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 readingTag: police accountability
SPD Chief Diaz demotes assistant chief for role in protests, “pink umbrella” incident (updated)
Two weeks ago, SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz announced that he was overruling a disciplinary recommendation by the Office of Police Accountability for a supervisor who had a central role in the “pink umbrella” incident during last summer’s protests. Diaz came under fire for asserting that he would not punish the supervisor for decisions that were made above him, while not providing any more details as to what those higher-up decisions were nor holding anyone else accountable. At the time, a spokesperson for SPD said that further actions would be forthcoming. Today, Diaz announced that he has demoted one of …
Continue readingSPD Chief Diaz overturns OPA’s findings of violations in last summer’s “pink umbrella” protest incident
In a surprise announcement yesterday, SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz announced that he has overturned a finding by the Office of Police Accountability that a police supervisor violated department policies last June when he ordered a crowd of protesters to be dispersed with blast balls, pepper spray, and tear gas.
Continue readingDurkan, Herbold announce bill to strengthen subpoena power of OPA and OIG
This morning Mayor Durkan and Councilmember Herbold announced a bill that would revise the subpoena powers that the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) and Office of the Inspector General for Public Safety (OIG) wield under the 2017 police accountability legislation.
Continue readingOPA releases its second batch of SPD officer misconduct reports stemming from protests
This morning the Office of Police Accountability released its second batch of closed cases from investigations into alleged SPD officer misconduct during the pat summer’s protests, just over a month after its first round was released. This batch contains five additional cases, two of which resulted in OPA sustaining charges of misconduct.
Continue readingCouncil discusses crowd-control weapons with CPC, OPA, OIG
Friday morning the City Council’s public safety committee met with leaders of the city’s three police-accountability organizations to discuss their recommendations on SPD’s use of crowd-control weapons, in a follow-up to their written reports from three weeks ago.
Continue readingMayor, SPD Chief, SFD Chief meet with protesters, hold press conference on protests
This afternoon Mayor Durkan, SPD Chief Best, and SFD Chief Skoggins were scheduled to hold a press conference at 4:15 to discuss the ongoing demonstrations in response to last week’s police killing of George Floyd. However, that play went awry when thousands of protesters showed up at the location at 4pm and demanded to speak with the Mayor. After consulting in private with the organizers of the march, Durkan, Best and Skoggins went outside and addressed the crowd. Q13 has video of the event. Durkan promised the demonstrators that she would meet with their representatives, as well as with the …
Continue readingCity submits assessment of police accountability system
Friday afternoon, the City of Seattle submitted to the court its consultant assessment of the police department’s accountability system. The consultant found “not the need for wholesale change but for additional fine-tuning and refinement.” The issues it raises echo those voiced by the city’s Community Police Commission, with disagreement on only a few of the major points.
Continue readingRobart green-lights city’s plan to assess police accountability system (UPDATED)
This afternoon, Judge James Robart issued an order authorizing the City of Seattle to proceed with its proposal to assess its police accountability system and formulate a methodology to achieve compliance under the 2012 Consent Decree.
Continue readingCPC responds to city filing on police accountability
This morning the Community Police Commission filed its own brief with the U.S. District Court, in response to last Thursday’s submission of the city’s proposal to evaluate its police accountability system and come back into compliance with the Consent Decree.
Continue reading