By ZIVA BRANSTETTER

and DYLAN GOFORTH

Frontier Staff Writers
A 13-page internal affairs report concludes that in their quest to give special treatment to a
wealthy friend of Sheriff Stanley Glanz, top officials in his office violated numerous policies and
intimidated employees who tried to enforce them.
The reports findings starkly contrast claims by Glanz and others that the 2009 internal affairs
investigation found no policies were violated in how the agency treated Reserve Deputy Robert
Bates. It also calls into question statements by other top officials that no concerns had been
expressed about Robert Bates training.
The report was obtained by reporters for The Frontier from a source on condition of anonymity.
The statements contained in the report support earlier reporting by the Tulsa World that Bates
supervisors were pressured to falsify training records and faced retaliation when they resisted.
The internal affairs report includes findings that policy has been violated and continues to be
violated by both Capt. Tom Huckeby and Chief Deputy Tim Albin with regard to special
treatment shown to Reserve Deputy Robert Bates with regard to his field training.
The report also concluded that Albin had created an atmosphere in which employees were
intimidated to fail to adhere to policies in a manner which benefits Reserve Deputy Bates.
Though multiple deputies and supervisors lodged complaints about Bates training and behavior
in the field, those complaints were dismissed by Undersheriff Tim Albin and Capt. Tom Huckeby,
the report states.
According to the report, Albin told employees with concerns: This is a shit sandwich and youll
just have to eat it but not aquire a taste for it.
The shooting
On April 13, Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter, 11 days after he shot Eric
Harris during a botched undercover gun sting conducted by the sheriffs offices Violent Crimes
Task Force.
Undercover task force members had met with Harris a handful of times before, purchasing
drugs from the 44-year-old ex-convict, but the April 2 sting was centered around a gun Harris
had previously bragged about.
That day, cameras worn by deputies captured Harris entering an undercover vehicle parked at a
Dollar General store in north Tulsa and pulling a handgun out of a backpack, handing it to an

undercover deputy. Almost as soon as the gun was out of his possession, an unmarked car
swerved into the background.
A startled Harris quickly exited the vehicle and ran north, fleeing up an empty sidewalk and into
the street, where a pursuing deputy tackled him. Seconds later, the 73-year-old Bates appeared
for a brief instant and yelled Taser! Taser! before firing a single gunshot, which struck Harris
under the right arm.
Bates said Oh, I shot him. Im sorry, and Harris could be heard crying out in shock and pain.
After Harris was shot and said he was losing his breath, one deputy yelled fuck your breath at
him. He died later that day at a Tulsa hospital.
Bates pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charges Tuesday, and was granted permission to
take a planned vacation to the Bahamas, something that drew criticism from Harris family and
their attorneys.
The shootings immediate aftermath
Following the shooting, sources began to reach out to reporters, alleging that Bates had not
received the training necessary for the responsibilities he was given. However Maj. Shannon
Clark said Bates was classified as an advanced reserve deputy, a designation requiring more
than 400 hours of field training.
Bates, who became an insurance agent after serving one year as a Tulsa Police Department
officer in 1964, was a longtime friend of Glanz and assisted the sheriff when Glanzs son was in
a traffic collision years ago. He now owns Commercial Insurance Brokers Inc.
Clark said Bates had helped fund the violent crimes task force, buying guns, Tasers and
vehicles for it over the years.
That gave Bates a lot of impunity inside TCSO, sources said, though the sheriffs office has
denied that allegation.
Glanz said previously he was not aware of any prior allegations that Bates lacked necessary
training, and Clark said that perhaps Bates training records had been misplaced. TCSO policy
requires field training records to be placed directly into at least two separate files.
The Sheriffs Office produced a handful of records at an initial press conference, where they
showed video of Harris shooting. But summary documents released at that time failed to prove
that Bates had received the required training.
On Saturday, attorneys for Bates sent CNN and other media outlets more documents they
claimed were Bates training records. However, it is unclear how authentic or official those

