From The Mailbag - WTO 9th Anniversary

Clips from a video by Paul Richmond of the WTO protest showing an officer pull a protester's head up by the hair and then pepper-spraying him at point-blank range in the face.

Received an email yesterday from attorney Paul Richmond reminding me that it, yesterday, was the ninth anniversary of the WTO protests in Seattle. Attorney Richmond, for those who don't know, is an area lawyer who gives presentations on how to videotape police activities at protests and was a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) during the WTO protests who is now contemplating a run for congress in 2010.

Along with his reminder he's put up some previously unreleased footage he captured from the WTO protests. In one video he shows the police launching tear gas at protesters long before any cases of property damage, that was often cited as the reason for the gassing, had occurred.

Then, in another video, he shows officers spraying canisters of pepper spray directly into the faces of seated protesters at point-blank range after pulling their heads up by their hair to get a clean shot at their eyes.

While such footage he shared can be disturbing, some of the most egregious abuses came later where cameras couldn't see it and where lawyers couldn't document it, in the King County Jail. Here there were reports of people being strapped to a restraint chair, nicknamed "The Devil's Chair" by jail officers, to have their eyes swabbed with chemical spray as a means of punishment and stories of protesters forcibly stripped in their cells for complaining about conditions.

Just as what happened to protesters at the DNC in St. Paul, Minnesota showed that police tactics haven't improved much since then, the jails have both shown that the same holds true for them as well.

Police Cameras: Privacy vs Security

The mayor of Seattle has created a bit of a tempest in a teapot with his decision to bypass the Seattle City Council and purchase closed circuit security cameras for the police to monitor a local park due to increased complaints of criminal activity. The council insisted that some conditions be met before approving expenditures for surveillance activities, namely protections of privacy by only allowing the police to view video when a crime is reported and only for investigating those crimes specifically.

Now, most of the press seems to be against the idea of more police surveillance and cameras as is the local ACLU of Washington State. They insist that it's a relatively ineffective approach to combating criminal activity and that Seattle would be better served by just hiring more police with the funds spent on surveillance technology instead. Indeed, evidence from the UK seems to back them up because top police officials there state that CCTV cameras have not deterred crime enough to justify the expense. The UK has the most CCTV police cameras in the world and officials estimate a reduction of 3% due to the use of cameras. (however, the expensive police CCTV system is good for bands who can't afford to shoot their own music videos)

Of course, I'm more conflicted than most people on the issue myself. While opponents insist that video camera footage never helps victims of crime, such footage did help me. Albeit, the cameras that saved me were located inside private property, they were still surveillance cameras. However, while those cameras did verify my own claims of innocence when I was falsely accused of a crime, there were no cameras at the police station and jail to verify my claims of police misconduct.

Additionally, there are other cases where surveillance footage worked against the police when misconduct was concerned... but again, those were also cases of privately owned or media owned surveillance equipment. So it seems as though cameras on private property are a great thing because they are more accessible to the public in cases of police misconduct or to verify the veracity of criminal allegations.

The problem that comes to play where city-owned cameras are concerned is that Seattle has the WORST record in the state of Washington when it comes to following Freedom Of Information Act requests, especially those in regards to video footage where an officer stands accused of misconduct. In fact, the police department never releases footage that it obtains when questions of police misconduct are put forward. The only time video evidence of misconduct comes out is when it was recorded by private individuals or the media. So, while the city of Seattle is becoming more aggressive about monitoring citizen activities, it is still quite lax about monitoring it's own employees, especially the police... the typical double-standard that insists only the public is suspect, never the government... that we must be held to a higher standard, not them.

While other localities have implemented policies to ensure that police interrogations are recorded at all times in order to limit the charges of abuse, forced confessions, and falsified confessions, Seattle still doesn't. In fact, Seattle still has to place cameras in precincts to record areas where detainees are held, interrogated, strip-searched, or transported. Meanwhile, even though Seattle has been placing dash-cams in police cruisers, not all police vehicles have dash-cams and officers do not follow the policy of turning dash cams around to monitor detainees while they are in their vehicles.

Yet, even when dash cams do catch acts of police violence, the department never releases that video evidence even when FOIA requests are filed by the media, as seen in the Hayes beating case where undercover ACT officers assaulted a civilian for jaywalking.

While a reporter from The Stranger was able to eventually get his hands on the the above dash-cam footage of the assault despite several refusals by the police department "out of concerns for the suspect's privacy, even though they stated it would exonerate the officers", he got it from a source other than the city government or police... and viewing the footage does not seem to show how the police department claims of clear exonerating evidence were valid.

In fact, even in the face of live media broadcasts of police misconduct, as in this case where this person was chased down, beaten, and then shot with a stun gun after he was already down on his hands and knees in retribution for talking back to an officer... then when police threatened to shoot a stun gun at a female bystander's face. The city still completely ignores the charges of misconduct even when the evidence was broadcast live.

