More work remains to improve law enforcement culture

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By Juan Peralez / Herald Forum

Changing the culture of policing in America was proposed by former City of Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper in his book,” To Protect and Serve: How To Fix America’s Police ” published in 2016. A number of bills in the state Legislature look to achieve that change.

House Bill 2027, for example, will continue recent advances made by state lawmakers.

In 2021, our state Legislature put our state in the lead toward a progressive and positive direction especially for Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities who unfortunately are targeted by some members and policies of law enforcement. We had legislation passed that now has civilians as part of the Criminal Justice Training Commission Board, long overdue. Changes to certification and decertification of police officers, prevent a fired officer in one agency in our state from being rehired at another agency in the state. Legislation on police use of deadly force, set much needed limits. HB 1267 created the State Office of Independent Investigations, relieving local police from investigations when an officer kills or seriously injures a civilian. This was a recommendation in Stamper’s book, though he proposed a regional office instead of a state office.

House Bill 2027 has to do with training, certifications, background checks and professionalism standards of all persons using peace officer authority such as sheriffs, police chiefs, town marshals, reserve officers and volunteers. It brings reserve officers and volunteers into the same law enforcement system that all peace officers must abide by and assures the highest level of professionalism of law enforcement across the state.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-more-work-remains-to-improve-law-enforcement-culture/

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1. (Seattle) SPD Is Having Trouble Retaining Women Officers

https://www.thestranger.com/news/2024/02/09/79378658/spd-is-having-trouble-retaining-women-officers

SPD Is Having Trouble Retaining Women Officers

A List of Lawsuits and Complaints May Contain Some Clues to This Mystery

JUSTIN WARD
Feb 9, 2024

When Mayor Bruce Harrell took office, he summarized his plan for transforming the Seattle Police Department by saying it was all about hiring “the right number and the right kind of officer.” That sound bite, repeated often, reflects a persistent delusion among liberal police reformers that reduces policing’s ills to a matter of mere personnel. According to this view, the path to reform entails weeding out the “bad apples” and recruiting a diverse new generation of cops with a “guardian mindset” and a community-centered outlook.

During the protests over the murder of George Floyd, we heard renewed calls to hire more women officers, who police reformers claim are less likely to use excessive force and more likely to de-escalate. SPD subsequently signed on to the 30 by 30 Pledge, vowing to take steps to increase its proportion of women officers to 30 percent by 2030. It isn’t going so well.

Women officers feature prominently in SPD’s recruiting materials and make up 40% of the “Meet Our Officers” profiles on the department’s webpage, but they account for only 14.4% of sworn officers, just above the national average.

The issue appears to be retention, not recruitment. From 2017 to 2022, women comprised 17% of recruits annually on average, yet the proportion of women officers fell by 1 percentage point during that period.

…more… long read…numerous law suit details …