documents were, as they included notes scrawled on Bates corporate letterhead and covered
only a fraction of his field training.
Clark has said it was possible that Bates never had that training, because Glanz had authority to
waive it.
In addition to 276 hours of basic training, advanced reserve deputies must complete and
document 480 hours of field training with a supervisor. They must also receive qualifying scores
at the firearms range. Advanced reserves are the only classification of reserve allowed to
perform duties such as arrests alone without direct supervision.
The IA investigation
Years before the fateful day -- despite Glanzs insistence he was unaware of any internal
allegations Bates lacked the necessary training -- then-Undersheriff Brian Edwards was given a
13-page document stating exactly that.
In the document, titled Special Investigation and dated Aug. 12, 2009, Sgt. Rob Lillard stated
he had been assigned by Edwards to investigate if Bates was treated differently than other
Reserve Deputies, and to see if there had been any pressure exerted on any employees by
supervisors to aid Reserve Deputy Bates in this regard.
For 10 days, Lillard researched all the TCSO training files, personnel files and hiring files of the
reserve deputies who had previously been in law enforcement before joining the sheriffs office,
as well as TCSO policies pertaining to the reserve program.
Lillard said in the report that a letter written by Cpl. Warren Crittenden on May 13, 2009, credited
Bates with 328 training hours, though only 72 hours of training were documented. Crittenden
was later fired and then years later arrested and charged with murder in the death of a man at a
Tulsa motel.
Lillard noted that Bates supposedly trained 328 hours between Feb. 5, 2009, and May 13, 2009.
For comparisons sake, another reserve deputy who began training Feb 5, 2008, a full year
before Bates began, had not even trained 200 hours by May 13, 2009.
Here are excerpts from interviews with sheriffs employees included in the IA report:
Bonnie Fiddler
Fiddler said that Undersheriff Tim Albin directed her to create a certificate for Bates driver
training.
Fiddler stated that she made the certificate and did not question the order. Fiddler stated
that she thought Randy Chapman may have been a victim of pressure for enforcing the policies
to Reserve Deputy Bates over Bates not qualifying at the range.

Cpl. Warren Crittenden

Crittenden said he felt pressured to sign off on Bates field training before the training was
complete. He said Albin and Capt. Tom Huckeby told him the training needed to be completed
on a timeline that had not been used for other reserves.
Crittenden was shown two memorandums apparently written by him in reference to Reserve
Deputy Bates. He stated that he did not write either of them, the report states. He was given
them by Captain Huckeby and told to initial them.
One of the memos Huckeby told Crittenden to approve states: As you are aware, Bob Bates is
a former Tulsa Police Officer, he brings to the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office a wealth of
knowledge, and experience in the field of law enforcement. I am confident that his progress is
such that there is no need for him to continue with the remaining amount of FTO time.
When Crittenden later learned that Bates was operating as a normal field-trained deputy,
Huckeby told him: Its your job to keep an eye on him.
Sgt. Eric Kitch
According to the report, Kitch said he had written memos to a file for CALEA, an accrediting
agency, about Bates hiring and training. He said Bates did not complete an entry test or MMPI
(mental evaluation) as stated by policy.
He said Capt. Larry Merchant and then-Chief Albin were Bates supervisors and that Bates had
met the qualifications of the basic and intermediate-level reserves. However when Bates began
operating as an advanced reserve, several other reserve deputies voiced concerns, Kitch said.
Kitch said he told supervisors about his concern that Bates was not properly trained. When the
supervisors failed to respond, he prepared and then sent Bates a suspension letter along with
18 other reserve deputies for failing to meet firearm qualifications (not attending).
Kitch told IA investigators that he doubts the training Bates received because there are no
records or Daily Observation Reports. He was informed by Chief Albin that he (Kitch) and
Sergeant Chapman were no longer to supervise Bates. Chief Albin advised him that Bates
felt intimidated by him and that Chapman harassed him.
Patrol officers began to complain about Bates behavior in the field.
One incident involved Bates attempting to conduct a traffic stop and subsequently getting into
an argument with the dispatcher based upon his inability to communicate with the dispatcher.

