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, Catlett received a 10-day suspension and Dier received a five-day suspension, according to the arbitration award shared with the News Tribune.
Catlett and Dier were reinstated to their positions and received back pay on April 25 after a private arbitrator assigned by the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission found the Lakewood Police Department “did not have just cause to demote” them.
Catlett has been with the Lakewood Police Department for 19 years and was the president of the department’s union last spring. Dier has been with the department for 16 years. Both were members of the force’s Special Operations Unit, according to public records. Dan Thenell, who represents the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, said Catlett and Dier asked him to speak to The News Tribune on their behalf.
The suspensions came as a result of several internal investigations conducted by the Lakewood Police Department in 2024. According to an annual police report presented to the Lakewood City Council in March, there were seven allegations of police misconduct last year and two internal investigations. All seven allegations were sustained, meaning there was enough evidence to prove the misconduct occurred.
Another 2024 case involved officer Jacob Brewer, who admitted to regularly driving at least 25 mph over the speed limit on the highway during his night shift, including in one instance where he unnecessarily drove 96 mph in a 60 mph speed zone while transferring a suspect to the Nisqually Jail without properly buckling the man’s seat belt. Brewer received a one-day unpaid deferred suspension with good behavior and is no longer with the department after leaving for another law enforcement job out of state, Lakewood Police Chief Patrick Smith told The News Tribune last week.
Thenell said on Wednesday that Brewer is not with the department anymore and said the city’s investigations into Catlett and Dier were “mishandled” and resulted in “a very, very expensive arbitration.”
Assistant chief of police John Unfred, who is Smith’s second in command, was placed on administrative leave March 19 pending the outcome of another internal investigation, as previously reported by The News Tribune. It is unclear at this time what Unfred is being investigated for. The News Tribune has submitted public records requests that are pending.
Last year the department conducted eight internal investigations into 10 allegations of misconduct from 2023, six of which were sustained. Three of those cases involved officers — including a senior firearms instructor — who accidentally fired their service weapons when they weren’t paying attention.
The Lakewood Police Department has 100 commissioned police officers, two community service officers, two court-compliance officers, two animal-control officers, three code-enforcement officers and 10 civilian staff, according to Smith’s March presentation to the City Council. It’s one of the largest departments in the state, serving over 60,000 people. Smith joined the Lakewood Police Department as chief in March 2023 after Mike Zaro retired.
Officers responded to 49,810 calls for service in 2024, the annual report said. The Lakewood police operating budget is about $32 million in 2025 and $32.3 million in 2026, according to the city’s adopted biennial budget.
In 2023, Catlett was paid $213,729, Dier was paid $141,478, and Brewer made $96,161, according to Lakewood’s employee salary database.
City alleged harassment, use of epithets
According to city investigation records, Catlett and Dier violated the city’s policy for harassment and retaliation and the department’s code of conduct policy. Dier also violated the department’s policy that bars the use of epithets for a series of racially charged comments he made about Black people. Both men are white.
An outside investigator hired by the city found that Catlett and Dier were actively involved in “an open conversation about officers’ sexual preferences” with the intent “to identify the sexual orientation of fellow officers so they could be harassed with inappropriate jokes,” according to letters Smith sent the officers in July 2024.
Despite recognizing the unacceptable nature of the behavior and both employees’ responsibility to mentor, guide, coach and enforce department policies, “you did not stop this conversation, provide guidance on acceptable behavior, or report the actions and behavior to your immediate supervisor, as required by City of Lakewood policy,” wrote Smith, who is Black.
City investigations into Catlett found he provided a temporary password to a subordinate that insinuated he “loves gay boys” and allegedly called him “gay,” “queer” and a “fag” in front of others.
Investigations into Dier found he also allegedly called a subordinate “gay” and “fag” in front of others and made jokes “with racially-hostile intent” related to the N-word, including while attending a professional conference. Dier also allegedly claimed his brother wasn’t hired by the Tacoma Police Department because he is white and said the department is being “ruined” by DEI initiatives, to the discomfort of witnesses.
