DRAFT REPORT OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE USE ... - Samuel Walker

City of Spokane Use of Force Commission December 20, 2012
Graham, LEEDA –FBI Executive Director Tom Stone, Washington State Criminal
Justice Training Commission Defensive Tactics/Firearms Program Manager Bob Bragg,
ACLU Deputy Director for Washington Jennifer Shaw, former U.S. Attorney for the
Eastern District of Washington James McDevitt, SPD Interim Chief Scott Stephens, and
former SPD Chiefs of Police Anne Kirkpatrick and Roger Bragdon.
The Commission has been assisted in its work by three expert consultants, engaged
through contracts with the City of Spokane. Stanley Schwartz, a principal in the law firm
of Witherspoon – Kelley, served as the Commission’s independent legal counsel. The
Commission hired Mildred O’Linn, an expert in police civil liability and police training and
tactics, to review the SPD use of force training program and Field Training Officer (FTO)
program. Ms. O’Linn, a former police officer, is a partner in the law firm of Manning &
Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez LLP in Los Angeles, California. The Commission also engaged
Mike Gennaco to review the SPD use of force reporting program, the Internal Affairs
protocols for investigating use of force cases, and the SPD Fatal Incident Protocols and
Deadly Force Review Policy. Mr. Gennaco is a former U.S. Department of Justice
attorney who now heads the Office of Independent Review (OIR) for Los Angeles
County. The OIR is a civilian oversight group that was created by the LA County Board
of Supervisors in 2001 to monitor the LA County Sheriff's Department and provide legal
advice to ensure that allegations of officer misconduct involving the LASD are
investigated in a thorough, fair, and effective manner. Mr. Gennaco was engaged
through his consulting practice, OIR Group.
In the case of Ms. O’Linn and Mr. Gennaco, extensive reports have been filed on their
respective areas of inquiry. See Exhibits C and D. In many instances, the material
complied by Ms. O’Linn and Mr. Gennaco is incorporated directly into this report. Prime
examples of this include the recommendations regarding SPD training improvements,
certifying defensive tactics instructors, reforming the use of force reporting system, and
improving investigatory practices. In regards to other matters raised by these two
experts, although the Commission has chosen not to repeat their recommendations in
its own report, it does not intend to signal in any way that these recommendations are
lacking in significance. To the contrary, the entirety of both reports, particularly their
recommendations for improvement, are forwarded to the SPD for its serious review and
consideration. See, e.g., Exhibit D at 20-23 (Canine Cases). Finally, the Commission
notes that the engagement of the consultants has already resulted in positive
operational changes within the SPD. Just a few examples of this include modifications
to Pre-FTO training procedures (Exhibit C at 6), revisions to the annual in-service
firearms training (Id. at 25), and efforts to create a more formalized annual training
needs assessment consistent with SPD policy 208.5 (Id. at 32-33).
All of the Commission’s public meetings were held in the Spokane City Council
Chambers. Public notices were sent out prior to the meetings and time was reserved
during each meeting for public comment. Every meeting was broadcast on Spokane
City Channel 5 and the recordings of each were posted to the City Channel 5 web site.
Appendix E – CD-Rom.
City of Spokane Use of Force Commission – Page 4