Kitch said he pointed out to Albin that Bates has only one year of police experience and this
occurred forty plus years ago.
Albin replied: Sometimes you have to eat shit but you dont have to develop a taste for it.
Capt. Tom Huckeby
Huckebys interview is the only interview conducted by Edwards. Though the report says the
interview was tape recorded, it should be noted that a tape malfunction occurred during the
recording, it states.
Huckeby, who oversaw the Field Training Officer program, had no responsibilities related to the
reserve deputy program. However, he was instructed by Chief Albin to re-write a memorandum
written by Corporal Warren Crittenden about Bates training.
He revised the original memorandums produced by Crittenden and subsequently had
Crittenden initial the new memorandums. That he did not intend to do anything underhanded or
unethical, but merely added the information about Bates that was discussed in a meeting.
The report then states: It should be noted that during this point in the investigation, I was
informed of other acts of intimidation on employees committed by Captain Huckeby while this
investigation was being conducted.
Sgt. Shannon Clark
According to a memo produced by Clark at the request of a superior officer, Huckeby had asked
two deputies to work a part-time security jobs outside the sheriffs office. Both refused, due to
childcare and scheduling issues.
One of the deputies said Huckeby became visibly irritated when she refused to work the parttime job and then a short time later, insisted on seeing her FTO notebook.
In his tape-recorded interview with internal affairs, Clark discusses the fact that Deputy Allen
Landsdown had failed to report or call in for work during a two-week period before a year-long
leave of absence.
When Clarks supervisor advised him to write up a No Call No Show report involving
Landsdown, Huckeby said that would be a chicken shit thing for you to do.
Huckeby told Clark it did not matter anyway because the Sheriff has already approved the
leave.
When Landsdown returned after the leave, according to Chief Michelle Robinette: Huckeby
was sharing an apartment with Landsdown and had promised him his old job back upon return.

Sgt. Randy Chapman

Chapman said that Reserve Deputy Bates became a Reserve deputy without his knowledge.
He is the Reserve coordinator and should have known this.
Chapman said after he explained the programs rules to Bates, he learned that Bates was
driving a personally owned car with police equipment prior to achieving the necessary level to
do so.
When Chapman expressed concerns to Albin, Albin stated to him, This is a shit sandwich and
youll just have to eat it but not aquire a taste for it.
Later Bates did donate the vehicle to the county and subsequently Bates was assigned this
vehicle. That no other reserve Deputy is assigned a vehicle, Chapman said, according to the
report.
Bates wanted to get in the FTO program to achieve the level at which he could stop vehicles
and do patrol functions on his own.
Chapman said he told Bates that he would need 480 hours of documented training from an
actual FTO. Shortly after the conversation, Chapman learned Bates was out stopping vehicles
on his own without completing the program.
When Chapman discussed his concerns about Bates behavior to Albin, the undersheriff told
Chapman to go and speak with Bates about the matter.
Chapman confronted Bates in the parking lot and asked if he was stopping cars, to which Bates
replied: Yes I am in a hateful manner, the report states.
Later, Albin met with Chapman in a conference room and began to cuss about Bates. Albin
stated: Im tired of you fucking with this guy and Im tired of your shit.
Albin then told Chapman not to have any contact or talk with Bates at all, removing him
(Chapman) from supervising all together.
One day later, Chapman saw Bates at the county garage pumping gas into another vehicle.
Chapman and other employees met with Glanz to bring their concerns about Bates to his
attention, the report states. He said about a week later, he was transferred out of supervising
the reserve program into special services.
When asked about the transfer, he was told: Chief Albin does not want you to have any contact
with Bob Bates anymore.

Since all this has happened, he lost a ton of sleep, and his stomach hurt a lot because he
worries about retaliation to him because of Bates relationship with Albin and Huckeby. The rest
of the reserves are upset because of how Bates is with Albin and Huckeby.
He said he talked to another supervisor, Capt. Larry Merchant, about Bates.
Merchant told him there is nothing he can do because Bates has bought Huckeby watches and
takes them fishing and stuff.
Chapman said he had not received any training documents for Bates attendance in the field
training program. When he expressed concerns to Albin, Chapman said he was told that Bates
training officer wrote a letter and thats good enough.
Two deputies told Chapman that Bates field operations were a little scary and Albin and
Huckeby keep telling them that Bates is an ex-TPD officer from 1964.
Chapman relayed a conversation with Crittenden, who said he felt bad about signing the letters
and should not have done so and only did so because he felt pressured by Huckeby to do so.