About the 2008 Annual Report From the Seattle Police OPA

The Seattle Police Department Office of Professional Accountability (SPD OPA, which is Seattle's version of an internal affairs department) released their annual report recently. Most of it is the same old - same old... but there were some interesting tidbits hidden within it's convoluted depths.

First, as you might recall, the OPA is still limited to a 180 day deadline in which any sustained findings of misconduct against an officer are nullified if an investigation takes longer than 180 days... a sort of free pass for bad cops, as it were.

(this site broke the story that, despite the city's insistence that they removed that rule in contract negotiations with the union, that the union actually forced the city to back down and leave it in place. Something the police union has bragged about in their newsletter lately too.)

The worrisome news in the report is that the average time it takes, from the moment a complaint is received to the time a determination is made, is 173 days. That means there is only a 7 day window on average between an officer getting a free pass and getting disciplined for misconduct.

In that regard, the OPA admitted that there were 2 cases in 2008 where the 180 day window had elapsed which resulted in sustained findings being overturned.

There were 98 complaints of excessive force in 2008, (out of over 1300 overall complaints), but only two were sustained. One of which was recently overturned by one of the five separate levels of appeal available to officers. So only one excessive force complaint in 2008 resulted in the termination of an officer.

The overturned finding was the case of Don "Diamond Don" George which we covered a few days ago. He was accused of bashing a handcuffed suspect's head against the backseat partition in a cruiser and then lying about it to OPA investigators.

Despite his long history of complaints and that the department's appeal committee felt he probably did do what he was accused of, they overturned the chief's decision to fire him and gave him a brief suspension instead, forcing the city to hire him back.

So, only one sustained finding of excessive force and dishonesty were actually sustained and disciplined, and that case involved the officer in this video:



Where Mark Hays was beaten by one of SPD's notorious "Anti-Crime Team" officers. In that case, Hays and his friend, Michael Lujan, were stopped when they jaywalked in front of an undercover SPD ACT SUV and the officers escalated the confrontation into the beatdown seen in a dashcam recording of a responding cruiser.

Mark Hays has filed a pro-se lawsuit against the SPD and officers involved in that case. So far it appears as though that officer still remains off the force, but it's unclear whether it will remain that way given all the different appeal options available to officers...

While it's clear the SPD still does a very poor job investigating complaints of excessive force, the new "assumption of termination" for findings of dishonesty provision is also under fire as the Seattle Police Officer's Union has assured officers that this rule is unenforceable since the burden of proof is so high... so far, based on the appeal record, it appears they have a point.

Which is a fact that the OPA is apparently aware of as this disclaimer was slipped into the report:

"However, it is clear from reviewing OPA Sustained cases appealed in 2008 that the Department cannot always predict whether its findings or the disciplined imposed will be upheld."

Based on this report, and others, this site still highly recommends that any victims of police misconduct consult an attorney prior to filing a complaint with the SPD OPA as the complaint process is still highly biased and fatally flawed.

The complaints are often used to gather information for attorneys representing the city in preparation for defense against civil suits instead of to honestly investigate officer wrongdoing.

Please keep this in mind if you become a victim of police misconduct in Seattle.

Police Misconduct NewsWatch for 02-13-09 - Local Edition

A lot of news going on in Seattle so instead of a regular News Watch I'm turning the focus local for this issue... even though I have a lot of catching up to do for some national stories I'm looking into.

Arrested For Standing While Black
Tim Harris at the always intriguing Apesmas Lament tells the tale of a Real Change newspaper vendor named Donald Morehead who was selling copies of the local advocacy weekly paper when a Seattle Police officer allegedly knocked one of his teeth out, slammed his head against a cruiser, and then arrested him...

Morehead's crime?

Apparently nothing more than standing while black one of the city's "drug enforcement zones". The officer arrested Morehead on unspecified charges, though Morehead had no drugs and only a few copies of the paper and $20.00 from the copies that he had already sold.

The money was confiscated as alleged "drug money" and Morehead spent 16 days in the King County Jail until people at the paper raised enough for the $160 bail.

