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_____________________________
In 2007 and 2008,
PJALS co-convened a
series of
community forums on
police accountability and then proposed an ordinance to the
Spokane
City Council to create an Office of Police Ombudsman with the
explicit
authority to conduct independent investigations, as the city’s own
report recommended. In the city’s negotiations with the police
guild,
that authority was removed. Now, in May 2009 PJALS has joined again with other community organizations and individuals who are concerned about police accountability in this community where serious police abuses have been committed with no public oversight, very little internal oversight, and little, if any, recourse for the victims or for the community. On May 29, 2009,
that group held a very well
attended Press Conference
at the City Hall to express our collective concerns that the Ombudsman
program had been so diminished and disempowered as to be toothless. The
Press Conference in protest of the new program drew more attendance
than the City's own presentation of the Ombudsman finalists later that
day (see Protest
outdraws
ombudsman
forum, Spokesman Review May 30, 2009).
Community Groups
call for Independent
Investigative Authority for Police Ombudsman June 10, 2009 Mary Verner, Mayor City of Spokane 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201-3333 cc: City Council members Dear Mayor Verner, We know that public safety is one of your highest priority commitments as a public leader. Toward that same goal, we write as organizations committed to achieving real police accountability for the people of Spokane. For the Police Ombudsman to be credible and effective, he/she must be able to conduct investigations independently of the Spokane Police Department and issue public reports. Otherwise, this position, which has potential to heal, will be a waste of time and public money and will only deepen distrust between citizens, the police, and the city itself. We believe that it is critical to "fix it before you fill it," as many of us said together at a recent press conference. You know the history; in 2007 the Peace and Justice Action League, the ACLU and the League of Women Voters co-convened a series of community forums on police accountability. As a result of these forums PJALS proposed an ordinance to the Spokane City Council to create an Office of Ombudsman with the explicit authority to conduct independent investigations, as the city's own report recommended and as was endorsed by both the Chief of Police and the Mayor's Office. The proposed ordinance used the very successful City of Boise Police Ombudsman office as its model. However, in April 2008, the agreement the city reached with the Spokane Police Guild stripped the Ombudsman office of any independent investigative powers. We continue to call for independent investigative authority in the office of the Police Ombudsman. We believe that this authority is necessary to fix the problem before this position is filled. We have seen statements made by city officials and attributed to you in the media about waiting a year or two to see how the office operates before making changes. This approach not only lacks fiscal responsibility but does nothing to address the continued mistrust by the public of the Spokane Police Department and ultimately, the City of Spokane. You have the opportunity now to make a strong and positive difference by assuring real accountability in the Spokane Police Department. We have seen a very troubling pattern in Spokane: a horrible incident of misconduct or racism, followed by public outrage, followed by reform that lacks meaning. After the recent incidents including the cases of Otto Zehm, Josh Levy, and Shonto Pete among others, we cannot accept less than the real accountability and independent investigations that our community deserves, especially as we approach the window of contract negotiations with the Police Guild. Since the Police Guild contract negotiations will begin this summer, now is the time to fix this position. The City's own report as well as the common sense and common outrage of this community calls for true independence and true authority. The recent police internal investigation clearing its dispatch supervisor, Marvin Tucker, of questionable actions in the Jay Olsen trial of the shooting of Shonto Pete only furthers our belief that independent authority is necessary. The public only views this as another example of police investigating police and clearing themselves of wrongdoing. The public gives this internal process no credibility and sees this as business as usual in Spokane. Just because you didn't see public outrage following that report does not mean people believed it, only that we expected it. The model of independent, publicly reported investigations of police conduct and practice has been successful in Boise and is no less than what our many communities in Spokane deserve. At the very least, we want you to commit now, before filling the position, to using this round of negotiations with the Police Guild to change the scope of the Police Ombudsman position to include those independent and publicly reporting authorities. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you at your convenience to discuss these matters and to hear your plans to improve the office of the Ombudsman. We thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane SHAWL (Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water, Land) Society Inland Northwest Business Alliance Progressive Democrats of America, Spokane Chapter National Alliance on Mental Illness, Spokane chapter NAACP of Spokane Voices for Opportunity, Income, Childcare, Education, and Support (VOICES) M.E.Ch.A. of EWU M.E.Ch.A. of WSU Odyssey Youth Center PROBLEMS AT AN EARLY STAGE: Spokesman-Review, July 16, 2007 by Bill Morlin and Karen Dorn Steele, Staff writers Police oversight stalled by waiting games, Ombudsman in 'holding pattern' Three months after Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession promised to "move forward quickly" to create a full-time civilian ombudsman to oversee police conduct, little has happened and a consultant's report sits on a shelf. There have been no public hearings or discussions of the ombudsman proposal by the City Council or its Public Safety Committee. A 2008 budget line item for a new ombudsman's office hasn't yet been proposed but is