A state commission has suspended a Federal Way police officer’s certification for one year and may suspend or revoke the certification of a former Port of Seattle police officer after the men — both former instructors at the state’s police training academy — were accused of sexually harassing female recruits at the Burien facility.
The commission’s decision in December to suspend Richard Klein’s certification and issue a formal statement of charges against Leland Allen arrived more than two years after multiple women reported and sued the men, accusing them of sexually harassing and touching them while they attended mandatory training in 2022.
Klein’s suspension on Dec. 17 brought to an end his accusers’ yearslong effort to hold the former teacher and his employers accountable. He, the city of Federal Way and the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission agreed to pay former cadet Kaitlyn Ricksecker a combined $500,000 in May to settle her 2024 lawsuit. Klein must also complete a two-year probationary period and 64 hours of remedial training or face his certification being revoked, records show.
For Allen, who resigned from the Port of Seattle Police Department in 2023 in lieu of termination, his legal battle and police certification still hang in the balance.
The commission issued the administrative charges against Allen on Dec. 1. The charges, which are not criminal, initiate a process that could result in his certification being suspended or revoked.
Meanwhile, attorneys representing former recruits Haydyn Wagner and Aimee Allen appealed a King County Superior Court judge’s decision to dismiss their case in May. The plaintiffs' attorneys are set to deliver their first brief next week.
Mo Hamoudi, a Stritmatter Law attorney representing the three women, said he supported the commission’s decisions to suspend Klein and charge Allen. But state police leaders must do more to address the underlying “challenge with police culture” that encourages well-intentioned people to ignore misconduct, even at their peers' expense, he said.
“We need a diverse police force, and the only way we can do that is to make sure anybody that wants to step up and put their life on the line feels 1,000% supported,” Hamoudi said by phone Monday. Changing the culture requires “convincing a bunch of guys, ’This ain’t a locker room, dude, and you’re going to be suspended if you do this.’”
Klein’s attorney declined an interview by phone Monday. Allen’s attorneys did not respond to inquiries.
The Federal Way Police Department opened an internal investigation in January 2023 into the allegations against Klein. The department counseled him about using appropriate language but did not otherwise discipline him.
According to a report filed last month by a panel overseeing Klein’s certification hearings, the internal investigation was “wholly inadequate” and indicative of a culture that could explain why Klein felt he would face no repercussions. The police commission itself also shared responsibility for creating an atmosphere Klein “was allowed to operate,” according to the report.
David Quinlan, a commission spokesperson, said the agency has been updating its policy for certifying instructors, including clearly defining training requirements and “oversight expectations.”
“When allegations were raised, WSCJTC took them seriously,” Quinlan said Monday. “These cases were not ignored.”
The commission started investigating Leland Allen in February 2023, about one year after Wagner and Aimee Allen graduated from the training academy. The women said they endured months of sexual harassment by Allen, including him slipping his hands inside the tears of Wagner’s jeans and touching Aimee Allen’s buttocks “in a scooping matter,” according to a copy of their complaint.
The Port of Seattle Police Department, which hired Leland Allen in 2018, opened an investigation into the allegations made against him. He denied any sexual context to his behavior and said his actions had been misinterpreted.
But in March 2023, he resigned in lieu of termination after the investigation showed he had engaged in misconduct, according to a copy of his separation notice signed by police Chief Michael Villa.
The state commission also employed Klein as a guest instructor between August and November 2022. The agency started investigating him in January 2023 over his behavior during a mock training scenario two months earlier, according to the panel's report.
In front of other recruits, Klein repeatedly demonstrated a search method on Ricksecker he claimed to have used as a police officer in Las Vegas, using a demeaning slang term for prostitutes. Klein ran a flashlight over and underneath her breasts and buttocks, moving the flashlight up and down to jiggle" her body, according to the panel’s report. He also used the flashlight to lift up her shirt and expose her bare stomach.
The search method is not one taught in Washington, where officers are trained to use the backs of their hands, use formal, polite language and narrate what they are doing as they perform searches, the panel wrote.
Klein started serving his one-year suspension last month, after the commission notified Federal Way officials of its decision, according to the city's statement provided by Ben Miller, a spokesperson for the Federal Way mayor's office.
Klein was reassigned to the Police Department’s administrative department and “stripped of all police powers” but will be eligible to resume police work once his suspension ends in December and he completes other requirements.
The city still fully supports” Klein and considers him an “asset” to the Police Department, according to the statement.
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