Tim first mentioned the case in a post on the fifth when he first discovered Morehead was in jail from a public defender who was representing him and started collecting money for his release shortly afterward.

This type of racially-based enforcement activity has been becoming more common in Seattle with the NAACP noting the issue towards the end of last year which also sparked allegations of retaliation when officers later charged a witness of a racial profiling incident named Yvonne Gaston who testified for the NAACP's news conference, of assaulting an officer a day after that conference... strangely enough, weeks after the alleged incident occurred.

Harris has recently joined with other community activists in an effort, Initiative 100, to force the city to allow voters to decide whether or not the city should build a new jail to house more prisoners or work on alternative ways to reduce the need for more jail space... like not arresting so many people on questionable charges.

Though now out on bail, Morehead is still facing charges, though no word yet about whether a legal defense fund has been established for him.

King County Deputy Charged For Beating A 15 Year Old Girl
Update: The video has been released
King County sheriff deputy Paul Schene has been charged with 4th degree assault for allegedly kicking, punching, and pulling a 15 year old girl while booking her into jail.

The incident was recorded by security cameras at the jail where the officer and his partner were booking two teenage girls into juvenile jail under suspicion of auto theft in November of last year.

He alleged in charging papers that she had assaulted him when she was removing her shoes and, according to the girl, one slipped off her foot and hit the officer in the shin.

An investigator reviewing the tapes to prepare the case of assaulting an officer against the girl saw the deputy kick the girl, shove her against a wall, take her down to the floor in a hair-hold, and then punch her twice.

Ex-Civilian Review Board Member Running For City Council
Perhaps just as interesting on a local level as was the nomination of SPD Chief Gil Kerlikowske as drug czar was the announcement from ex-OPARB member Pete Holmes that he is running for an unspecified city council seat in the next election, according to The Seattle Weekly "Daily Weekly" blog.

Holmes was one of the then three member civilian review board that sharply criticized Kerlikowske for allegedly working behind the scenes to influence an internal investigation of two officers who were accused of planting drugs and lying on arrest reports. The board then had it's last report to city council censored because of it's criticism of the department's internal investigation process before it was disbanded and all of it's members replaced.

Holmes graduated from Yale University, earned his law degree from the University of Virginia, and currently works at a local law firm specialized in commercial bankruptcy law.

Victim Of Police Excessive Force Forced To File Lawsuit On His Own
Jonah at The Stranger Blog (SLOG) has an update on the case of Mark Hays who was subjected to a barrage of punches to the head and knees to the torso when he was arrested in November of 2007 by undercover SPD "Anti-Crime Team" officers after he and a friend had jaywalked in front of their unmarked SUV. The tail end of the beating he received that night was caught on a dashcam video of a responding SPD officer's cruiser.


An internal investigation into that arrest found that the officer who beat Hays had used excessive force and that he was misleading when interviewed by investigators looking into complaints about that violent arrest, even though Hays himself was found guilty of assaulting an officer for allegedly jumping on one of the officer's backs during the incident.

It appears, according to Jonah, that Hays has now filed a civil suit against the city seeking $750,000 in damages for the beating, for improperly withholding public records, and for conspiring to deny a proper investigation into allegations of misconduct... all without a lawyer to represent him.

I certainly wish him all the best, but worry about why he's going it alone at this point.

Excessive Force Complaint Sustained In Mark Hays Case -Updated

Originally posted at 02:08 on 12/16/08, updated 13:52 on 12/16/08

The Seattle Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability's Civilian Auditor released her biannual report recently and in it was a revelation that I wasn't aware of. It appears as though the OPA, the SPD's internal investigations division, may have found that officers used excessive force when they arrested Mark Hays and Michael Lujan earlier this year.

If you didn't remember, Mark Hays and his friend were walking back from a night out when they apparently jaywalked in front of an unmarked SUV full of undercover Seattle Police officers. The plainclothes officers, part of the "proactive policing" "Anti-Crime Team" yelled at the pair and told them they could be arrested for pedestrian interference. The pair apparently told the officers where they could put their interference and the officers piled out of their unmarked SUV and started arresting them.

