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It’s not exactly the overhaul that the NAACP
has been calling for in the city’s police oversight
system, but City Council President Nick Licata says
legislation he introduced Sept. 18 is at least a start.
The bill, which Licata announced at a press conference
last week with Councilmember David Della, would require
the chief of police to file a written report with the
council any time he lets an officer slide on the punishment
recommended by the director of the Office of Professional
Accountability (OPA), the police unit that takes complaints
of misconduct
The legislation, which is also backed by Councilmember
Richard McIver, would also create a separate OPA line
item in the city budget to ensure that all funds allocated
for the OPA are spent — a measure to keep the
chief from dawdling. After authorizing funds for an
additional complaint investigator last year, Licata
said, the council had to intervene to get the chief
to make the hire
The bill is aimed at raising police accountability
— something the NAACP has been demanding in the
wake of controversial arrests of African-Americans who
say the police roughed them up. A task force appointed
by the mayor is currently looking into police oversight
practices, but, until it makes recommendations later
this year, Licata said, the bill is one small step.
“It’s modest, it’s needed, it’s
not controversial, and it’s all about transparency,”
OPA Review Board member Peter Holmes said at the press
conference.
Harry Gilchrest, who says the police assaulted him
twice in front of his West Seattle home [“Getting
the Story Straight,” July 13, 2005], agrees. If
the chief puts his decisions in writing, Gilchrest says,
“then you have a track record, something to follow
what he based his decision on instead of something that
was being said.
Local NAACP chief James Bible says many other problems
need to be solved, however, such as improving the appeal
process for complainants and punishing officers who
lie. “We only think of this as a first step,”
Bible says. “There’s so much more that needs
to occur.”
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