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In June, OLEO released its report, Transparency
and Media Relations in High Profile Police Cases, calling for policy
changes related to how the Sheriff’s Office presents information to the public
after an officer-involved shooting.
 Members of Tommy Le’s family
speak to the Law and Justice Committee about the impact that Sheriff’s
Office’s comments to the press had on them.
The report recommends proactive transparency measures for when the
Sheriff’s Office communicates with the press and the public following police
shootings and other critical incidents, including:
- Protocol for timely notification of families
following critical incidents;
- Requirements to rapidly, publicly, and
transparently acknowledge and correct any inaccurate or misleading information
released, with an explanation as to how the misinformation occurred;
- Providing a decedent’s criminal history only
when requested or other criteria is met; and
- Making efforts to convey information to ethnic
media serving non-English-speaking populations.
The
report was presented before the County Council’s Law & Justice
Committee on June 12. Members of family of Tommy Le, who was shot and killed by
Sheriff’s Office deputies in June 2016, attended the hearing and spoke about
their experience and the impact of how the Sheriff’s Office and media talked
about the incident. The Sheriff’s Office received the report in February, but has
not yet formally responded to OLEO’s policy recommendations or revised its
policies.
You can watch OLEO Director Deborah Jacobs’ comments in full (00:38:00)
as well as testimony by Tommy’s family (00:55:30) here.
In July, OLEO released the report, Internal Investigations Complaint Classification Review of
the King County Sheriff’s Office, which looks at the
Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Investigations Unit’s handling of misconduct
complaints and provides recommendations to promote fairness when officers
investigate their own.
The
report addresses shortcomings in Sheriff’s Office’s systems for
determining whether its Internal Investigations Unit will investigate a
complaint, refer it to a supervisor, or take no action. The report recommends
changes to Sheriff’s Office policies and practices to improve consistency and
ensure that serious complaints are not neglected. Improving these systems will
help ensure that complaints about excessive force, illegal search and seizure,
discourtesy and biased-based policing are handled appropriately.
The report,
which was presented before the Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday, July 10,
can be watched in full online here at the 1:03:00 mark.
OLEO co-sponsored and participated in the
National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) regional conference on June 28th at
Seattle City Hall. Highlights included expert panels or pertinent topics including policing and oversight in sanctuary cities, inquests, how to
review uses of force, and overcoming the challenges of outreach.
The event also featured Anita Khandelwal from the King County Department of Public
Defense speaking about the role of oversight in criminal justice reform.
Expert panelists discussing the role of police and
oversight in sanctuary cities, June 28, 2018.
 OLEO presents to unincorporated
community members at the King County Community Service Area meeting in Skyway.
 2018 Summer
Intern Dhalu Sherpa interacting with community members in Woodinville.
OLEO regularly visits school campuses to speak with students and
teachers about police oversight, including recent visits to Seattle University,
the University of Washington, Bellevue College, Highline Community College, and
Northwest University. In January, OLEO presented on the subject of oversight to
student-classmates of Tommy Le (see above for more information) as part of a
teach-in series entitled, “Know Your Rights, Know Your Resources,” coordinated
by South Seattle College’s Career Link program.
OLEO will continue to reach out to young and diverse audiences across
the county to raise awareness of police accountability issues. If you know of
groups OLEO should speak with, please contact Toshiko Hasegawa, OLEO’s
Communications Manager.
OLEO staff also regularly speak and engage at public events, such as a recent
symposium hosted by Seattle University entitled, “Police Brutality: Its
Chilling Effects, and Solutions” and the April 4 event commemorating the
assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
OLEO has reviewed and provided input on a number of policing systems,
trainings, and practices in the first half of 2018. You can find OLEO reports
on its recommendations, and whether the Sheriff’s Office adopted them, here.
Highlights include:
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De-escalation
training – Following the November 2016 shooting-death Muckleshoot
Indian Tribal member Renee Davis, OLEO recommended that all Sheriff’s
Office deputies receive de-escalation and 40-hours crisis-intervention training
- see Director Deborah Jacobs’ testimony at the 1:28:25
mark. All deputies have now received the training, and the remaining are
expected to soon. OLEO will continue to advocate for deputies to receive the
tools and training they need to succeed in safely serving the public.
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Implicit
bias training – On March 14, OLEO hosted Dr. Bryant Marks, Professor of
Psychology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, to present an implicit bias
training for Sheriff’s Office Command Staff. Dr. Marks is the Founding Director
of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity and has provided implicit
bias training to over 2,000 Police Chiefs and executives and over 16,000 patrol
officers in local police departments. Based on participant evaluations, Dr.
Marks was extremely well-received, and OLEO will advocate for all Sheriff’s
Office personnel to take the training in the future.
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Inquests
– OLEO participated in public input meetings and formally presented to the
review committee. OLEO’s official input on the county’s inquest process can be
found here.
 Dr. Bryant Marks presenting implicit bias
training to KCSO command staff.
OLEO’s Community Advisory Committee on Law Enforcement Oversight provides input and guidance on
policies, procedures, and practices relating to policing in King County. The
committee also advises the King County Sheriff’s Office and the King 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.
In January, CACLEO members met with Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht, to hear directly from
her about her vision for the future of the Sheriff’s Office, the role of
oversight, and their plans to comply with King County’s Equity and Social
Justice Strategic Plan.
 Sheriff Johanknecht meet &
greet at the January CACLEO meeting.
OLEO accepts applications from individuals interested in serving as an
appointed member of CACLEO on an ongoing basis. Informational
and application
materials can be found on the website. Recent appointments include: Joe Nguyen
(January), Rev. Kenneth Ransfer (February), and Nick Allen (May). In addition,
Sili Savusa was reappointed to another term (April).
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