BY AMY RADIL
Interim Police Chief Harry
Bailey's recent discipline reversals are coming under scrutiny from the police
auditor and Seattle City Council.
Seattle officials plan to seek
changes to the obscure union appeals process that has allowed reversals of
police misconduct findings.
The Seattle Police Department
has been under scrutiny in recent years from the Department of Justice, the
federal court and numerous civilian-led groups, all of which have analyzed
SPD’s disciplinary process.
But it took a confrontation
between Seattle journalist Dominic Holden and SPD Officer John Marion to put
the spotlight on the ability of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild (SPOG) to
appeal disciplinary findings after the cases are technically closed.
Appeals Puzzle
The appeals process came under
new scrutiny when Interim Police Chief Harry Bailey notified city officials
that he was reversing the findings in Marion’s case and several others, as a
result of settlements with the union. Bailey ended up reinstating the
misconduct finding for Marion, but the disclosure left city officials with many
more questions.
City Councilmember Nick Licata
has worked to improve the transparency of SPD’s process for investigating
police misconduct. But he said this incident revealed what he called a
“twilight zone” within that process.
“The thing that surprised me
the most was how few people understood what was happening,” Licata said. “I had
to sit down with some of the mayor’s staff and explain step by step what I was
discovering and they were themselves discovering it for the first time. It
really was in some ways like a puzzle.”
At a recent City Council
meeting, outgoing SPOG President Rich O’Neill said the City Council and others
outside SPD had no right to interfere with Chief Bailey’s determinations.
O’Neill also said the original case between Holden and Officer Marion should
have been sent to mediation “so the officer and the complainant could sit down
like adults and explain their positions instead of grandstanding in the media.”
Looking For Other Cases
This appeals process can add
several months to a misconduct case. The auditor for SPD’s Office of
Professional Accountability, Anne Levinson, has urged SPD to resolve cases more
quickly. The fact that these appeals drag on for months “undermines
accountability,” she said in her most recent report.
She also said these reversals
based on union appeals could corrode public trust. She’s seeking the data on
how many other cases were reversed in the last few years. SPD has requested an
extension until March 17 to supply it.
Licata said this data could
form the basis for new legislation and upcoming contract negotiations. “We need
to take a look at the current legislation and amend it – because it’s already
part of the code – to make it much more transparent so we know when they are
negotiating away the misconduct findings. And we preferably need to tighten up
the appeal process,” he said.
Hamper The Search For Chief?
The search for Seattle’s next
chief of police is officially underway. The job was posted Thursday and the
deadline for applications is April 4.
O’Neill said the appeals system
review could impede the hiring process. “I fear that the events of the last few
days will hamper our search for a permanent chief of police. Who in their right
mind will want to apply for the job if they have to check with eight different
people and check the political winds before making a decision on an
administrative issue?”