An arbitrator later deemed his comments “insensitive and perhaps inappropriate but [he] did not include racial slurs and [it] was not a tirade,” according to arbitration records.
During a pre-disciplinary hearing last July, Catlett accepted responsibility for his actions, apologized and expressed regret, describing the harassment as “joking … on the terms of ‘brotherly love,’” according to a memo Smith sent him. At a pre-disciplinary hearing last July, Dier did not “appear to express any remorse or responsibility” for his behavior and “went on to give further recent examples, attributed to others, of unacceptable behavior and ‘banter’ about race and stereotypes to deflect away from the behavior that has been sustained against” him, said Smith in his disciplinary memo to Dier.
“Your actions are considered serious misconduct and a crystal-clear example of what is NOT acceptable in the workplace. It is also clear that you require substantial re-training and strong supervision to retain employment with the Lakewood Police Department,” Smith wrote. “I am deeply saddened and sickened by your actions and your expectation that an employee with less than half your tenure must tell you that you are wrong, unprofessional and tell you the expectations of the work environment.”
An outside investigator hired by the city found that “a fair amount of joking, ‘ribbing’ and ‘talk’” happens in the Lakewood Police Department and “this is generally accepted as part of the Department’s culture.” Rumors and gossip “are prevalent” in the department, and evidence showed Dier and Catlett’s “joking” sometimes crossed the line between appropriate and inappropriate workplace banter, according to an investigation report prepared April 29, 2024.
The city argued Catlett and Dier violated the city’s clear personal conduct and anti-harassment policies and were thus demoted with “just cause” as there were eyewitnesses to the behavior, and “Many of the incidents were admitted by the Grievants themselves,” according to arbitration documents. Lakewood Police Department said the men were aware of those policies, which “are completely in line with the obligations of a modern employer,” according to the arbitration records. Their comments implied “that being gay was something negative,” “were not made in a vacuum” and “could severely impair both the reputation of the Department” and employees’ esteem in the eyes of their peers, the city said.
The union argued the Lakewood Police Department did not prove “just cause” with “clear and convincing evidence” and therefore could not demote Catlett and Dier for their comments. Representatives said employees were not trained on the harassment policy since it was adopted in 2018 and the demotions came as a shock to Catlett and Dier because “after decades of banter and joking amongst the employees ... it was unknown that this type of banter and joking could lead to discipline,” according to arbitration records.
The union alleged the discipline issued by the city was not equal when compared to past discipline at the department. The union also alleged the city’s outside investigation was “severely insufficient” and “flawed,” arguing the complaint should have been handled with internal mediation and an internal-affairs investigation, according to arbitration records. They alleged the man who initially filed the complaint “often joined in the banter and joking,” and Catlett’s and Dier’s “banter was not intended to be malicious” and that the behavior stopped after the man told them he was offended in November.
Thenell told The News Tribune that Catlett and Dier expressed remorse for their actions. He called the city’s initial discipline “grossly excessive,” singling out two people for jokes that crossed the line but were prevalent in the department. Thenell said everybody is looking to put the “unnecessarily excessively confrontational” situation behind them.
“I think people need to realize the difficult job that police officers have, dealing with the terrible things that people do to each other. It is a profession unlike any other in terms of the pressures and the human tragedies that officers see on a daily basis,” Thenell said Wednesday. “A culture develops from those experiences that is very, very difficult for non-law enforcement citizens to understand. I suspect that some readers may be troubled by the cultural components that were discussed in this case and noted by the arbitrator, but it is very difficult to judge people when you haven’t walked in their shoes and dealt with the terrible things that men and women have done and seen every day as cops.”
Arbitrator says officers crossed the line
Arbitrator Susan Bauman found that “some level of discipline is warranted” against Dier and against Catlett, “for both his actions and his inactions as a supervisor,” according to arbitration records.
Bauman said the union’s procedural concerns about the investigation “are without merit,” and, “The behaviors of the Grievants, while to some extent consistent with longstanding activities within the LPD, cross the line of what is acceptable within a police department in the twenty-first century.”
