Editorial: For police, accreditation a good step long overdue

News that the Spokane Police Department has regained state accreditation is another sign the department continues to become more professional and responsive to calls for reform.

The in-custody death of Otto Zehm in 2006 revealed a police force that was indifferent to accountability and public opinion. But several positive reforms have sprung from that tragedy, with accreditation being just one.

Others are establishing the ombudsman position and strengthening its powers, forming a citizens advisory panel for the ombudsman, rethinking the use of force, training to help officers de-escalate confrontations with the mentally ill, and the adoption of body cameras, which should be introduced by September, to record encounters with the public.

The city has fresh leadership at the police department, the mayor’s office and the city attorney’s office. Gone is the heavy-handed legal practice of going after people who filed claims against the police force.

A Use of Force Commission periodically reviews progress on reforms to keep the department on course. The definition of “excessive” has been rewritten and would now include what happened to Zehm. Before reforming, the department didn’t consider that tragedy or any of the nearly 500 officer-reported force incidents from 2007 to 2011 to be excessive.

Mercifully, those days are gone. The department no long operates with the mentality that citizens determine the amount of force used. Now, greater thought goes into preventing situations from turning violent in the first place.

Though Spokane is the state’s second-largest city, its police force has mostly operated without accreditation. In 1992, the department went through the extensive state process and gained certification. But that status must be reviewed every four years, and the department let it lapse, citing time and money.

But given the police-related legal costs the city racked up afterward, that might’ve been money well spent. Having outsiders review the department forces greater introspection. Are best practices being used? Is more training needed? Is the department up-to-date on legal and technological changes? What can it do better to improve its service to the public?

About 50 law enforcement agencies in the state, most with fewer resources than SPD, are accredited. The law enforcement agencies in Cheney, Spokane Valley and Spokane County are certified.

The Spokane Police Department had no legitimate excuse to continually skip the process. And as the public discovered, it was an agency in desperate need of soul-searching and review.

Earl Martin, Use of Force Commission chairman, said accreditation was a necessary step in helping change police culture. “We led with culture for a reason,” he said of the panel’s recommendations.

That the police department followed through represents an important cultural shift.