under discussion by the mayor's Cabinet. The Spokane Police Guild has refused to take up the proposal until its main contract is ratified later this month. The ombudsman will be discussed for the first time at Monday's Public Safety Committee meeting. And so far, the topic of independent police oversight hasn't been mentioned at public debates involving Hession and the two City Council members, Al French and Mary Verner, who both want to become mayor. All three, though, endorse the concept. With no system for citizens to air their concerns, the local chapter of the NAACP this week asked for a meeting with Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick to discuss the department's use-of-deadly-force policy in light of three officer-involved shootings, two of which involved minorities. In one of those shootings, the officer was off duty. A meeting has been set for next month. Meanwhile, Kirkpatrick is dealing with reaction from the police arrests of 17 self-described anarchists in Riverfront Park on July 4. The chief has defended the actions of the officers, at least eight of whom were working that day on an SPD "tactical team" trained to deal with riots and other disturbances in large crowds. Critics say some of the officers harassed the anarchists before arresting them, violating their civil rights. Some of those protesters and others at a follow-up demonstration on Monday carried signs asking "Who's policing the police?" City Council President Joe Shogan said he hasn't heard any more about an independent ombudsman to oversee police conduct since the mayor's April announcement. "Certainly, with the events over the last year, it's still a concept we're willing to take a look at," said Shogan, who's seeking re-election. "I think the concept's valid." On Friday, Verner said she and Shogan have asked Kirkpatrick for an update on the status of the police oversight issue at Monday's monthly Public Safety Committee meeting. "I'm very eager to put some mechanism in place. I'm trying to be patient until Monday, until we hear back from the chief. After that, I'm going to put something on the agenda so we're not just in a holding pattern and we get some form of oversight," Verner said. At a recent, closed executive session of the City Council, Shogan and other members were told the mayor's ombudsman proposal, backed by Kirkpatrick, has been stalled while city management executives and officers of the Spokane Police Guild negotiate a new contract. The Police Guild members have been working without a contract since Jan. 1, 2006. Now, after two years of negotiations, a tentative contract has been drafted. The Police Guild will submit the proposal to its members for a vote on July 21, Guild President Ernie Wuthrich said Friday. The issue of the ombudsman, he said, "was never on the table for either side." State law requires oversight systems to be negotiated with unions. "The Guild was approached earlier this year about the ombudsman issue, and we advised the city that we would discuss that after the contract was settled," Wuthrich said. Details of the new police contract, including whether it will include retroactive pay, haven't been released. The guild has not endorsed anyone for mayor. Senior city officials say that if the contract is approved, negotiations could begin as early as next month on the ombudsman proposal recommended by Seattle consultant Sam Pailca, the former head of Seattle's police oversight office. The civilian ombudsman would be appointed by the mayor and would work separately from the police department to add "independence, transparency and professional review" and ultimately help build and restore public confidence. The police chief would still retain complete disciplinary control. The Spokane ombudsman proposal would be similar to an eight-year-old ombudsman system in Boise, which was created after a series of officer- involved shootings. Boise ombudsman Pierce Murphy said if a situation like the Riverfront Park anarchists' arrests occurred in his town, the ombudsman's office and not the police chief would be called upon to investigate the actions of police. The ombudsman would be able to assess what occurred in the park and issue public findings as to whether the police acted correctly or overstepped their authority. "Without a doubt I'd launch an investigation immediately," Murphy said. Murphy wouldn't comment when asked if he thought it was appropriate for Kirkpatrick to defend the actions of her officers, even before the investigation of the incident is completed by the city attorney's office. The Riverfront Park incident, as well as the NAACP letter, have caused phones to ring at City Hall. "When you have a situation like this, it doesn't just erode confidence in the police; it erodes confidence in city government as a whole," said French. On Friday, French blasted Hession's handling of the ombudsman issue. "The record with this mayor has been dismal when it comes to public safety issues," French said. The mayoral candidate said the recent Riverfront Park arrests show the need for creation of an ombudsman – a concept he first backed a year ago, before Pailca was hired. French said he has complete confidence in Kirkpatrick but sees a need to take oversight issues to another level to build public confidence, while leaving discipline and firing determinations with the chief. City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she, too, supports the proposal to create a police ombudsman, who could only be fired by a supermajority council vote. "I believe that we are headed down the right path to have some sort of police oversight," she said. "I have no problems with that direction at all." Putting an ombudsman in place "is going to require collective bargaining negotiations because of the change of working conditions," said City Attorney Jim Craven, who has been involved in negotiations with the Police Guild. Craven, appointed by Hession last year, said he's hopeful the mayor's timetable to have an ombudsman office open by early next year can still be met. "It's just going to help everyone to have a good system in place," Craven said. "It's a good concept." ### |
Our Police Accountability Coalition
Includes:
Movimiento
Estudiantil
Chicano
de
Aztlán (MEChA),
EWU chapter The Center
for Justice, Spokane nonprofit law firm Need to Know, Spokane political
discussion group
 Shonto Pete  Trent Yohe
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