The man who filed the complaint to Human Resources testified he did so because he felt he couldn’t trust members of the Lakewood Police Department to investigate given their relationships and “the past practice of people trying to cover stuff up,” so Bauman said the city had the authority and obligation to hire an outside investigator and did not violate Dier’s and Catlett’s due-process rights by doing so.
Bauman said many of the man’s allegations could not be substantiated, but, “This in no way should be construed to mean that [the man] was untruthful in any of his statements ... Rather, it means that many of his allegations could not be substantiated because either there were no witnesses to the events cited, or those present had no recollection of the event.”
Under Lakewood’s city policy, “Harassing and retaliatory behavior does not need to rise to the level of unlawful conduct in order for the City to take corrective action,” and “the City may take corrective action, up to and including termination, against an employee whose behavior falls outside of the legal definition of unlawful harassment or retaliation if the City finds the behavior was disrespectful or offensive or otherwise unacceptable in a civil workplace,” according to arbitration records.
Bauman said although Catlett and Dier’s actions “were not severe or pervasive” (as confirmed in the city investigator’s report) and may have not been made with malicious intent, that “does not absolve them of being in violation of the policies at issue. The fact that [the man] filed his complaint makes clear that he was adversely affected by the actions of the Grievants.”
Based on evidence, Bauman concluded that Catlett violated the city’s policy when he assigned the offensive password and in another case when he failed to report jokes and harassment about sexual orientation. Bauman also concluded that Dier violated city and LPD policy when he drunkenly referenced a Negroni in a manner that sounded like the N-word at a professional conference and violated the anti-harassment policy and LPD code of conduct by making gay jokes.
Bauman said the city did not show that members of the LPD ever received training nor provide examples of unacceptable behavior per the city’s personnel policies and procedures, including harassment.
“It appears that the Chief’s demotion of the Grievants was a shock treatment to change the culture of the Department, punishing two individuals for behaviors that were engaged in and condoned by a prior chief and which appear to be, if not rampant, at least prevalent and accepted within the LPD,” she wrote in the arbitration. “It is clear that Chief PS inherited a Police Department with a culture that leaves much to be desired in terms of how individuals treat each other, what they call each other, how they deal with stress, banter and humor. Additionally, it is a Department that is in need of training for all employees on avoiding discrimination, harassment and retaliation, as well as training specifically for supervisors as to the expectations for them under the City’s and the LPD’s policies.”
Police department gets bias training
In an email to The News Tribune on April 23, two days before the arbitrator’s decision, Smith said he made his decisions “based on the facts presented.”
“While I am disappointed that the state Public Employment Relations Commission did not uphold the disciplinary action imposed on these two law enforcement officers, as a department we must move forward to make the necessary changes to address organizational culture, training and create an environment where all officers can thrive,” Smith said in another email Tuesday. “In this case the officer’s actions were inappropriate and were not representative of the Lakewood Police Department or the expectations we have for the conduct of our officers ... I will continue to ensure our officers have the tools they need to carry out the mission of our department and make a positive difference in the community.”
A notice of discipline memo Smith sent to Catlett last July Smith stated, “I understand allegations have been raised that other employees of the Department have likewise contributed to a ‘culture’ where offensive, derogatory or hostile statements are discussed and tolerated.”
“As Chief of this Department, I am deeply concerned to hear such attitudes exist among employees,” Smith wrote. “If such allegations are true, and if other members of this Department are found to have engaged in similar misconduct, they will face similar disciplinary penalties.”
When asked what steps Smith would take to ensure that culture changes within the Lakewood Police Department, Smith told The News Tribune April 23 that holding people accountable for their actions and taking disciplinary action when appropriate “makes it clear what is and is not acceptable for our department. It sets expectations and shows what will not be tolerated.”
“We recently held anti-harassment training and hosted an outside group that conducted training across the department about managing bias in policing. We will continue to look for opportunities to offer training and support to our department,” he said April 23. “It is my goal to continue to move LPD forward and continue to serve our residents and make a difference in our community.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
