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: Injustice in Seattle

The Waiting Game

By David Packman

It appears as though an uneasy silence is hovering over the city of Seattle as a few different shoes are preparing to drop... Here's a look at the issues currently waiting for resolution:

The US Department of Justice investigation into deadly constitutional rights violations at the King County Correctional Facility(KCCF) is still ongoing. There have been no new updates from the DOJ nor King County, and judging by past investigations the process averages about 11 months from findings of abuse to legal action, so we anticipate an update by October... In the meantime, while they take their time arguing, more potentially innocent pre-trial detainees are likely suffering abuses and torture.

The Seattle Police Officers Guild is still planning for their march on city hall in an attempt to force the city to drop demands for police accountability reforms while still demanding hefty pay raises during their stalled contract talks. I've requested information from the city to determine when the police union got their permits to picket and what I can do to counter-protest but I've received no reply...

I've issued requests to each member of city council to see where this is heading and to see if they are losing their backbone. If all 29 recommended reforms are not enacted, the civilian oversight and police accountability system in Seattle will remain unreliable, allowing abusive and corrupt officers to escape discipline for misconduct... so don't fall for it if both sides claim progress for implementing a couple reforms and dropping the rest, each item is essential and you can bet that if any item is dropped that it would be a key item in the recommendations.

I'll post an update as I hear more.

Full post as published by Injustice in Seattle on February 22, 2008 (boomark / email).