Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Upcoming Events and Activities

(1)   Next Steps group

We have formed a new group called “Next Steps” that will meet in the south-end.
We hope to have a circle of people that will focus on monitoring the current 940 implementation
and work together towards new legislation needed to accomplish truly independent investigations
of police use of force.
We are looking for your diverse wisdom to move this group onto the Next Steps!!!


What: First meeting of Next Steps
When: Thursday, Feb 6th 7pm-9pm
Organizers:  Fred and Annalesa Thomas
17850 Military Rd S
SeaTac, WA 98188

(2)  De-escalate WA legislation and legal follow up

There are lots of activities starting up in this next phase of the process, as the new regulations begin to be implemented on the ground.  Examples include:

                Legislation to require data collection

                Strategies for ensuring that the 39 prosecutors across the state begin to act on the new authority and responsibility that I-940 gives them to prosecute officers whose use of deadly force does not meet the new good-faith standard.

                 Applying for the new community representative positions on the regional “Independent Investigative Teams” that will investigate all cases in which police use deadly force.


Contact:  The Facebook page for De-escalate is a good place to start
https://www.facebook.com/deescalatewashington/


(3)  Seattle SPOG Contract

This contract is being re-negotiated now because it was found to be out of compliance with the Consent Decree. There are several upcoming meetings, with opportunity for public comment, and we will be organizing a reading group to prepare and educate ourselves.

Contact:  Next Steps email



(4)  King County Office of Law Enforcement (OLEO)
This is another opportunity to get involved locally, learn about the operation of the King County Sherrif’s office, and support the office that provides civilian oversight. There are several upcoming presentations to King County Council where public attendance and comment are needed. Having strong turnout will demonstrate to the Sheriff's Office and King County Council that the public is paying attention and wants accountability. It will also demonstrate to the impacted families that they have support. Meetings of the King County Council's Law & Justice Committee will be chaired by brand new Councilmember Girmay Zahilay. These presentations will be among the first meetings he presides over in his new role.

February 11, 2020 at 9:30 AM at King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave Seattle 10th Floor
OLEO will present report to Law & Justice Committee on
review of the January 2017 Mi’Chance Dunlap-Gittens shooting 




February 25, 2020 at 9:30 AM at King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave Seattle 10th Floor
     OLEO will present report to Law & Justice Committee on
KCSO’s revised policies for reviewing shootings and other critical incidents (see Chapter 6 of linked General Orders Manual).

These are the review processes for administrative investigations, not criminal/I940.

Administrative investigations are important because they determine violations of policy, training, whether the officer will be disciplined or fired, etc.

Problems with the new policy include that they will not interview involved officers after incidents (written statement within 48 hours instead); in reviewing the case they ask very limited questions about whether force was justified; and inadequate access for oversight.

Contact:  Next Steps email

(5)  Charleena Lyles’ inquest
         Charleena’s case is one of the first to go through the new revised King County inquest process. There will be a set of pre-inquest hearings to determine procedures and evidence that will be allowed before the actual inquest happens. As with all of these legal processes, it is very important that we show up to shed some sunlight on the process, and to support the family.

         February 14, 2020 at King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave Seattle, 9am 

         Next pre-inquest hearing. We will update when the room is announced. The last pre-inquest
         hearing was held in Room E-854, but that could change for this time.
Contact:  Next Steps email

These are just some examples of local and state police accountability efforts –
please contact us if you know of other important activities and opportunities to get involved.

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