Police Say No Link in Racial Bias, Use of Force
By Sharon Pian Chan, Seattle Times
Jan. 27–Minorities filed nearly half of all complaints reporting excessive use of force by the Seattle Police Department during a three-year period, prompting police officials to promise further study of the issue.
From 2003 through 2005, the Office of Professional Accountability, which is part of the Seattle Police Department, received 268 complaints reporting excessive force. After investigating, the office concluded that officers used excessive force in only 10 percent of those complaints.
Minorities filed 125 complaints and out of those complaints, the office concluded that officers had used excessive force in 6 percent. Most of the complaints did not result in serious injury.
Deputy Chief Jim Diaz said there is no racial bias in use of force among Seattle police officers, but he does plan to examine the complaints.
“We’ll be looking at whether there’s any commonality; if it’s a training issue, we have to look at: Is there anything we need to mitigate?” he said.
He said the number of complaints made by minorities should be put in context of the half-million contacts police make with the public each year.
Sam Pailca, director of the Office of Professional Accountability, said she was “struck by the disproportionality we found in the complainants making allegations of excessive force.”
Pailca said Diaz’s desire for further study “sounds like a great start.”
She also wants the Police Department to examine its policies toward how officers approach confrontations — and to think about “simple things that could be done to reduce these kinds of complaints.”
The results were not surprising to James Bible, attorney and president of the King County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
“I would expect that minorities would disproportionately represent complainants, and I would expect that there’s a disproportionate use of force against minorities and that they’re treated differently than non-minorities,” he said.
Bible said that for every complaint filed, many more incidents go unreported. He also said the verdicts issued on complaints “leave a lot to be desired.”
From 2003 through 2005, officers self-reported 2,241 incidents in which they used force. No policy violations were found in any of those cases by reviewing commanders.
Pailca was also concerned that in 40 percent of the 2005 cases, citizens complained about excessive force used against them, but the police officers involved failed to file a required use-of-force report. Those officers did not think the force needed to be reported.
Most of the follow-up will be left to Pailca’s successor, who has not yet been hired.
Pailca is leaving her job next month to join Microsoft’s investigative and compliance program.
Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com
Complaints about Seattle police using excessive force
Members of the public can file complaints about Seattle police to the Office of Professional Accountability. The office investigates those complaints and sustains a complaint if it concludes that police officers violated department policy. These are the number of complaints filed on excessive force from 2003 through 2005.
Total number of complaints where excessive force was reported: 268
Number of complaints where the Office of Professional Accountability concluded the officer used excessive force: 26
Number of complaints where minorities reported excessive force: 125
Number of complaints filed by minorities where the Office of Professional Accountability concluded the officer used excessive force: 8
Source: Office of Professional Accountability, Seattle Police Department
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Copyright (c) 2007, Seattle Times
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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