Spokane police to receive federal assistance for extra six months

The Spokane Police Department will have an extra six months to work with the Department of Justice on proposed changes to use-of-force policies and procedures.

Mayor David Condon’s office announced the extension Tuesday, saying it would allow more time for a new police chief to overlap with the Department of Justice.

The Justice Department released recommendations for Spokane in December 2014, which included rewriting department policies on use-of-force reporting and expanding information collected by an internal system designed to warn supervisors about officers who may be using force too frequently.

Since then, the department has expanded the types of force that will be counted in reports, made plans to conduct a cultural audit of the department and created a new use-of-force review board that will review incidents internally to suggest changes to training or policies.

A number of department policies also have been revised.

In a report released nearly a year after the recommendations, the Justice Department said Spokane had completed just five recommendations in the first six months of the review, through June 2015. The department has started another 27, the report said. Four recommendations concern the police ombudsman’s office and the commission overseeing it.

In a news release Thursday, the city said the police department has completed a total of 31 recommendations and is working on the remaining ones. The Department of Justice will release an 18-month progress report this fall to confirm which recommendations it considers complete.

Department of Justice consultants will continue working with the police department through the first quarter of 2017.