SEATTLE (AP) - A federal judge has ruled the city of Seattle may consult outside experts to study ways to fix flaws in the Seattle Police Department’s internal investigations of officers accused of misconduct.
But The Seattle Times reports that U.S. District Judge James Robart, who is presiding over a 2012 consent decree requiring the city to address allegations of excessive force and biased policing, warned the city against using the results to justify its current accountability system.
If that occurs, “then the exercise will be a failure, reform will be delayed, and full and effective compliance with the Consent Decree will recede further into the future,” Robart wrote in a nine-page order.
Robart’s ruling made clear the city must correct deficiencies in the accountability system that prompted him to rule in May that the police department had fallen partially out of compliance with the consent decree.
In that ruling, the judge cited provisions of the city’s contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) that allowed an outside arbitrator to overturn the firing of an officer who had punched a handcuffed woman. The arbitrator’s ruling, challenged by the city, was later overturned by a King County judge.
Robart also cited artificial deadlines to complete internal investigations, a lack of subpoena power to obtain information about officers, and proof requirements in appeals of discipline.
Mayor Jenny Durkan’s proposed answer included hiring the experts to look at police-accountability practices in 20 other cities. City officials called it a “full, data-driven examination” that would help the police department achieve a more effective system for accountability.
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