Robert Breeden declined the offer to serve as Spokane's interim ombudsman.
The Office of Police Ombudsman Commission
voted last week to offer Breeden, who lives in Florida, the four-month appointment. The the five-member commission also voted to send an investigator to Florida to look into allegations surrounding Breeden's treatment of employees while he was the assistant special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Miami.
"Due to my current personal financial and professional obligations, I cannot accept the interim assignment," Breeden says in an email to commissioners. "But I do remain interested in the permanent ombudsman position, and will gladly cooperate with the additional vetting the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission agreed to pursue."
The commission also voted last week to ask the city council for funds to send investigators to Florida and Victoria, British Columbia, where another candidate, Raheel Humayun, works.
The next OPO Commission meeting is tomorrow, Oct. 6 at 5:30 in City Council chambers.