The Seattle Times has details on two separate Department of Justice probes of the Seattle Police Department.
Feds investigating officer’s shooting of woodcarver
The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing whether to file federal criminal charges in the August shooting death of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams by a Seattle police officer.Justice Department to investigate Seattle Police civil-rights practices
Seattle Police Chief John Diaz said he welcomes the Department of Justice’s announcement Thursday that it will investigate whether his officers have engaged in a pattern of unnecessary force and biased policing.
It would seem that on the topic of police malfeasance on Capitol Hill, heat has won out on over light, if the reader comments section is any indication.
I am glad recent events in Seattle involving the SPD have attracted attention in the other Washington.
The anarchists seem to be at the ready to apply some heat to the topic and to their own rhetoric. Always plenty of heat in the content and in the frequency of comments for things like spray painting, marches and vandalism. When the feds decide get involved, and shed a little light on the SPD, with a slow, boring, procedural investigation, where are the comments? Lasting change is usually slow, incremental, and boring, while revolutions most often become corrupted, co-opted, and the new boss ends up looking like the old boss (et tu, USA).
The best antiseptic is sunlight. I welcome the federal investigation of the SPD, both for the cases under scrutiny, but also as a part of the system of checks and balances.