U.S. District Court Thomas Zilly handed down two rulings today in the “Hunters Capital” lawsuit filed by a collection of Capitol Hill business owners and residents in response to the city’s handling of the CHOP in the summer of 2020. The city had filed a motion for summary judgment to …
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New lawsuit claiming city’s graffiti ordinance is unconstitutional
A new lawsuit has been filed against the City of Seattle claiming that the city’s graffiti ordinance is unconstitutional, and that SPD selectively enforces it against people writing anti-police messages. I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support …
Continue readingSPD Chief Adrian Diaz Appointment Packet
Mayor Harrell has nominated Interim SPD Chief Adrian Diaz as permanent Chief of Police, contingent upon confirmation by the Seattle City Council. Here is the appointment packet that the Mayor’s Office submitted for Diaz. And here is Diaz’s answers to questions submitted by Councilmembers. The Council will hold a hearing …
Continue readingWashington State Fines and Fees
The National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law School has published a “fines and fees justice index” for each of the fifty states assessing the fairness and appropriateness of the fines and fees imposed by the criminal justice system. In the past I’ve written about the disparate impact …
Continue readingSPD Q3 Accountability Report
This evening the City of Seattle submitted to the U.S. District Court its third-quarter 2022 accountability report. I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. Thanks!
Continue readingAnnual Public Safety Survey is open
The City of Seattle’s annual Public Safety Survey, administered by Seattle University, is open. You can fill out the survey here.
Continue readingCity Council/Mayor’s Office “Term sheet” on developing alternative 911 response
The offices of the Seattle City Council and Mayor Harrell have quietly signed a “term sheet” laying out a cooperative effort to develop “an action plan and timeline for implementing the City’s Alternative 911 Response.” The term sheet involves four main deliverables: 1) An executive-drafted policy document outlining the framework …
Continue readingOffice of Inspector General “Wave 3” sentinel event report on SPD response to 2020 protests
Today the Office of the Inspector General for Public Safety released its “Wave 3” sentinel event report on the Seattle Police Department’s response to protests in the summer of 2020. Wave 3 includes SPD’s abandonment of the East Precinct building, its response (or lack thereof) to 911 calls in the …
Continue readingSPD’s Risk Managed Demand Framework for alternative responses
Last November I wrote about the the NICJR report, which argued that 49% of the 911 calls going to SPD could be handled by an alternative response. The problem with the NICJR report was that it was after-the-fact analysis; it didn’t look at whether 911 dispatchers, given the information available …
Continue readingMotion for sanctions in CHOP businesses/residents lawsuit
The plaintiff businesses and residents who are suing the city over the CHOP have filed a motion for sanctions against the city related to the deletion of text messages from Mayor Durkan, SPD Chief Best, SFD Chief Scoggins, and other key city officials. They are asking the judge to acknowledge …
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