Politics & Government

Witness Interviews Begin As Seattle Protest Complaints Hit 15,000

The Office of Police Accountability will conduct extensive interviews as it probes allegations of officer misconduct at Seattle protests.

A line of police officers surrounding City Hall on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Seattle, look towards demonstrators following protests over the death of George Floyd.
A line of police officers surrounding City Hall on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Seattle, look towards demonstrators following protests over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE, WA — Seattle's police watchdog is undertaking a massive effort to probe allegations of police misconduct at recent protests, shelving all other investigations for at least a month.

According to the Office of Police Accountability, interviews with witnesses and complainants are underway in 14 separate investigations, pulled from more than 15,000 complaints received since the weekend.

The OPA assigned a 15th investigation Thursday afternoon, centered on an allegation that an officer threatened violence against protesters over police radio.

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Related: Seattle Mayor, Police Chief Face Questions Over Protest Response


Anne Bettesworth, deputy director of public affairs, said interviews with members of the police department have not begun, due to contractual restrictions and administrative timelines.

Find out what's happening in Seattlewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The police watchdog received at least 12,000 of the complaints by Monday and said a "vast majority" referenced a video showing a girl after she was hit by pepper spray during Saturday's protest. Earlier in the week, the OPA released a list of ten cases that garnered the highest number of complaints.

(Seattle Office of Police Accountability)

Since then, the OPA initiated several probes into police actions during a protest on Capitol Hill Monday night. The first three concerned a confrontation between an officer and a man, an allegation of a flash-bang hitting a news reporter, and officers' use of pepper spray and flash-bangs to disperse a large crowd outside the east precinct, captured in at least two viral videos.

Investigators later assigned a fourth case related to Monday night, after a video appeared to show a homeless man hit by a police flash-bang while he was sleeping in Cal Anderson Park.

OPA aims full staff, additional resources at protest probes

Addressing the Seattle City Council on Wednesday, OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said his office reached an agreement with the police department and its union to shelve all other investigations for at least a month. Myerberg said 100 percent of his staff would work on protest-related cases to expedite the findings.

The OPA plans to take Mayor Jenny Durkan up on her offer for additional resources, but it does not have an estimate for how much extra staffing may be needed, Myerberg's office told Patch Thursday. Each investigation is assigned a primary investigator, and most cases involve two to four employees to assist with various reviews.

Myerberg acknowledged that investigations can take a long time, often the full 180 days allotted, and even cases on an expedited schedule can fail to provide needed resolutions as fast as they are needed.

"Even two months, even thirty days, is too long for people," Myerberg told city councilmembers Wednesday. "I understand that, and I can't get around that."

The director also signaled support for developing a community-driven process to help guide investigations and said further, systemic reforms are needed.

"I don't want people to think that an OPA investigation can be a panacea for what is ailing us as a society, and what is ailing this system," Myerberg said. "We need to reevaluate top to bottom."

So far, only the case involving the young girl is slated for a 60-day resolution, but the OPA said all probes related to the demonstrations would be completed "as soon as we possibly can." Investigators continue to seek witnesses and family members who say the girl was pepper-sprayed.


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