Protests, calls for change grow over shooting

The chairman of the Seattle City Council's public-safety committee Wednesday called for an outside law-enforcement agency to review the Seattle police investigation into the fatal shooting of a First Nations totem carver by one of its officers.

Councilmember Tim Burgess said the Aug. 30 shooting, coupled with other controversial police confrontations with citizens, requires new steps to address public concerns.

"One concern I have is the cumulation of incidents has the potential to reach a tipping point, where large segments of our community lose confidence in the police and that would be incredibly damaging," said Burgess.

Asked about Burgess' suggestion, Police Chief John Diaz said he had no issue with peer review by an outside agency.

"I'm confident in that the investigations we do are transparent and detailed," Diaz said.

The police chief said such investigations are reviewed internally and externally by a jury and by the prosecutor.

The shooting has confronted Diaz with his greatest crisis since he was elevated from interim to permanent chief last month, coming on the heels of highly publicized cases in which a white male officer punched a young black woman in a jaywalking incident and two officers kicked a prone Latino man, with one using ethnically inflammatory language.

In last week's shooting, John T. Williams, 50, was shot by Officer Ian Birk at a busy intersection near downtown, prompting witnesses and Williams' friends to question whether the well-known public inebriate, who was carrying a small knife and a piece of wood, posed any threat to the officer.

His death prompted more protests Wednesday, including a sharply worded letter from the American Civil Liberties Union urging the department to change its attitude toward the use of force.

"Too often, officers have overreacted or escalated incidents when the subject is an individual of color, disabled, homeless or, otherwise 'different,' " ACLU Director Kathleen Taylor wrote in an open letter Wednesday to Diaz, Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Council. "This mindset must change," she wrote. "The pattern of violence must stop."

Police chief objects

Diaz reacted sharply to Taylor's assertion, saying he found these assertions "to be both inaccurate and objectionable." He said he would discuss the issue privately with Taylor.

"The Seattle Police Department is committed to providing effective police services to our community," Diaz said in a prepared response. "We are continuously evaluating our protocols and procedures to ensure that we are delivering the quality of service that all citizens of Seattle expect and deserve."

The thrust of the ACLU letter, if not its specifics, was embraced by Burgess and some other council members, who called for decisive leadership from McGinn and Diaz.

"There is a culture in the police department which I believe needs adjusting," Burgess said Wednesday. "It's a philosophical mindset: Are we about command and control, or are we about maintaining the peace and public safety?"

McGinn responded by saying the department is already addressing the issues and talking with affected communities.

"I take seriously any concerns raised in the community as to whether the police department behaves differently if somebody is a member of a minority group or homeless," McGinn said Wednesday. "We're going to be working on how we can train and prepare our officers."

McGinn said he's open to an outside review of the police department's investigation, but he thinks it should wait until after the department's Firearms Review Board (FRB) conducts its inquiry to determine if the shooting was justified.

"We have a process in place," he said. "I think you have to let the city process do its job."

If the public is reassured by an outside review, McGinn said it's "perfectly fine" to do one. "We're completely open and transparent in how we're conducting the investigation."

Burgess said a peer review of the "breadth, scope and adequacy" of the department's investigation would provide transparency and should be shared with the King County Prosecutor's Office before it oversees a public inquest into the shooting.

The FRB's findings wouldn't be issued until after an inquest, Burgess said, referring to the court proceeding in which jurors would determine whether the officer acted properly.

Witnesses said Birk, 27, who had been an officer for two years, ordered Williams three times to drop the knife before he fired at least four rounds from a distance of about nine feet, police said. The officer apparently stopped Williams because he was carrying a stick and a small folding knife he used to whittle his carvings.

Friends of Williams were outraged, saying he hardly posed a threat to the officer. Williams was a chronic alcoholic who friends say was hard of hearing and who suffered from a host of other health problems.

Further scrutiny

"I think we need to reevaluate the training to make sure that our officers have the confidence and the skills to deal with some of these really volatile situations," said Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, referring to the shooting and the other incidents.

Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer, who heads the Firearms Review Board, said he plans to use the board's review of the Williams shooting to further scrutinize whether the department is doing all it can to provide officers with the training and tools to minimize the use of force and de-escalate dangerous situations.

Burgess said he favors expanding the roles of the citizen and police union observers who are allowed to ask questions during the Firearms Review Board's examination but not to participate in its deliberations.

The citizen observer, Seattle attorney Rebecca Roe, urged in a July report to city officials that she be given a chance to be present during the board's deliberations and offer comments to the police chief, positions that Burgess said he supports.

Kimerer said the department is reviewing the state Police Academy's training and use-of-force curriculum "to see if there are incongruities or disconnects" between what is taught there and the expectations of the department. He said the department has taken significant steps to provide officers with less-than-lethal alternatives.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com