Today the City Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee polished off a draft of a revised ordinance placing restrictions on SPD’s use of so-called “less lethal” weapons for crowd control, and sent it off to the Department of Justice and the court-appointed police monitor for comments. In so doing, the Council is signaling that it still feels the need to legislate in this domain while it also recognizes that the terms of the 2012 Consent Decree constrain its ability to do so.
Continue readingTag: crowd control
SPD quietly circulating proposed changes to use-of-force and crowd-control policies
Earlier this month, the Seattle Police Department started circulating for review a set of proposed changes to its policies for officers’ use of force and crowd control. It sent the drafts to the city’s three police accountability organizations — the CPC, OPA, and OIG — as well as to the Department of Justice and the court-appointed police monitor, asking for feedback by January 8th. But miscommunications between SPD and the CPC over the feedback process have thrown a wrench into the works and are raising the tensions in a perpetually strained relationship.
Continue readingTemporary restraining order on crowd-control weapons extended to September 30 by mutual agreement
Today, by mutual agreement of the attorneys representing Black Lives Matter and the City of Seattle, the temporary restraining order issued by Judge Richard Jones last Friday was converted into a preliminary injunction that will be in place until September 30th.
Continue readingTrio of police-related bills up for vote on Monday
On Monday three bills introduced last week that put restrictions on the Seattle police Department come up for adoption by the City Council.
Continue readingBlack Lives Matter, ACLU sue city over police tactics at protests
Today Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County filed a lawsuit on behalf of itself, several individual protesters, and one journalist, over the Seattle Police Department’s use of force during the protests over the past week and a half. (UPDATE at end of article)
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