What happened next, supposedly in front of several witnesses, is a matter of dispute. Officers allege that when they began arresting Lujan on charges of pedestrian interference that Hays jumped on one officers back, even though witnesses who talked to reporters but later refused to testify said they never saw Hays tackle an officer.



The ACT officers then arrested Hays for assaulting an officer and pedestrian interference, an arrest that was also partially caught on a responding unit's dashcam, as seen above courtesy of The Stranger's coverage of the incident. That video shows an ACT officer repeatedly punching and kneeing Hays after he was under control and face-down on the ground even as the cruiser approached the scene, and then showed even more punches and knees hit Hayes afterward as well.

Hays was later found guilty of assaulting an officer when none of the witnesses testified but Lujan was found innocent of pedestrian interference, essentially meaning that the initial excuse to effect the brutal arrest of Hayes was unfounded.

The SPD OPA Auditor, Katrina Pflaumer, had this to say about her review of a case that had some remarkable similarities with the Hays arrest...

"In another case I agreed with a Sustained finding for excessive force where the back-up officer’s in-car video had recorded the interaction. The officer had been jumped on from the rear as he took control of the subject’s jay-walking friend. When the attacking young man was down and under control, the officer continued to use punches and knee strikes, which he claimed were necessary to control resistance. In the majority of cases, the in-car videos I have seen support the officers. In this case, however, the video was at 180-degree variance with the officer’s perceptions or recollections and a Sustained finding was recommended by OPA and confirmed by the Chief."

While this finding may have been noted in a previously released monthly report from the OPA, generally the description of events in those findings are intentionally left vague, which makes it difficult to determine which person's complaint that finding is related to, but the description the auditor supplied leaves few reasons to doubt as to who this case is referring to... but because the OPA lacks any transparency, it's impossible to determine for certain if they are talking about the Hays case.

One point to remember is the recent contract changes between the city and the police union states that any officers who are found to have lied during an internal investigation are to be fired. The auditor, in this observation about the case, appears to be hinting that she felt the officer in question lied by saying his testimony was a 180 degree contradiction of the video evidence... but we've not heard of any officers being fired from the SPD recently.

But, interestingly enough, the auditor's report doesn't end there as she describes an identical case involving the same officer and, if the case is the Hays case, a member of the rather infamous SPD ACT.

"I was troubled by a case with very similar circumstances three months later, involving the same officer, same kind of strikes delivered, same justification claimed, and same words spoken; but where no in-car recording was available. In that case a person with a felony warrant fled from the officers, was tackled, and was delivered knee strikes in the mid-section during handcuffing. Since the officers’ testimony was consistent and supportive of each other, the result was a finding of Exonerated. The Director and I agreed that, despite some similarities, there was no evidence available to sustain an allegation of excessive force against the employee."

As we covered shortly after the Hays incident, the SPD ACT is responsible for a large number of excessive force complaints due to their aggressive form of "proactive policing" methods. It should be interesting to see if a civil case does develop from this case, if it is the Hays case, as Hays reportedly told reporters that he was in talks with civil rights attorneys shortly after his arrest. Per departmental policy, there has been no word on how the officer was disciplined, or if any discipline had been given over the sustained finding at all.

UPDATE 12/16/08-13:48:
I just realized that this finding may have actually been reported in one of the monthly OPA reports back in October, but the description of the complaint was so vague that there would be no way to link the finding with the case. I covered that report here back in October too... Just struck me now that the two were likely linked.

But again, because of the way the OPA is set up to protect officers, even when they have been found to break the rules, it's impossible to tell if this is the Hays case for certain, even though the similarities are very striking.

Video Of Hays Arrest Released

Busy day...

The Stranger has put up the video of the brutal assault on Mark Hays by the Seattle Police Department's "Anti-Crime Team" for jaywalking has been put up on YouTube...



Sorry, I'm not offering any additional commentary, my head hurts so bad today it's making me feel like throwing up, watching this brings up some painful memories... and watching this might make you feel the same way.

