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Clerk 12/08/2008
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A MOTION establishing county labor policy related to civilian oversight of King county law enforcement.
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WHEREAS, the metropolitan King County council is charged with the responsibility of providing oversight to all county agencies and departments, including the sheriff's office, and
WHEREAS, the council exercises its responsibilities for providing oversight of county agencies and departments in a variety of ways, including the establishment of offices within the legislative branch to provide specialized oversight services. The county auditor and ombudsman are just two of the offices that facilitate independent county oversight, and
WHEREAS, the sheriff's office has systems for addressing citizen complaints and allegations of employee misconduct, but unlike many other jurisdictions, the county has no independent civilian oversight agency dedicated to the oversight of law enforcement. Most large jurisdictions, and many small ones, have implemented a variety of models for civilian oversight of alleged law enforcement officer misconduct. For example, the city of Seattle has established an office of professional accountability to monitor misconduct allegations within the Seattle police department, and
WHEREAS, recognizing the need to bolster public confidence and to ensure proper oversight is exercised, the council began deliberations on legislation that would implement civilian oversight of the sheriff's office. The council's law, justice and human services committee held ten separate hearings on the issues associated with civilian oversight of law enforcement. The councilmembers heard testimony from representatives of the sheriff's internal investigations unit, the ombudsman/office of citizen complaints, Seattle police department's office of professional accountability, and reviewed materials detailing models for civilian oversight and evaluated the types and effectiveness of existing systems for police agency ...
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