Indeed, Seattle persistently exonerates officers even in the face of video evidence and always attempts to keep that evidence from the public when it does exist. While the city states that it seeks to repair the image of it's police force and rebuild public trust, it still maintains a police of secrecy and denial of access to evidence of police brutality and misconduct. Ironic considering the city attorney sits on the state's open governance board and the city insists it should be trusted to increase it's own surveillance of our lives.

So, privacy concerns aren't the only problem with the city's lopsided CCTV surveillance policies, there is also the issue of who watches the watchers... and at this point, it's clear that the answer in Seattle is Nobody At All.

Perhaps, if the city were honest about cases of police misconduct and responsive to public records requests it would be able to repair the damaged trust it has with the community that it claims to desire... and maybe then it could be trusted to put cameras out there to help catch criminals. But until then... they just can't be trusted to watch us because we know they don't let us watch them and they certainly don't watch themselves.

Police Brutality Is Departmental Policy

Reaction to the Seattle Post Intelligencer article on officers failing to be disciplined for brutality last week drew a storm of responses in that paper's online forums. While many were from citizens who were appalled by the stories of abusive behavior, there were also a number of responses from SPD officers who staunchly defended their right to abuse people when taking them into custody.

Specifically, the officers state over and over again that it is their departmental policy and part of their training that they are not only authorized to exert maximum physical force at the most minimal hint of resistance, but they are required to do so and have been trained to react reflexively in that manner. in fact, when they are referred to training for such incidents of alleged brutality, trainers yell at them for not being aggressive and violent enough. There is no escalation of force policy, no continuum of response policy, it's binary; the maximum amount of pain and damage possible will be inflicted upon you at the slightest hint of resistance, even if it's a reflexive response.

While the police have been trained this way, the public has not, nor has the public been made aware that any sign of non-compliance, passive even, will be met with a violent physical assault. So, to help train you, the public, about how to interact with the Seattle Police, I give you the following examples of what to expect.

Remember this, people of Seattle, your police officers are trained and required by policy to mercilessly and violently assault you if you:
1. Are black and ask an officer a question.

2. If you are a 125 lb woman and pull your arm away when being violently grabbed from behind by a stranger while offering someone legal advice.

3. If you react in any way to seeing your girlfriend accosted by a truckload of unidentified strangers.

4. If you tense up when being handcuffed and arrested for doing nothing but being an innocent young black man walking down the street.

5. If you run because you're an innocent person being chased by a bunch of people with guns who aren't wearing uniforms and didn't identify themselves.

6. If you flinch a bit while having your head repeatedly smashed into the pavement over a jaywalking offense.

7. Or if you react in any way to seeing your daughter getting roughed up over a jaywalking offense.

Remember, if you tense up, if you flinch while being grabbed for doing nothing wrong, if you don't know why you're being attacked, or even if you don't know who is grabbing you, even if you think it might be a criminal instead of an officer attacking you... don't react, don't flinch, don't talk back... because if it's a police officer doing it he's already decided that he's going to hurt you as badly as he can for any excuse he can make up... so you might as well do you're best not to flinch while he's getting his jollies off on beating the life out of you.

...and remember, it's the city's policy that let him do it and he will get away with it no matter if there is video showing officers beating you for no reason or even if there are a ton of independent witnesses AND a video... and remember, the chief of police has not fired an officer in years, and probably never will.

...Even if the department knows the officer lied.

Know this, there will be no remorse about it, no sympathy. Officers will walk past your holding cell and laugh at your injuries and call you names and make crude jokes at your expense. I know this because that's what happened to me... and remember that if you're unlucky, the officers will refuse to let you get medical treatment as a form of punishment too, just like they did to me.

Keep yourselves safe out there people, and consider yourselves warned that the police in Seattle are trained and encouraged to hurt you as badly as possible at the slightest excuse. So, do not approach the police, do not talk to them, don't even look at them... or else you might very well be the next victim I have to write about, like the victims pictured above.

I Want To Do More

Lately I've been trying to think of what more I could do to help reduce police misconduct and detainee abuses. So if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know... as long as it doesn't involve public speaking (I don't talk well anymore because of my head injuries) or my coming into any contact with a member of the Seattle Police Department because I really don't know what they would do to me if they saw me.

In any case... I've been thinking getting a prepaid phone with voicemail and putting up flyers and posters in various neighborhood urging people to call my number to report instances of police misconduct. I'm thinking the citizens of Seattle would be more inclined to call someone who wasn't a police officer to report cases of police misconduct than they would to call the Seattle Police run Office of Professional Accountability. Trust me, when I called to report what happened to me at the hands of their fellow officers, they were none too polite... and with all the reports of brutality and corruption in the news, I'm sure a lot of people are too afraid to report incidents.