Damn shame, poor guy got this brutal treatment for jaywalking.

A Busy Seattle Police Misconduct News Day

Today was a fairly busy news day in regards to police misconduct in Seattle.

First there was the Mark Hays trial results, as mentioned below.

Then there was the $20,000 police brutality settlement (was that only what the city paid or the total settlement?) in the Claxton case, as mentioned on the sidebar.

Finally, it seems that the ACLU of Washington has taken it upon themselves to push an initiative to repeal anti-marijuana laws while still remaining silent about the deadly civil rights abuses that have occured in the King County Jail. Hey, I'll admit that I'm staunchly anti-marijuana and anti-drug use so I might be a bit biased concerning the ACLU's priorities, but people are dying in that jail because their civil rights are being violated, this seems more problematic to me than some pot-heads having the right to smoke themselves stupid... especially in Seattle where the government legislated that the police must make pot-related offenses the lowest enforcement priority possible.

What's more, it seems we missed that, on Febuary 8th, the ACLU of Washington issued a letter to encourage the city of Seattle to implement the police accountability reforms that were recommended by the mayor's OPARP panel. Oddly enough, the ACLU addressed this letter to the city council, of all people! The council has been supportive of the reforms, pending their own SCCPAP panel's review, while the Seattle Police Officer's Guild has been insistent in it's reluctance towards oversight improvements... This seems to show how out of touch the ACLU is about the real and severe civil rights issues that exist in Seattle by ignoring the well-publicized problems at the jail and showing their ignorance of the well documented problems with the guild's resistance to oversight reforms at the same time.
With "friends" like this, who needs abusive cops?

Mark Hays Case Update: Hays Found Guilty

The Stranger reports that Mark Hays was found guilty of obstruction and assaulting an officer today, after days of jury deliberation and despite reports that several independent witnesses contradicted police assertions that Hays had attempted to tackle an officer prior to the video taped vicious beating Hays received from undercover officers stemming from nothing more than a jaywalking offense.

The Stranger writer who posted this story is unaware as to whether Hays' defense was permitted to show the SPD dash-mounted video of Hays' head being repeatedly smashed into the pavement by several undercover SPD officers, whether the contradictory witness testimonies from multiple bystanders was permitted in the trial, nor whether the undercover ACT officers' history of misconduct and brutality complaints were permitted either.

There has been no word on whether Hays or Lujan are still pursuing civil cases against the city in relation to this case.

UPDATE: However, there was this reply posted in the comments:

I can tell you that the video was played for the jury multiple times. There was only (one) witness that came forward besides the suspects and added nothing to the night's events besides what was on the video already. Bottom line is: if you witness something like this and are bothered by it--COME FORWARD AND TESTIFY! The fact that there were apparent "witnesses" to the event and no one came forward with a statement ruined Hays' case.

As mentioned previously, there were numerous witnesses who told The Stranger's Jonah Spangenthal-Lee that Hays did not attempt to tackle the undercover officers, contrary to police testimony. But, if the person who posted that comment was at the trial, it appears as though these witnesses were too afraid to come forward and contradict the police at trial.

I have some empathy for those frightened witnesses, experiencing or witnessing police brutality is very traumatic and changes your life forever, it makes you question your basic assumptions about society and it forces you to fear the ease with which police can abuse citizens. But as I say repeatedly... if people don't stand up against abusive officers, they'll be free to brutalize more people. Or, as some people tell me when I waver about writing this blog, the police are more likely to abuse you again if you are a victim instead of a critic.

Stranger Reporter Describes SPD Brutality Video

There's another Hays Case update over at The Stranger's blog (SLOG) where Jonah Spangenthal-Lee describes a video he watched of the Hays and Lujan case where undercover SPD "Anti-Crime Team" officers repeatedly bashed Hays' head into the pavement in front of a stunned crowd of witnesses over an alleged jaywalking offense.

