Among the unresolved messes that Mayor Durkan will be leaving for Mayor-elect Harrell this week is the City Council’s ordinance restricting SPD’s use of certain “less lethal” weapons for crowd control, which SPD has yet to implement.
Continue readingCategory: police
Court-appointed police monitor files status report
This morning Dr. Antonio Oftelie, the court-appointed police monitor for the 2012 Consent Decree, filed a status report informing Judge James Robart of what has been happening in 2021 and previewing actions expected next year. Oftelie provided an update on contract negotiations with the two unions representing SPD officers and supervisors, and provided some details on how he is assembling his much-anticipated assessment of SPD’s compliance with the consent decree.
Continue readingNo, the City Council didn’t vote today on whether to cut 101 police officers.
If you heard or read something earlier today about the Seattle City Council taking a vote on whether to cut 101 police officers from SPD, I want you to forget what you think you know, take a deep breath, and start again. Because what you heard or read is almost certainly wrong.
Continue readingAs budget process draws to conclusion, fight over SPD budget becomes open (memo) warfare
Call it the “War of the Memos.” Rather than actually get in a room and talk, the stakeholders in the debate over SPD’s 2022 budget have spent the last two weeks firing off terse (and often tense) memos at each other. But an editorial in the Seattle Times last Friday has pushed the argument out into the open and exposed the rationalizations and PR spin reinforcing entrenched positions.
Continue readingUnderstanding the NICJR report
Given the frequency in which the NICJR report is cited in City Hall and Seattle political circles, you would be forgiven if you thought that copies of it were flying off the shelf. But reading the report (affectionately referred to as “Nick Junior”) is like teenage sex: a lot of people are talking about it, but almost no one is doing it. And yet it has taken a central role in the debate over the nature and pace of changes to 911 response in our city, so it’s worth knowing what it says — and how skeptical we should be …
Continue readingNinth Circuit Court reverses lower court, allows Sawant defamation case to move forward
Twice now U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has tried to dismiss a defamation case filed against Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and twice the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has said no. Twice now the plaintiffs have tried to have the case reassigned to a different judge, and twice the Ninth Circuit has said no.
Continue readingSawant introduces resolution to reject Mayor’s executive order on SPD hiring bonuses
On tomorrow’s City Council Introduction and Referral Calendar is a resolution sponsored by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, which modifies Mayor Durkan’s executive order authorizing hiring bonuses for SPD officers and 911 dispatchers. The resolution guts the authorization for SPD officers, while leaving intact hiring bonuses for 911 dispatchers.
Continue readingDurkan issues emergency order authorizing PD hiring bonuses, provoking confrontation with Council
Late Friday afternoon, Mayor Durkan issued an emergency order authorizing both SPD and the new Community Safety and Communications Center to create hiring incentive programs that include hiring bonuses of up to $25,000, despite the City Council’s unwillingness to consider reinstating hiring bonuses this past July and signs that it is likely to strip out the $1.09 million Durkan has proposed for SPD hiring bonuses in the 2022 SPD budget.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Mayor’s Proposed Budget: SPD
In the last installment of this series on the Mayor’s proposed budget, we present a deep dive on the Seattle Police Department’s budget: a large, complex and controversial topic.
Continue readingOPA weighs in on decision to evacuate East Precinct
This afternoon the Office of Professional Accountability released its findings on SPD’s decision to evacuate the East Precinct last June. It provides a detailed account of the meetings and decisions leading up to the evacuation, and confirmation (mostly) of KUOW’s reporting on who ultimately made the decision.
Continue reading