Durkan 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.

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Durkan returns City Council’s ban on less-lethal weapons unsigned, with a litany of critiques

(story updated below) On August 27th, with the City Council in recess, Mayor Durkan quietly returned unsigned the Council’s ordinance restricting SPD’s use of so-called “less lethal weapons,” allowing it to pass into law unchallenged at least for the moment. But she did take the opportunity to attach a scathing letter detailing a litany of complaints about the legislation, calling it “of doubtful legality,” and claiming that the Council knows that “significant parts of the bill will never go into effect” because of its flaws.

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The Black Brilliance Research Project beginning to end, part 4

This is the final part of a four-part series looking at the Black Brilliance Project from beginning to end and attempting to shine a light on what was going on behind the scenes, where things went wrong, and how the money was ultimately spent. Part 1: the money and the contract Part 2: the research and the break-up Part 3: following the money Part 4: accountability and other parting thoughts Also, here is a page with a compilation of the key documents and records from the Black Brilliance Project.

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The Black Brilliance Research Project beginning to end, part 3

This is part three of a four-part series looking at the Black Brilliance Project from beginning to end and attempting to shine a light on what was going on behind the scenes, where things went wrong, and how the money was ultimately spent. Part 1: the money and the contract Part 2: the research and the break-up Part 3: following the money Part 4: accountability and other parting thoughts Also, here is a page with a compilation of the key documents and records from the Black Brilliance Project.

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The Black Brilliance Research Project beginning to end, part 2

This is part two of a four-part series looking at the Black Brilliance Project from beginning to end and attempting to shine a light on what was going on behind the scenes, where things went wrong, and how the money was ultimately spent. Part 1: the money and the contract Part 2: the research and the break-up Part 3: following the money Part 4: accountability and other parting thoughts Also, here is a page with a compilation of the key documents and records from the Black Brilliance Project.

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The Black Brilliance Research Project beginning to end, part 1

On June 15th, the final financial statement on the $3 million Black Brilliance Research Project was filed with the city, closing out the books on a tumultuous, nearly-year-long effort to gain insights into community safety in Seattle’s BIPOC communities. SCC Insight has gathered those financial records, along with other source documents, an ocean of public records, and interviews with key figures to create this four-part series looking at the Black Brilliance Project from beginning to end and attempting to shine a light on what was going on behind the scenes, where things went both right and wrong, and how the …

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State Supreme Court clarifies rules for King County inquests, allows pending inquests to move forward

This morning the Washington State Supreme court issued a powerful 49-page unanimous ruling resolving a fierce, multi-year, multi-party battle over how inquests should be conducted in King County. The ruling upholds portions of the changes that King County Executive Dow Constantine enacted through a series of executive orders, but wipes out other parts.

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