Jonah says the video, which he claims to have viewed thanks to a source other than the SPD (who have refused repeated FOIA requests for that video), as coming from a patrol car mounted camera that responded to the incident aftewards but captured officers repeatedly pummeling and grinding Hays' head into the pavement that left pools of blood on the ground and on the officers while he was face-down on the ground and witnesses were screaming that he didn't do anything and asking for badge numbers.

The questions in my mind at the moment are, where did Jonah get a tape of a camera mounted on a patrol car when the SPD is notorious for denying access to such videos?

My first thought is the defense, but I know someone put the fear of god almighty into my defense lawyer who, while we're on great terms, instantly goes silent whenever I ask for the video and pictures the police have of my blood soaked and mangled face from last year.

Also, how did Jonah get access to disciplinary records for the ACT when reporters often site the SPD as the only department in the state that keeps it's disciplinary records secret?

Sure, the accounts of the SPD's ACT are documented in news articles all over the place, but I'm not aware of anyone ever being given access to SPD disciplinary records, it's a pretty big thing with them and the SPOG.

In either case, the video did not capture the begining of the incident, where officers claim Hays tackled them despite the absence of this claim from any of the several witnesses who watched the incident. Hays faces trial for assaulting an officer on Jan 22, again, despite witness accounts calling the officers' claims into dispute.

While it doesn't look good, I certainly hope that Hays and Lujan are cleared of any wrongdoing, the reaction by the ACT officers was clearly over the top, something the witnesses have all said as well.

Hays Case Update

Again, from The Stranger... as you may recall the Seattle Police Department charged Hays with Assaulting an Officer after Hays was first restrained and then repeatedly had his face bounced off the pavement by undercover officers for jaywalking.

The officers claimed Hays had attacked them first after they restrained his friend, for jaywalking, but multiple witnesses have not corroborated the officer's accounts of the arrest. Instead dozens of bystanders seem to insist that Hays and his friend were tackled by the plain-clothes officers and brutally beaten by those officers even after they had been handcuffed for nothing more than, well, jaywalking.

Hays is due in court for assault on an officer on January 22. But, as you can see, it seems that the charges are trumped up as an excuse for the brutal over-reaction by the same group of undercover officers with a history of unprovoked attacks and who have been in the paper numerous times for beating jaywalkers and other assaults where they failed to announce themselves as officers until after the fact, as reported here.

Cases like this prove to me that nobody is safe in Seattle, especially not me. It's clear that the police here are free to attack anyone they want for any reason they want without fear of being held accountable... and worse, that they can punish the people they attack even more afterward by falsifying reports without any fear of being held accountable for it whatsoever.

I wish Hays the best of luck, but historically the SPD gets away with making these kinds of accusations, I hope he's one of the exceptions.

In the meantime, lord save me if the SPD spots me in public... because nobody else in Seattle will when they beat the life out of me.

Seattle's Criminal Anti-Crime Team?

SPD following a protest march in 2003

The Seattle Police Department's "Anti-Crime Team" is a group of about a half dozen undercover officers from each Seattle Police precinct that are supposedly set up to patrol Seattle's streets undercover to look for criminal activity. Lately, however, they have been in the news several times this year for apparently instigating several instances of violence. Seemingly not satisfied with looking for crime, they have apparently resorted to making crime happen instead.

However, this isn't a recent development for the SPD's ACT, instead they have a long history of misconduct and of employing officers with criminal backgrounds and a history of misconduct. Not only this, but they are seemingly above the law and immune from any attempts to discipline, even when they are found to be in the wrong by internal investigations.

The following are the documented cases of abuses by the SPD ACT, while a small part of the SPD itself, they do seem to contribute greatly to the SPD's poor reputation and massive credibility problems.

However, most painfully clear, is that when you fail to hold such overly aggressive officers accountable, as is clearly the case in Seattle, the number of cases of abuse will only continue to get more eggregious and more frequent.

Remember, these are only the cases that have been documented in the media:

Seattle Weekly “The Cops Credibility Gap”

07/02, Nix Case:
SPD ACT pepper sprayed, then tasered in the stomach and buttocks, slapped, and repeatedly kicked a 5’10 180lb 66 year old senior citizen until they cracked his ribs, ruptured his spleen, and lacerated his abdominal wall. ACT claimed Nix was making a drug transaction and allegedly punched officers repeatedly and was too fast for them to subdue. People familiar with Nix stated that he was slow moving due to medical problems.