I've already been in contact with some city officials in an effort to discuss accountability issues and that's gone well so far I think, at least they seem to listen and have been trying to improve things. Unfortunately the police union really has the upper-hand against the city's efforts to improve accountability and oversight right now, and the police union is apparently fighting tooth and nail to kill those efforts.

Anyhow... Just let me know if anyone has any reasonable ideas about what I can do to help improve the terrifying police misconduct situation here in Seattle.

Thanks for reading.

We Need More Investigative Stories Like These!

The Seattle Post Intelligencer had a couple of pretty good investigative articles this week about corruption at the Seattle Police Department, specifically their failure to hold officers accountable for misconduct. Their first story came on Tuesday, "Cops Who Lie Don't Always Lose Jobs" which centered on cases of dishonesty in sworn statements by officers that went undisciplined in Seattle, specifically, of 13 cases where the actual finding of dishonesty was sufficient to have normally deserved dismissal, nobody was dismissed.

The follow-up article, "The Strong Arm Of The Law" that came out yesterday examined how the Seattle Police Department hasn't disciplined any officers for unnecessary force in the past 18 months, during a time when it ruled on at least 161 force cases. During that same period, 12 other excessive-force complaints resulted in supervisory intervention with officers (supervisory intervention means the officer was referred to additional training).

This second article goes on to focus on one officer involved in three cases of excessive force during that time period, one of those cases involved the officer performing a combination arm hold and leg sweep from behind on a 125 lb unarmed female with a clean record that resulted in the woman being sent face first to the sidewalk and then to an operating table with compound facial fractures that almost left her blind... all because she yelled legal advice to a friend of her's who the officer arrested.

...of this training the officers were sent to, the trainer criticized the officer in this incident for not being aggressive enough!

Let me say this again... The Seattle Police Department sends Officers who are found to be guilty of excessive force to a martial arts trainer for retraining and that trainer insists officers are not being excessive enough with their use of force!

In any case, I was hoping that the Seattle PI wasn't done with this series of reports, but since there wasn't anything new today, I'm thinking they are... even though I know there are a lot more things that the SPD does that it shouldn't.

But, in any case... Be safe out there, because those officers found guilty of brutality are being trained to be even more brutal by the SPD.

A Little More Advice

A while back I wrote a post offering some tips for people who find themselves in the unfortunate event of an interaction with members of the Seattle Police Department either as a potential victim of police misconduct or as a witness to police misconduct. I promised some more advice eventually, and I'll work on a more refined list when I have some time, hopefully with the help of a real legal professional this time.

In any case, I would like to give people another useful tip in the meantime, it's one that I use all the time these days.

If you are walking in Seattle alone, I highly recommend that you do so with your cell phone in hand and ready with an easy to remember speed-dial entry for both a number of someone that you trust and who is a reliable witness. I personally have my speed dial set for a civil rights lawyer I know, since I know that even if he doesn't pick up his number goes straight to voicemail. In case I get attacked by some rogue cops for what I write here, there will be an audio record of the unprovoked assault or a reputable witness to the event that can't be harmed and silenced by corrupt cops.

If you're walking with a friend, make sure you both have cell phones, ones with video capabilities are better, and ones that can quickly upload images to an internet site are the best since the police here have been known to confiscate cameras and cell phones and destroy images on them when they capture misconduct or even normal arrests. Some have even been known to attack and arrest witnesses recording misconduct, so be careful if you're trying to record misconduct in action or else you might become a victim of the abuse you're witnessing as well.

Whatever you do, don't fight, don't argue, don't resist, and don't run. Ask questions about the officer's name, badge number, and the reason for the contact, but otherwise be quiet. Also, if you are recording an instance of suspected police misconduct, make certain that you do not interfere in any way while you are doing so.

If you've done this and do encounter a Seattle Police officer, hit that speed dial as soon as you can and keep the phone at a distance where it can still capture your voice without being a provocation to the officer. While doing this, give a narative of what's happening and, if possible, start off by asking for the officer's name and identification. Again, keep narrating what's happening, it will help you remember details and will provide the person or recording on the other end of a record of the encounter.

The idea that the encounter might be recorded may be enough to make an officer think twice about abusing you... and if it doesn't, it may well be the difference between suffering injuries without recourse or having a successful lawsuit against the officer. You would be suprised to hear how many people have to pay for their own injuries and suffer in silence because of police abuse, don't be a victim if you can help improve your odds by using a simple technique like this.

Yes, it is sad that I have to make these kinds of recommendations in this otherwise very nice city, me and my family love this town... but we're all frightened to death of its police force... and honestly, I'm about as straight-laced as they come.

I'd like to admit it's paranoia, but it's not... sadly enough, the fear of police in this city is all too real and too justifiable. So don't take any chances out there, especially when you can take a few inconspicuous and simple steps like this to help improve your chances of surviving a chance encounter with one of Seattle's worst.