Forums set on police review

Sat., Jan. 27, 2007

By Jody Lawrence-Turner jodyl@spokesman.com (509) 459-5593

Spokane’s police chief and city officials are moving forward on creating a new citizen review board.

Two forums set for early February will give city residents the chance to weigh in on how the group should be structured, and a consultant has been hired.

“The need for a new way to provide for citizen review of complaints against the Police Department has been an issue since I started as chief last fall,” said Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. “Through this process, we expect to develop a proposal that is the best fit for Spokane.”

Kirkpatrick wants to make her department more open and transparent to the community. She was disappointed when the current Citizens Review Commission, which had been dormant for almost a decade, determined last year that it did not have jurisdiction over a case submitted by Kirkpatrick.

The city hired Sam Pailca, director of the Office of Professional Accountability for the Seattle Police Department for the past six years, to assist in developing a citizen review model.

In Pailca’s role with the Seattle Police Department, she has advised Seattle’s police chief, mayor and City Council on accountability reforms, said Spokane city spokeswoman Marlene Feist. Pailca has overseen the investigation of almost 1,000 misconduct complaints annually.

Pailca will take into consideration the public’s comments as well as those of the City Council’s public safety committee, Police Advisory Committee members, police representatives and the Citizens Review Commission.

“I wanted the best,” said Kirkpatrick, who was familiar with Pailca’s reputation from when both worked on the state’s West Side.

Pailca advised and implemented more than 150 policy reforms at the Seattle Police Department, according to her resume. She worked in the King County prosecutor’s office for six years, and she was an associate attorney in a private law firm for nearly five years. Pailca was previously hired as a consultant in Denver; Eugene, Ore.; King County; and Tacoma to help develop citizen oversight systems.

Kirkpatrick expects a proposal to be developed for consideration by the City Council in March, Feist said.

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