The SPD and ACT officers lost the use of force report and the OPA investigation left them “administratively exonerated”. Nix was left in jail for 5 days before he finally collapsed in the shower and he was taken for emergency surgery to have his spleen removed.

The Stranger “Gil’s Boys”

08/05, Sandidge Case:
SPD ACT mistake two men with clean records for gang members, taser them both numerous times, then accuse them of obstruction and assault of an officer. Months later, during trial, it is revealed the officers lied on their reports and the two men were cleared.

The SPD OPA found the officers guilty of misconduct and recommended severe sanctions. Chief Gil Kerlikowske overruled the OPA findings without explanation. Two of the three are still on the elite SPD ACT, one is working in Narcotics.

KIRO TV “Seattle Officer Accused of Excessive Force”

06/06, Post Alley Case:
Off-Duty plain-clothes ACT Officer shoots a 55 year old local defense attorney three times outside of a downtown bar after the attorney witnessed the officer throw a woman against a wall over a dispute involving the officer’s personal motorcycle.
This same officer had a criminal record before becoming an officer and a history of misconduct prior to being promoted to the ACT that included a 1995 incident where he held a gun to someone’s face while off-duty over a verbal dispute while he was off-duty. He then ground the man’s face into the ground while repeatedly hitting him in the head with his loaded duty pistol.

Officer was cleared of any wrongdoing by the OPA.

Seattle PI “Jail Unlikely for Firing at Officers”

06/06, Toro Case:
Three plain-clothes ACT detectives in an unmarked SUV instigate a fight with a jeweler in his car at an intersection without identifying themselves which resulted in Toro fleeing because he thought he was being attacked by "gangbangers" which led to a drawn out high-speed chase through residential areas while the ACT officers repeatedly discharged their weapons at Toro, missing several times and hitting his car at least twice. Toro pulled ahead and fired back, disabling the ACT SUV by shooting out the front tires. Because the ACT was shooting wildly, never engaged their lights or sirens during the chase, and never identified themselves as police officers to Toro they recklessly endangered public safety.

Toro was never charged with a crime that would have justified the officers initiating the confrontation, but he plead guilty to misdemeanors associated with brandishing and discharging a weapon to avoid a felony charge associated with the shots that disabled the SUV.

The officers involved are still being investigated, though it's doubtful that any discipline will be issued for their reckless endangerment of public safety.

The Stranger, “Tase First, Ask Questions Later”

08/06, Claxton Case:
Aaron Claxton and his cousin, Leroy Gibbs were chased by the ACT in an unmarked black SUV on their way home from a basketball game. As Claxton pulled into his garage, the SUV sped up and pulled in front of the house. The two young men ran inside when chased by four men with guns, they tasered Claxton repeatedly when they caught him before finally identifying themselves by yelling, "Police! Roll over or I will Taser you again!"

Officers then had Claxton wait a half hour handcuffed in his driveway while they tried to figure out what to charge him with.

All charges were later dropped against Claxton, who is an athletic director at a local Boys and Girls club, for lack of evidence of any wrongdoing. The ACT officers were not disciplined for the attack but Claxton filed suit in Dec of 2007. (That suit was settled for a reported $20,000 in Febuary of 2008)

Seattle PI “Jaywalkers smarting after rude encounter with cops”

09/07, De Jong Case:
Canadian couple Kristen Heidt and her boyfriend, Benjamin De Jong, were walking from a Seahawks football game and an unmarked SUV screeched to a halt near Heidt. Several plain-clothes ACT officers jumped out and tackled Heidt, bruising and bloodying her without identifying themselves as police officers, De Jong ran up and yelled fearing his girlfriend was being attacked by thugs. Officers then tackled De Jong as well, leaving him bloody and bruised as well.

De Jong was charged and jailed for pedestrian interference and obstructing while his girlfriend was not charged in the incident though the initial excuse for the attack was that she jaywalked. SPD claims an internal investigation was initiated but no results as of yet.

