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News >  Pacific NW

Knezovich, police ombudsman Tim Burns discussing county role

Depending on whom you ask, the timing of Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich’s request for the Spokane police ombudsman to assume a similar role for the county may be perfect, or politically motivated. Discussions between Knezovich and Tim Burns, the man who’s conducted internal reviews of police cases since 2008, have ramped up in recent weeks to formalize a long-standing relationship between the two agencies, the two men said. Knezovich said his pitch to county commissioners Tuesday morning is the culmination of months of discussions he’s had with Burns and the Center for Justice to develop an oversight structure of the department similar to the one in place at the city.
News >  Spokane

Positions filled on new police oversight board

A five-member advisory board to give further oversight of the Spokane Police Department will include the former director of a human rights organization and a retired military official who most recently served at the Pentagon. Voters approved the creation of the citizen oversight commission in early 2013, and members are expected to begin their work within a month, after they pass criminal background checks and the City Council officially approves their appointments.
Shawn Vestal
Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Ombudsman rule imperfect but promising

Spokane’s new path on police oversight has been greeted by some reform proponents as a horror, a travesty, a failure. Even supporters have been lukewarm about it: Best we can do. Give it a chance. In truth, though, it is a triumph. Not because it purely honors Proposition 1 and the city charter. It doesn’t. Not because it provides perfectly unfettered independence to the ombudsman. It doesn’t. Not because it is ideal. It’s not.
News >  Spokane

Spokane officer retired following false police report

A Spokane police officer with a troubled work history was forced into retirement this month after he filed a false police report. Officer Barry O’Connell, who has been suspended three times without pay in recent years for separate violations of department policy, retired Feb. 3, just as investigators were about to recommend he be fired.
News >  Spokane

City Council approves new Spokane police contract, oversight law

Three more months of public debate, news conferences and negotiations have led to the Spokane City Council’s approval of a new police oversight law and union contract. After unanimously rejecting a proposed Spokane Police Guild contract in November, the council approved a five-year labor contract Monday in a 6-1 vote. It also unanimously approved a law governing police officer oversight.
News >  Spokane

Condon gives annual speech at North Central High

Spokane mayors usually give their annual State of the City addresses at a high-priced breakfast to people in business suits. On Thursday, Mayor David Condon broke tradition by giving his speech to upperclassmen at North Central High School – and a second time to anyone who wanted to hear it, also at North Central.
News >  Spokane

Spokane Police Guild contract proposal being modified

Spokane Mayor David Condon is heeding the advice of Spokane City Council members who have pushed him to reopen contract negotiations with the Spokane Police Guild. The mayor and guild agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract last fall, but that deal was rejected by the City Council in November. It was nearly rejected a second time in December before the council opted to delay a vote until Feb. 3.
News >  Spokane

Stuckart says police contract proposal needs work

Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart says it’s time city leaders renegotiate the proposed labor deal it struck months ago with the Spokane Police Guild. The four-year contract with the city police union was agreed to by Mayor David Condon, and he has stood by the agreement even after it was rejected by the council in November. The deal was reconsidered by the council last month, but council members decided to delay a vote until February.
News >  Spokane

City Council votes to delay ombudsman discussion

Efforts to define an expanded role for an independent Spokane police ombudsman are going to continue for seven more weeks. The Spokane City Council voted to defer consideration of an ombudsman ordinance and a proposed labor contract between the city and Spokane Police Guild until Feb. 3.
News >  Spokane

Spokane police oversight, contract on council’s agenda

Spokane City Council members will have a full plate of issues as they convene their last meeting of the year on Monday. Mayor David Condon’s proposal to give broader investigative power to the city’s police ombudsman will be one of the top issues.
Shawn Vestal
Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: The police oversight we want, or just what we can get?

Is it time for the good to defeat the perfect, when it comes to police oversight in Spokane? Perhaps. There is a case to be made that the package of police oversight measures proposed by the mayor and police chief is the best we can do – while not, in my view, reaching the standards expressed by the mayor’s Use of Force Commission or by voters. There is a case that purists like me, or the mayor’s Use of Force Commission, or the voters, are being either unrealistic or unreasonable in continuing to seek full, unqualified investigative independence for the ombudsman. There is a case to be made that the city can either adopt this plan, which is very good in many ways, or find itself stuck in a losing battle against the more determined enemy of the good on this issue: the Spokane Police Guild.
News >  Spokane

Spokane mayor, chief rally behind ombudsman proposal

Mayor David Condon and police Chief Frank Straub continued their pitch Wednesday for an independent oversight plan they say would make Spokane a regional model in law enforcement transparency. But the head of the labor union representing Spokane police officers declined to endorse the plan, nor would he offer any assurances that it wouldn’t be the target of a legal challenge if approved by the City Council.
News >  Spokane

David Condon pitches limited police ombudsman plan

Spokane Mayor David Condon is hoping to bolster public support for a police oversight plan that falls short of what voters demanded but would allow some independent investigation inot officer misconduct. Condon is proposing a so-called “relief valve” that would enable independent examinations only after the Spokane Police Department’s internal affairs investigation has ended. It also closes the loop on a potentially endless appeals process and stays within state labor laws dictating that procedures for handling employee discipline be negotiated with workers, city spokesman Brian Coddington said.
News >  Spokane

Spokane council rejects proposed police contract

The Spokane City Council this afternoon made good on a promise to reject any proposed labor contract with the police department that lacks union acceptance of independent investigative authority for the city’s police ombudsman.
News >  Spokane

Spokane Police Guild approves contract with city

A tentative labor contract for the Spokane police union appears dead on arrival in City Council chambers because it fails to embrace the recent voter-approved mandate about investigating officer wrongdoing. At least four of the council’s seven members Friday reiterated pledges all had made earlier to reject any proposed labor contract with the city’s police force that fails to include provisions allowing for the independent oversight added to the City Charter earlier this year by overwhelming vote of Spokane voters.
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