November 30, 2015 Mr. Merrick Bobb, Seattle Police Monitor Via E-mail: merrickbobb@parc.info Dear Mr. Bobb, Since late June 2015, draft legislation to reform the Seattle Police Department’s accountability system has been ready for submission to the City Council. This package has been jointly endorsed by all City stakeholders and came out of a comprehensive set of recommendations originally issued by the Community Police Commission (CPC) in April 2014. The legislation provisions ready for immediate action (others must await the conclusion of collective bargaining) are detailed in an August 21, 2015 letter from the City to you and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). We wish to be on record with our strong support of the proposed legislation as represented in the City’s letter. We also believe it is urgent that all impediments to City Council action and the Mayor’s signature need to be removed. Twenty months after the CPC identified, on behalf of the community, needed improvements to the accountability system, further delay in moving forward with the full package does not meet the expectations of our communities for substantive and timely reforms. Among other important elements in the legislation are provisions to strengthen the independence and authority of the professional civilian oversight bodies, the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) and the Office of the OPA Auditor. Critically, the legislation also provides that the CPC become the permanent community-based oversight body for the police department. In many respects we were Seattle’s first de facto community police commission—many of our organizations were among the thirty-five community groups that signed the 2010 letter asking DOJ to investigate SPD. Before the Settlement was finalized, we strongly urged that the community have a seat at the table during the reforms and stated that, on an ongoing basis, SPD had to be accountable to the community. Through the CPC, the Settlement Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the DOJ provide that the community’s voice is heard during the reform process. Now it is time to make permanent the community’s role in overseeing our police department. We have high confidence in the CPC which has served as the community oversight body to the reform work for nearly 3 years. It has a positive track record of openness and fairness that we respect, and it takes seriously its role in both directly representing a wide range of community perspectives and in engaging community members to obtain their views. All of the City of Seattle partners have expressed their agreement with the CPC on a consensus package of comprehensive reforms. Almost exactly one year ago, in the face of the impending unrest nationally in the wake of events in Ferguson, Missouri, Mayor Murray predicted that matters in Seattle would go differently in large part because the CPC stepped up to channel community sentiment into the reform process. He committed to forwarding an accountability reform package to the City Council by early in 2015. Councilmembers have also Page 1 of 5 expressed their willingness to move expeditiously on the package. Yet, despite our understanding that the accountability system was largely left to the political leaders of the city and the CPC under the MOU, accomplishing these agreed upon reforms seems to have stalled. Many CPC members come from our communities and they have put in significant time, both previously and in their current capacity, to championing and working collaboratively to achieve police reforms. Their participation in the work of the CPC requires an extensive investment of effort, some of which is offered at the expense of their other responsibilities. We see that sacrifice as worthwhile if it results in substantive, effective changes to our police department. However, we are concerned that the CPC’s hard-won accountability system recommendations, which are embraced by all City stakeholders, are at risk. We are also concerned that the credibility of community involvement in the reform process is being undercut. In requesting a DOJ investigation and court supervision, we did not think it would replace the community’s expertise and leadership. In respect to the accountability legislation, this guidance has been provided, as required by the MOU, and we ask that you seek the court’s permission for the City to move forward with the jointly agreed to accountability reform package immediately. Sincerely, The Reverend Aaron Williams, Senior Pastor Mount Zion Baptist Church Diane Narasaki, Executive Director Asian Counseling and Referral Service Estela Ortega, Executive Director El Centro de La Raza S. Arsalan Bukhari, Executive Director Council on American-Islamic Relations of Washington State Pamela Stearns, President King County Native American Leadership Council The Reverend Steve Baber, President Washington Christian Leaders Coalition The Reverend Lawrence Willis, President United Black Clergy Sheley Secrest, Vice President NAACP Seattle King County Rich Stolz, Executive Director OneAmerica Page 2 of 5 Diakonda Gurning and Sheri Day, Coalition Designated Representatives John T. Williams Organizing Coalition Jorge Barón, Executive Director Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Dorothy Wong, Executive Director Chinese Information and Service Center Andrea Caupain, CEO Centerstone Alison Eisinger, Executive Director Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness Timothy Harris, Executive Director Real Change Daniel Malone, Executive Director Downtown Emergency Services Center The Reverend Paul Benz, Co-Director Faith Action Network Michael Ramos, Executive Director Church Council of Greater Seattle Rebecca Saldana, Executive Director Puget Sound Sage Pamela Banks, President and CEO Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle Christopher T. Stearns Native American attorney and past Seattle Human Rights Commission Chair Jeff Johnson, President WA State Labor Council, AFL-CIO Beto Yarce, Executive Director Ventures Non-Profit Hilary Stern, Executive Director Casa Latina Page 3 of 5 Jacqueline Wu, President OCA – Greater Seattle Jafar "Jeff" Siddiqui American Muslims of Puget Sound Kevin Cummings, Founder and President Council for First Inhabitants Rights and Equality (Council FIRE) Maiko Winkler-Chin, Executive Director Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority Marcos Martinez, Executive Director Entre Hermanos Maria Batayola, President Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington Mozart Guerrier, Executive Director 21 Progress Nina Martinez, Chair Latino Civic Alliance Paul Tashima, President Japanese American Citizens League - Seattle Peter Bloch Garcia, Executive Director Latino Community Fund Rogelio Riojas, President and CEO SeaMar Community Health Centers Sharonne Navas, Co-Founder and Executive Director Equity in Education Coalition Teresa Mosqueda, Political and Strategic Campaign Director WA State Labor Council, AFL-CIO Tony Lee, Co-Chair Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of King County Beth Takekawa, Executive Director Wing Luke Museum Page 4 of 5 Tony To, Executive Director HomeSight The Honorable State Representative Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney Frances Carr, Community Leader Kitty Wu, Community Leader Michael Woo, Community Leader Samantha B. Morales, Community Leader Sharon Maeda, Community Leader Tammy Morales, Community Leader Cc: Hon. Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, United States of America Vanita Gupta, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice Tim Mygatt, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice Puneet Cheema, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice Hon. James L. Robart, US District Court, Western District of Washington Annette L. Hayes, US Attorney, Western District of Washington Hon. Edward Murray, Mayor, City of Seattle Tim Burgess, President, Seattle City Council Jean Godden, Member, Seattle City Council Kshama Sawant, Member, Seattle City Council Bruce A. Harrell, Member, Seattle City Council Sally Bagshaw, Member, Seattle City Council Tom Rasmussen, Member, Seattle City Council Nick Licata, Member, Seattle City Council Mike O’Brien, Member, Seattle City Council Lorena Gonzalez, Member, Seattle City Council Debora Juarez, Member-elect, Seattle City Council Robert Johnson, Member-elect, Seattle City Council Lisa Herbold, Member-elect, Seattle City Council Peter S. Holmes, City Attorney, City of Seattle The Reverend Harriett Walden, Co-Chair, Seattle Community Police Commission Lisa Daugaard, Co-Chair, Seattle Community Police Commission Fe Lopez, Executive Director, Seattle Community Police Commission Page 5 of 5