The Stranger, “Head Banger”

11/07, Hays Case:
Michael Lujan and Mark Hays walked in front of an unmarked SUV and were chased by several plain-clothes ACT officers for jaywalking (obstructing traffic). They then tackled Lujan and Hays in front of several witnesses from a corner coffee shop and other local businesses who then stated that they witnessed ACT officers hold Hays down on the ground while one officer sat on hays’ head and repeatedly bashed his head into the pavement at least 15 to 20 times while yelling “stop resisting” when Hays was clearly not able to resist.

ACT officers claimed that Hays tackled them when he saw that they had detained Lujan, but witnesses only stated that they saw officers jump out of the SUV and tackle Lujan and Hays. Reportedly, no investigation has been initiated. Hays faces charges of assaulting an officer and obstruction, Lujan faces charges of pedestrian interference and obstructing traffic. (Hays was convicted of both charges in Febuary of 2008 because witnesses who told reporters that Hays did not attack the officer would not come forward at trial.)

SPD's Anti-Crime Taskforce in the News AGAIN?

Correct me if I'm wrong, readers, but this seems to be the FOURTH time that the SUV riding Seattle Police Department's Anti-Crime Taskforce has been in the news for alleged misconduct... I wonder if anyone other than myself sees or even cares that there is a definite pattern of abusive behavior here.

1. The Toro case in the paper today, chasing a guy in their SUV without identifying themselves as police or turning on their sirens or lights.
2. chasing another guy in their SUV and then tasering him in his own driveway before they bothered to identify themselves as police.
3. Jumping out of their SUV and bashing a jaywlker's head into the pavement 20 times in front of several witnesses.
4. Jumping out of their SUV and assaulting a girl from Canada and her boyfriend, for jaywalking, without identifying themsleves as police.

...because it's pretty obvious that the police chief doesn't seem to notice or care that his officers are apparently rampaging through the streets and terrorizing citizens without a care in the world.

Anonymous Tip

A witness claims to have seen police misconduct in the second jaywalking assault by undercover Seattle Police officers this month.

This one occurred on November 23, 2007, and the witness has posted his accounting of events over at The Stranger Weekly forum here. (A previous story from earlier this month about undercover officers assaulting a Canadian couple for jaywalking after a football game is here) Seems to be a pattern developing.

Last night in the UDistrict around 8:45 I was at the corner of University and 45th waiting to cross the intersection, while two guys were in the middle of the crosswalk heading towards me despite the “Don’t Walk” sign. With their arms around each other, they seemed to be assisting one another with the cross. Why they needed assistance is subjective, but the taller of the two appeared to be injured, drunk off his ass, or other.

An unmarked black SUV then pulled between us, impeding their progress on the crosswalk. Four “undercover” (street clothes with POLICE vests) officers then got out of the SUV and approached the two “jaywalkers.” The shorter of the two men then started to run, but was taken to the ground and restrained shortly after by one of the officers. The remaining three officers took the injured guy to the ground and proceeded to use excessive force. While two of the officers attempted to restrain the guy (he was struggling), the third officer repeatedly punched him (at least 10 times, maybe 20). As this was going on, another witness was yelling, “Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him! You can’t do that in public!”

I found it hard to believe that three officers needed to use excessive force on one guy. I know most of you weren’t there, but does this sound justified? The Seattle Police have a track record of using excessive force in unnecessary situations.

The witness later states that he doesn't know who to contact regarding what he saw. While I did let him know about the Seattle Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability complaint process... unfortunately, even if he did use it, the complaint would be dismissed based on past findings by the SPD OPA and by the constant SPD police chief exonerations that occur even when the OPA finds wrongdoing.

Even so... It is nice to see that some people who witness police misconduct are willing to step up and try to do what's right.

UPDATE:
The Stranger Weekly just ran a story about it, seems there were several witnesses to this case of brutality, which occured mere days after the city settled a lawsuit for brutality. The Stranger's story is Here and on the sidebar.