CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION relating to police accountability; instructing the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety and Community Police Commission to review and recommend changes to Seattle laws, policies, and practices within the scope of their expertise.
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WHEREAS, The City of Seattle has been on a long road to cultural reform within the Seattle Police Department (SPD); and
WHEREAS, comprehensive and constitutional police reform is an ongoing and iterative process; and
WHEREAS, a strategic and achievable plan must be laid out for ongoing input and improvement to the accountability system; and
WHEREAS, an essential element of a strong oversight system is a disciplinary system that builds on lessons learned from other jurisdictions and best practices; and
WHEREAS, there is a need for the community to effectively influence and provide perspective to a range of policing matters of significance to the public beyond what is traditionally thought of as a police accountability system; and
WHEREAS, although The City of Seattle's proposed accountability system with a civilian-led misconduct investigations unit, an independent police inspector general, and a strong community-based oversight commission, has many strengths other models of oversight do not, and addresses systemic weaknesses with which other systems have struggled; and
WHEREAS, The City of Seattle has an opportunity to take the lessons it has learned from other jurisdictions and from its own history to establish a community-focused oversight system that can serve as a model for other jurisdictions, but can also benefit from a review of best practices and examining aspects of police reform that have shown promise or success in other jurisdictions;
WHEREAS, the City Council on February 1, 2017 began consideration of police accountability legislation; and
WHEREAS, the Council also wishes to implement other specific timebound provisions to continue to support an...
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