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.
- Contact the OIG directly at oig@seattle.gov
- Contact the OPA directly at opa@seattle.gov
- Contact the CPC directly at OCPC@seattle.gov
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.
- Use of Force Core Principles
- Use of Force Definitions
- De-Escalation
- Using Force
- Use of Force –Tools
- Use of Force – Reporting and Investigation
- Reviewing Use of Force
- Crowd Management, Intervention, and Crowd Dispersal
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.
- Use of Force Core Principles Policy 8.000 Survey
- Use of Force Definitions Policy 8.050 Survey
- De-Escalation Policy 8.100 Survey
- Using Force Policy 8.200 Survey
- Use of Force – Tools Policy 8.300 Survey
- Use of Force – Reporting and Investigation Policy 8.400 Survey
- Reviewing Use of Force Policy 8.500 Survey
- Crowd Management, Intervention, and Crowd Dispersal Policy 14.090 Survey
Citizen feedback is open through January 8, 2021.