Building Effective Oversight in a New Era
Over the past 18 months, OLEO has “rebooted” with new staff who have developed strong oversight practices and an expanded outreach presence. OLEO Director Deborah Jacobs presented to the King County Council’s Law and Justice Committee on the 2016 Annual Report. Please view her testimony here beginning at the 00:54:00 mark.
OLEO Director Deborah Jacobs presenting at the Law & Justice Committee regarding the 2016 Annual Report.
OLEO
has emerged as a vocal advocate for transformative change, and has testified
before the County Council in support of funding for hands-on de-escalation
training for deputies. OLEO also sponsored training for Sheriff’s Office
personnel on eyewitness and victim interviewing skills, attended by nearly 50
people. We will continue to advocate for deputies to receive the tools
they need to succeed in safely serving the public.
In October, OLEO attended the Sheriffs’
Office’s 3-day, in-person, in-service training.
Certification
of Internal Investigations
The Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Investigations Unit
(IIU) investigates allegations of misconduct made against employees. As part of
OLEO’s duties, its staff conducts “certification reviews” of administrative
investigations to determine
whether the investigation was thorough, complete, accurate, timely, objective
and in compliance with procedures (“thorough and objective”). The purpose of
OLEO’s certification review is to provide an additional level of accountability
to help ensure the quality and fairness of IIU investigations. OLEO conducts
its work with an eye toward ensuring that investigations will withstand
scrutiny by the public and through the grievance process.
For 2016, OLEO reviewed nearly 200 IIU
investigations, 50 of which required requests for more investigation or other follow-up
questions for IIU. By the close of the year, three IIU investigations were not
certified as “thorough and objective” by OLEO.
Systemic
Reviews
In 2017, OLEO has made a number of
policy recommendations to the Sheriff’s Office to improve their systems,
trainings and practices, including:
- Compliance with state law regarding persons in
behavioral crisis
- Federal immigration (ICE) officials
- Frisks vs. searches of the opposite sex
- Investigations of sexual assault by patrol
- “Care under fire” policy
- Appropriate use of a spit hood (a restraint device
designed to prevent the wearer from spitting or biting)
- False alarm reduction program
You can find OLEO reports on its
recommendations, and whether the Sheriff’s Office adopted them, here.
Communications
and Outreach
In 2017, OLEO re-launched its webpage, now
accessible in Spanish, Amharic, Chinese, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Somali,
Ukrainian and Vietnamese! We also established a social media presence with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
accounts. Visit, like and follow them all to stay up-to-date with OLEO’s activities.
In 2017, OLEO participated in more than 80
community events to educate the public on the role and function of oversight in
King County. Over the summer, our student interns also helped educate the
public on OLEO’s work.
OLEO is always looking for opportunities
to speak to groups interested in police accountability. We welcome your ideas
on how to provide meaningful outreach to the public served by the Sheriff’s
Office. Please direct all inquiries and suggestions to Toshiko
Hasegawa, OLEO’s Communications
Manager.
OLEO Outreach Team at the 2017 Rainier Beach Peace Festival.
Law
Enforcement Unionism and Communities of Color Conference
at the
Murphy Institute in New York City.
Community
Advisory Committee (CAC)
OLEO’s Community Advisory Committee meets monthly.
OLEO’s
Community Advisory Committee (CAC) provides input and guidance on
policies, procedures and practices relating to policing in King County. The
committee also advises the Sheriff’s Office and the County Council on matters
of equity and social justice related to law enforcement and on systemic
problems and opportunities for improvement within the Sheriff’s Office. Information about CAC meetings dates, times
and committee membership can be found on our website.
New
Sheriff in Town
This month, Mitzi Johanknecht started her
four-year term as King County Sheriff. We welcome Sheriff Johanknecht and look forward
to continuing to work collaboratively with the Sheriff’s Office and the public to
improve community-police relations.
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