Police make an arrest during a counter-protest against a rally of anti-trans Christian groups in Cal Anderson Park

With revised crowd control policies and a new chief in place, Seattle has filed to formally end more than a decade of federal oversight of its police force. Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the filing Tuesday.

“An end to the consent decree does not mean the work is done – we are committed to being a learning, growing organization,” Harrell said in the announcement. “What it does mean is that it is time to fully restore local control of our police department to our community.”

CHS reported here in 2023 as a federal judge ruled that Seattle had complied with requirements of a federal consent decree put in place in 2012 after a civil rights investigation found evidence of excessive force and biased policing.

Judge James Robart’s final requirements for the decree to be lifted included a revision of the Seattle Police Department’s crowd control policies. Earlier this year, the Seattle City Council finalized new rules for how police use crowd control weapons like pepper spray, blast balls, and tear gas in compliance with federal guidelines.

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has now asked for federal court approval of the Seattle Police Department’s revised crowd management policies and is seeking termination of the consent decree, Harrell said Tuesday.

It has been a long, expensive process. But the city says the Seattle Police Department has been reformed. The U.S. Department of Justice found an estimated 20% of serious use-of-force incidents involving SPD were unconstitutional when the consent decree was put in place 13 years ago.

The department says its use of force has dropped significantly under the revised policies, falling to “0.17% of all dispatches.”

The department did not include statistics in the mayor’s announcement related to use of force and weapons in crowd control responses.

The Seattle court motion for approval of the new crowd control policies follows SPD moving on crowds of demonstrators this spring in a protest in Cal Anderson Park that brought criticism of the department’s escalation and heavy handed response to the protesters.

Wednesday, new SPD Chief Shon Barnes is scheduled to be sworn-in after his confirmation last week by the Seattle City Council.

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