After 17 months, Spokane citizens finally get to weigh in at City Hall on the issue of independent police oversight.
At its Monday, September 22, 2008, meeting the Spokane City Council will be inviting public comments on the proposed ordinance to establish the Office of Police Ombudsman (OPO) in Spokane.
“After more than a year, every day people in Spokane have the chance to tell the City Council what they want in police oversight,” says Center for Justice Chief Catalyst Breean Beggs.
Beggs and the Center’s staff will be hosting a citizen briefing session from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Community Building lobby, 35 W. Main Avenue, to answer questions about the proposed ordinance and offer advice on how to provide effective testimony.
“We’ll try to explain why ordinances that provide ‘Independent Oversight’ can achieve better police practices, prevent deaths and litigation, and repair the sometimes troubled relationships between officers and the citizens they serve,” Beggs said. “We’ll also try to demystify the current labor contract between the City and the police union and provide practical advice to those who think the current ‘Monitoring Only’ proposal is insufficient, and want to create the power of truly independent oversight.”
A key question before the City Council is whether the OPO will have authority to conduct meaningful independent investigations of citizen complaints. This is the central issue that emerged in April 2007 when consultant Sam Pailca, the former director of Seattle’s Office of Professional Accountability, recommended that Spokane establish a robustly independent ombudsman who would, among other things, have the discretion to conduct its own investigations, when necessary.
The City reached a tentative agreement with the Police Guild in April that eliminates any outside involvement in police discipline. The agreement is binding, but it deals primarily with ensuring that the OPO will not be making recommendations or decisions regarding officer discipline. Moreover, the current draft of the proposed ordinance leaves out explicit authorization for the OPO to engage in independent investigations for non-disciplinary purposes.
“If the City Council adds independent investigation language into the ordinance,” says Beggs, “it will significantly improve the measure and allow us an opportunity to begin to repair the relationship between Spokane and its police officers.”
Proposed amendments to the current draft proposal specifically ensure that any information obtained by the OPO for the purpose of making policy changes CANNOT be used against any officer in an administrative disciplinary process and are for the sole purpose of making recommendations for policy, training, protocols and procedures.
