June 1, 2020 on Capitol Hill (Image: Matt Mitgang with permission to CHS)
Chief Adrian Diaz has overruled the findings of the city’s Office of Police Accountability and announced he will not discipline the officer who improperly ordered the deployment of crowd control tactics in “the pink umbrella incident” — the moment the night of June 1st that set off a riot on Capitol Hill as police reacted to a umbrella thrust over the barrier outside the East Precinct at 11th and Pine with a barrage of pepper spray and blast grenades that led to a night filled with clouds of tear gas throughout Pike/Pine and a major clash with protesters.
“Decisions were made at levels of command above the Named Employee that bore directly on the Named Employee’s actions and thus actions taken by officers in the field. As a simple matter of fairness, I cannot hold the Named Employee responsible for circumstances that were created at a higher level of command authority and for carrying out decisions made at a higher rank,” the interim chief wrote in his letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Council President M. Lorena González explaining his decision to reverse the OPA finding.
The office had previously ruled that a complaint against the officer who gave the order should be sustained and that the decision to deploy the tactics was in error because “the large majority of the crowd was not acting violently at the time.”
Seattle I have a question for @SeattlePD @SeattleOPA @MayorJenny @SeattleCouncil @SeaCPC – Are you seriously saying that no one is responsible for tear-gassing a whole neighborhood? Asking on behalf of media, peaceful protesters, and residents of Cap Hill all who got gassed. pic.twitter.com/rvXhHmEpfs
— Omari Salisbury (@Omarisal) May 13, 2021
This is a protest in Seattle at Cal Anderson Park. This video is graphic pic.twitter.com/lT5gOY3FXi
— Arthur Banks Jr. (@banksa1686) June 2, 2020
Diaz’s decision further clouds the challenge of holding the Seattle Police Department accountable for its missteps including the improper crowd control actions involving blast balls, pepper spray, and tear gas during last summer’s response to Black Lives Matter protests and the formation of the Capitol Hill protest zone.
Missing text messages from last summer from Durkan, former SPD Chief Carmen Best, and Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins are also adding to frustrations as investigations and lawsuits over the protests and CHOP continue.
The reversal by Diaz also points to the OPA’s limited role as a police watchdog.
“It’s not a secret that OPA cannot, itself, impose discipline,” Andrew Myerberg, director
of the city’s Office of Police Accountability, said in a statement sent to media:
OPA stands by its decision in this matter and believes that its findings are supported by the evidence. However, as set forth in the Accountability Ordinance and while a rare occurrence, the Chief of Police has the ultimate right to disagree with OPA in full or in part and/or to decline to impose discipline as happened here. Given this, even though I do not concur in the rationale or result, I accept Chief Diaz’s decision as within the scope of his authority.
In December, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County called on City Hall to launch an investigation of the office. “There is a growing body of evidence to show SPD has failed to uphold its responsibilities, obey the law, and protect people over the past seven months,” BLMSKC said in its letter. “At worst, the evidence suggests SPD has, through its officers and in its capacity as an institution, consistently engaged in various unlawful practices. At best, the evidence suggests SPD has failed to uphold governing officer conduct policies.”
Some level of accountability may come at the ballot box as the mayor’s office and the city council’s two citywide seats are up for grabs. Durkan has already surrendered the post, announcing she will step aside after the completion of her single term this year. Her successor will ultimately name a full-time SPD chief and lead the way on the city’s new contract with the police union.
Meanwhile, the city continues to move on efforts to downsize SPD by shifting resources to other departments and shaving away at the budget, efforts pushed forward during the year of BLM and #defundSPD protests.
UPDATE: In a statement sent to media, Durkan’s office suggested that repercussions from the OPA findings may be coming saying the mayor “understands from the Chief that while he disagrees with the OPA findings as to this particular officer, the matter is far from closed.”
“Like so many in Seattle, the Mayor watched this event on the live feed, and immediately expressed her concerns about the disproportionate use of force, tactics, weapons and tools used by SPD,” the statement reads. The mayor’s office said Durkan has requested “a thorough investigation and analysis of both actions of individual officers and of the Department response as a whole.”
UPDATE x2: Chief Diaz has updated his statement on his decision around the OPA finding with a promise of “accountability for the totality of this incident” while apologizing “for the impacts to the community.”
Diaz said the officer in the complaint should not be held responsible “for the decisions of others” and says the investigation and discipline process, “as well as on-going broader assessments of what occurred that day,” has revealed new information.
The closing of the OPA case in question was not the end of the Department’s response to learning from and responding to the events of that day. I have always been committed to accountability for the totality of this incident and I remain committed to accountability. I apologize for the impacts to the community. The only aspect I disagreed with was the OPA’s finding and recommendation that the Named Employee — whose position was steps down in the chain of command — should be held responsible for the decisions of others. During this investigation and the resulting discipline process, as well as on-going broader assessments of what occurred that day, additional information has surfaced which was not included in the OPA investigation. With the pending case now resolved within its required timelines, I anticipate being able to quickly and fully reach a conclusion on who was accountable for the actions on that day and delivering appropriate accountability. I am committed to full accountability and transparency for all of our actions, but I am also committed to ensuring that I reach every decision correctly and fairly.
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