City of Seattle Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor

NEWS ADVISORY
SUBJECT:   Mayor Nickels announces strategy to enhance police accountability and improve police-community relations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    7/18/2002  10:23:00 AM	FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of the Mayor  (206) 684-4000

Mayor Nickels announces strategy to enhance
police accountability and improve police-community relations

Seattle- Mayor Greg Nickels today launched a comprehensive strategy to increase police accountability and reduce the potential for racial profiling.

Nickels said the strategy was designed to "improve public confidence and trust in our police."

The plan commits to installing digital video cameras in ALL patrol cars, implements a set of actions that collects relevant data on the nature of traffic stops, substantially increases police accountability, and invests in building more meaningful relationships between the police and the communities they serve.

"The goal is simple: increased accountability," said Nickels. "That’s important for citizens and police. I’m proud of our police department. They too are proud of their work, they welcome better understanding. Working together, we’re going to strengthen trust. Police can’t be effective, and our communities can’t feel safe, unless police enjoy the trust and confidence of the people we serve."

The Nickels strategy includes:

• Documenting all traffic stops by police officers, even those that don’t result in a citation.
• Installing digital cameras in all patrol cars.
• Conducting a valid and reliable survey of city residents every other year to measure attitudes about police interactions.
• Holding forums, hosted by the police department, every quarter in each of the city’s precincts to give the public a place to discuss any concerns they might have.
• Review and update the 19 hours of training of recruits focused specifically on racial sensitivity, as well as strengthen the mandatory ongoing training officers receive each year.
• Expanding the Office of Professional Accountability’s ability to record and analyze complaints alleging that racially-based policing has occurred.

"We’ve addressed this issue from multiple perspectives," Nickels said. "We’re going to collect and analyze data from several sources, increase public involvement with the police department, put interpretation of data into improved training of our officers, and track our progress. We’re going to make Seattle a national leader in this effort."

One key element of the plan is to begin collecting basic data on all traffic stops, not just those that result in a ticket, Nickels said.

"I think we all recognize that we need to understand as accurately as possible what is happening at the point of personal interaction between the police and individuals in the community," Nickels said. "The best way to start that is by documenting each interaction."

Under Nickels’ strategy, those who are stopped but not cited will be given a copy of a form that will provide basic data, including the officer’s identification number. The Consent Form will be revised to increase information about discretionary searches that might occur. The form will be collected and analyzed along with citations. Moreover, citizens will have an opportunity to see exactly what the officer is reporting and will be able to take issue with it, if they wish.

Nickels said all items of the plan could be implemented with the $200,000 currently set aside in the council-approved budget, except for the adding of video cameras to all police cars. Nickels said the city believes federal funding for the cameras is likely. If the federal funds are not made available, at least 25 cars will be equipped this year. The city will work to equip the remaining cars over the next few years.

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Mayor's Office

Action
Implement a comprehensive set of initiatives to ensure police accountability, improve police-community relations and address concerns about racial profiling and racially-biased policing.

1. Ensure accountability.
2. Increase trust and understanding between police and the community.

• Policy – SPD has revised its policy directive on racially biased policing based upon a national model developed by the Police Executive Research Forum.
• Accountability All traffic stops will be documented by police officers. All reports will continue to be reviewed by sergeants and will be subject to regular internal SPD audits. Consent forms will be revised to include additional information about discretionary searches. Digital video cameras will be installed in all patrols vehicles.
• Community Outreach – A comprehensive survey will be conducted of city residents designed to assess, track and monitor community attitudes towards the police department. Quarterly community forums will be held in each precinct to discuss issues of local concern. In addition, there will be focused discussions with community groups and SPD advisory councils to specifically discuss race-related issues. The ride-along program will be expanded for both citizens and professionals to promote citizen understanding of police activities.
• Training – SPD will continue and update training about racially biased policing and best practices for police-community engagement. The department will incorporate data and information obtained from surveys, observations and reports into the training curriculum, supervisory protocols and community forums.
• Data collection – The city will expand and enhance efforts to collect both quantitative and qualitative information on traffic stops, in order to identify areas that need more attention and focus. Stops that do not result in a citation or an arrest will be recorded on a new form that provides the same data (driver information, officer name and detailed information about the stop) as citations. An independent consultant will analyze the data.

• Relies on multiple sources of information about police activity that can be interrelated and examined for consistency and context.
• Creates new sources of information and level of documentation for traffic stops not resulting in citations or arrests. New and detailed information collected on consent searches.
• Uses existing records systems and reporting formats for ease of officer use, and to facilitate internal auditing and ongoing data analysis. This will allow officers to remain on the street rather than spending additional time on paperwork.
• Applies geographic information system mapping techniques to better understand and interpret the data.
• Pursues data collection as means of enhancing police responsibility for actions taken and not as an end in itself.
• Provides an official report that can be referenced if a complaint is filed or if any other issues or concerns are raised about the traffic stop.
• Enhances the Office of Professional Accountability. The office will record and analyze complaints of racially-biased policing.

• Includes a valid and reliable survey of Seattle residents about their opinions and interactions with Seattle Police officers. Covers all types of contacts (police and citizen-initiated) as well as public attitudes and opinions of the police department. Modeled on national Police-Public Contact Survey developed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Provides for ongoing review of citizen complaints and requests for service, for example, citizen traffic complaints, in context of police actions.
• Uses Minority Community Engagement Initiative, funded by federal COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program, as a vehicle for public interaction and communication of concerns and issues and for educating the community about specific local public safety problems.
• Solicits public comments through quarterly forums organized and held within each precinct.
• Adds a community member to the selection panel for new police officers.
• Adds a community member to the selection panel for the data analysis consultant.

• Provides for review and update of the current training on racial sensitivity, cultural competency and understanding as well as ethics for all recruits.
• Continues segments on police engagement and disengagement and on best practices for stops and other public interactions in annual 40-hour in-service training courses for all officers.
• Emphasizes accountability, best practices, current case law and supervision techniques in a new 40-hour course for sergeants.
• The department will incorporate data and information obtained from surveys, observations and reports into the training curriculum, supervisory protocols and community forums.

• Compiles data from SPD records and existing record management and computer aided dispatch systems.
• Hires an independent consultant through a competitive selection process to analyze all data and to advise on sampling, data gathering and survey procedures.
• Reports regularly on the results of the data analysis.
• Obtains qualitative data through a citizen survey and studies to better assess and explain the quantitative data.
• Uses geographic information system to provide a basis for providing better understanding for interpreting the data.

July 2002
SPD policy on bias based policing
Street Skills Training – ongoing
Supervisor Training - ongoing

September 2002
Consent search forms - ongoing

October 2002
Traffic stop contact forms – ongoing
Precinct-level community forums – ongoing quarterly

November 2002
Hire independent consultant

January-March 2003
Citizen Survey – biannually

December 2003
Annual report - annually

Budget: approximately $200,000.

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