Seattle revisits less lethal weapons after SPD received 15,000 complaints in 2020

Dec 14, 2024

Seattle News:

On Tuesday, Seattle’s public safety committee met to discuss SPD’s 30x30 initiative to hire more women officers and the new proposed less lethal weapons legislation transmitted from the Mayor’s Office.

In the presentation and discussion about 30x30, topics discussed included providing more mentorship opportunities for women, providing places for them to pump breast milk, and providing more flexible childcare options. But what was more striking was what was not discussed, namely, the findings in last year’s 30x30 report that SPD is often a toxic working environment for women due to harassment and an old boys’ culture. Indeed, women officers said they wouldn’t recommend other women join the department.

The less lethal weapons legislation would allow SPD to use less lethal weapons when SPD officers judge there is imminent physical risk of injury to anyone or significant property damage. As written, it would allow any officers ranked lieutenant or higher to be able to authorize crowd dispersal. It removes the private right of action for people injured by crowd control weapons; while there are state and federal rights to sue, they are less robust and make taking legal action more difficult. It also allows SPD to begin using newly developed weapons and change their crowd control policy without any outside oversight.

SPD’s current draft crowd control policy is in conflict with two pieces of legislation about less lethal weapons from 2020 and 2021; even though neither of those ordinances were able to go into effect, the City can’t submit the crowd control policy to the Court overseeing the consent decree until and unless they resolve the discrepancies. City leaders are pushing for this new legislation to be passed in the expectation that they will then finally be released from the consent decree.

Councilmember Cathy Moore expressed concerns about this new legislation, particularly about the use of blast balls and relying on SPD policy instead of having fortifying legislation. Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who does not sit on the public safety committee but was attending the meeting, also expressed concerns.

Any amendments to this bill will most likely be due before the council’s winter recess, meaning by Friday, December 20. The bill will be heard in committee again on Tuesday, January 14, with a possible full council vote as early as Tuesday, January 21.

You can read more coverage on this legislation here and here.

Meanwhile, people are responding to Councilmember Tammy Morales’s announcement last week that she is resigning from the council effective next year. An op-ed ran in The Stranger this week, entitled Tammy Morales’s Resignation Exposes a Pattern of Institutional Abuse Against Southeast Seattle Electeds. And The South Seattle Emerald interviewed Morales: here is an interesting quote:

“According to Morales, the silencing of District 2 constituents is disenfranchising the South End. "It's not just anti-democratic, it's also disenfranchising the South End. It's one thing for me, as a duly elected member of the city's council, to not be able to get my work done on behalf of my constituents — that's one thing. It is also an issue, though, when community members show up in chambers and are also gaslit, which is what's happening," explained Morales. "There is no acknowledgment that [City Council's] behavior, their proposals, are leading to this dissatisfaction. Instead, constituents get blamed for being misinformed or just confused or disrespectful. That is the classic definition of gaslighting — manipulating [by] not acknowledging that it was [the council's] own behavior that led to this in the first place, and just blaming the public."”

Since the Seattle Fire Department’s new Buprenorphine Pilot Program began, 48 patients have been treated with buprenorphine.

In the seemingly never-ending stream of legal action brought against the City related to the Seattle Police Department, SPD Lt. John O’Neill brought a tort claim against the City last week saying he’s experienced discrimination and retaliation by command staff and leaders. O’Neill was a named party in the lawsuit filed by four women SPD officers alleging gender discrimination and sexual harassment this past summer. The Seattle Times reports that “the claim says interim police Chief Sue Rahr, Deputy Chief Eric Barden and “several other members” of police leadership and of the K-9, media and crime scene investigations units were involved in or witnessed the treatment alleged by O’Neil.”

The Seattle Times had an interesting article this week about results of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s downtown activation plan, which appears to have moved many unhoused people and drug-seeking people to the Chinatown International District (CID) instead. There is speculation that folks might ultimately try to return to “the Jungle,” the greenbelts south of the CID, which were cleared out in 2016. The state later fenced off most of these greenways in an effort to remove homeless encampments.

King County and WA State News:

The next WA state legislative session begins in January, and a few gun control efforts are being lined up now; namely, putting an excise tax on bullets and firearms, passing a permit-to-purchase bill, banning open-carry in parks and public buildings, and Governor-elect Ferguson’s idea of a gun buyback program.

In good news, gun violence in Seattle and King County is on the decline this year, following national trends. But it is still a pressing problem.

There is a lack of detox beds for teenagers in Washington State. There is currently no law guaranteeing youth have access to detox programs. As a result of this dearth, many kids end up trying to detox at home with their families instead. The Seattle Times found there are currently only two detox beds for youths available state-wide.

Notes from the Emerald City

Seattle revisits less lethal weapons after SPD received 15,000 complaints in 2020

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