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Seattle Police seeks feedback on draft policy updates as part of the Consent Decree

The Seattle Police Department has been operating under a federal Consent Decree since 2012.

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In 2011, the Department of Justice opened up an investigation in the Seattle Police Department after community leaders accused area police of excessive force and racial bias. A decade ago, critical incidents, including the police-involved death of John T. Williams, a well known indigenous woodcarver, created growing outrage and questions about SPD’s behavior. In 2012 a “consent decree” was issued. The Department of Justice concluded the Seatle Police Department had a pattern of using excessive force and applying racial bias. A component of the consent decree requires public comment on the “use of force” policy by the Seattle Police Department.

The department is required to, and has provided ideas on policy revisions to the Office of Police Accountability, the Seattle Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Community Police Commission (CPC), the Department of Justice (DoJ), and the Monitoring Team. The Seattle Police Department has opened up the suggested policy changes, currently in draft form, for public comment. The SPD Police Blotter from December 16 states, “SPD further understands that there may be very divided opinions within the community. As it has pledged to the CPC, SPD pledges to the community at large to be open and transparent with respect to questions raised.”

Seattle Police indicated that there were multiple ways to provide feedback on the draft Use of Force documents.

For citizens to provide feedback using the surveys SPD created, it is required to open each Use of Force document, scroll to the bottom and click on the survey link. We have provided direct links to the drafts to make access easier.

Citizens are highly encouraged to read the documents before completing the surveys. To make that process easier, we are posting links to the Survey Monkey requests.

Citizen feedback is open through January 8, 2021.

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