2018 was a brutal year for the Seattle Police Department’s HR department: 109 officers left the force, but only 68 were hired. This led last year to a task force focused on improving hiring and retention, which mid-year issued a report with twelve recommendations that the Mayor adopted. The Mayor and the Council funded much of those recommendations in the 2020 budget, and this morning Mayor Durkan called a press conference, along with Council member Lisa Herbold and SPD Chief Carmen Best, to reveal the final hiring and retention numbers for 2019, the results for January 2020, and a new …
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Catching up on the Consent Decree proceedings
A few things happened this past week related to the city’s Consent Decree over biased policing.
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.
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Mayor’s Office rolls out initiative to address SPD hiring and retention in 2020
This afternoon, Mayor Durkan unveiled the first in a series of initiatives in her 2020 budget: a $1.7 million, twelve-point plan to address the Seattle Police Department’s issues with hiring and retention.
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 readingJudge vacates arbitrator’s ruling in Adley Shepherd case (UPDATED)
In a case that has taken on broad significance for police accountability in Seattle, this afternoon King County Superior Court John McHale vacated an arbitrator’s decision last year to overturn the termination of SPD Officer Adley Shepherd for punching a handcuffed suspect in the face while she was in the back seat of a patrol car.
Continue readingCity submits plan to evaluate police accountability, DOJ on board
This evening the City of Seattle submitted its proposed methodology for evaluating the city’s police accountability system, as required by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart who oversees the SPD consent decree.
Continue readingArbitration
As a footnote to my earlier post on Mayor Durkan’s proposed plan to get the consent decree back on track, there has been one particular troublesome issue that has generated more heat than light: whether police officers should be able to appeal disciplinary actions to arbitration. The CPC had a few thoughts on that in their letter yesterday.
Continue readingHere’s what the SPD disciplinary process looks like as a “subway map”
At her press conference yesterday, Council member Lorena Gonzalez showed a”subway map” diagram of the complex disciplinary process for SPD oficers and supervisors as defined under state law, local law, and its contracts with the two unions representing officers and supervisors. Here are the diagrams — both high-level and drill-downs. Kudos to the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety for taking the time to make and publish them. Overview Full set of maps Of particular interest are the grievance and arbitration processes, which are one of the reasons that Judge Robart recently found the city out of compliance with …
Continue readingSPD preparing to reintroduce Community Service Officer program
This morning Seattle Police Department Assistant Chief Adrian Diaz briefed the City Council on the plans to reintroduce the Community Service Officer program after a 15-year hiatus.
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