Police chief wants more oversight input
People interested in improving citizen oversight of police in Spokane need to speak up now, Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told about two dozen people at a public forum on the topic Wednesday night.
“Of course, we’d expected a lot more people,” the chief said, before introducing Sam Pailca, a police oversight expert from Seattle, “who’s going to lead us through this project.”
Pailca, an attorney currently stepping down as director of the Office of Police Accountability for the Seattle Police Department because her term is ending, will draft one or two models for a new form of civilian oversight for Spokane.
Kirkpatrick told the forum that she will take those recommendations to the City Council and its Public Safety Committee, probably sometime this spring, because changes in city laws likely will be necessary.
Pailca spent the first hour of the forum at City Hall giving a detailed presentation of what civilian oversight of police can and cannot do and discussing the wide range of options – from review boards and commissions to auditors and monitors, and hybrids such as the one overseeing Seattle police. Her presentation will be posted today at the city’s Web site, www.spokanecity.org.
Some form of citizen oversight builds a “greater trust and confidence” by the public in their police agencies, Pailca said, and it also promotes “greater professionalism” for departments.
In the past decade, she said, citizen police oversight has achieved considerable acceptance, and now 80 percent of major cities have some kind of accountability model.
Pailca, who also has helped the cities of Denver and Eugene, Ore., set up citizen oversight, said the effectiveness of such systems depends on the “independence” and “authority” of the model chosen.
Issues associated with independence, she said, include whether the oversight is done externally or internally from a police agency; who reviews reports; whether the system is insulated from political pressure and change and whether there is law enforcement participation.
Issues associated with authority, she said, include the extent of the powers of an oversight panel; its access to the chief; the “intake” process for accepting complaints from the public and how they are classified and investigated, and whether there is a response to “critical incidents” involving officers.
“Who do these complaints get made to” and are they sworn statements? Pailca said in explaining the “intake” process. “It makes a big impact on how citizens perceive this process.
“Lots of citizens just want to be heard,” she said. “They don’t want to get somebody in trouble.”
Citizen oversight can’t solve the “proof problem” if wrongdoing is suspected but isn’t supported by evidence, nor can it circumvent due-process rights of officers, limit their discretion on the job or be a substitute for the judicial system, Pailca said.
But oversight can do many things, she said, including providing a fresh perspective, serving as a deterrent to misconduct, identifying patterns and problems, keeping records of misconduct, and helping build public trust.
Only a few people came forward to express their comments at the forum, which will be broadcast on City Cable 5. One woman who didn’t give her name said, “One of the biggest issues is whether we’re being heard.”
Kirkpatrick seemed to express a sense of disappointment about the lackluster public response.
“I don’t know if the community knew what it was asking for,” she said, before encouraging everyone to contact her at akirkpatrick@spokanepolice.org or mail a letter to her at the Public Safety Building, 1100 West Mallon.