Police withheld correspondence in shooting of woodcarver

The Seattle Police Department withheld the release of an e-mail written to Chief John Diaz by a City Council member who urged that an outside agency be brought in to investigate last summer's officer-involved shooting of a First Nations woodcarver.

The e-mail from Tim Burgess was not included in 75 pages of documents released by the Police Department in response to a Seattle Times request for correspondence related to the shooting of John T. Williams by Officer Ian Birk. The request was filed Sept. 8, nine days after the shooting, under the state's Public Disclosure Act.

The Times obtained the e-mail last week through a public-disclosure request to the City Council.

Last year, the department was fined $70,000 for violating public-disclosure laws for trying to prevent the release of investigative documents in an unrelated case involving allegations of excessive use of force by an off-duty officer.

In addition, the department is facing increasing criticism over several recent incidents involving police use of force, which have also sparked a U.S. Justice Department review.

In the Burgess e-mail, written two days after Williams was shot, the council member urges Diaz to bring in an outside agency to join the Police Department in investigating the shooting of Williams to "dispel a further erosion of the public's confidence in our officers."

"I realize that such a step is not common, but it would be a powerful statement about the department's willingness to have its work double-checked and it would provide a level of transparency I believe the public wants," wrote Burgess, a former Seattle police officer who heads the council's Public Safety and Education Committee.

The Williams shooting has not been investigated by an outside agency but was the subject of a recent inquest.

It is unclear why the department did not release the e-mail to The Times. The Police Department has since said its initial response to the disclosure request was "incomplete," and that additional documents "were being gathered and would be forthcoming."

The Times has asked to interview Diaz about the e-mail, but department spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said the department would not comment.

Public-disclosure fine

In August, the department was fined $70,000 by a King County Superior Court judge for violating public-disclosure laws in a civil case brought by two former U.S. attorneys who are representing a man who claims he was threatened by an off-duty officer.

Brothers Mike and John McKay, now in private practice, released a letter accusing Diaz and the department of engaging in a "full-blown cover-up" by trying to prevent the release of documents relating to a claim filed on behalf of a 19-year-old man who says he was threatened with a gun during a 2009 road-rage incident.

The McKays sent the letter to current U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan on Jan. 12 in support of a call by the American Civil Liberties Union and 34 community groups for the Department of Justice to open a civil-rights investigation into the department. Durkan on Monday announced that the Justice Department would conduct a preliminary review of the allegations.

After the Aug. 30 shooting of Williams, The Times had sought to review comments sent to the Police Department from citizens and advocacy groups. The Sept. 8 public-disclosure request asked for, among other things, "letters, e-mails, documents or other communications" sent to Diaz or his command staff from the office of Mayor Mike McGinn or members of the City Council.

The Police Department initially refused to release any documents, rejecting the initial request on Sept. 14 and an appeal on Sept. 30. The chief and department lawyers argued that the documents were part of the ongoing investigation and contained privileged information "essential to law enforcement."

The Times took the issue to the Seattle City Attorney's Office, whose lawyers met with the department's attorneys. Holmes said he "reached out directly" to Diaz and contacted McGinn's office on Dec. 3.

Holmes said in a later e-mail to The Times that he could not disclose the legal advice he offered. However, that same afternoon the Police Department contacted The Times saying it would release "almost all" of the documents sought by the newspaper.

The documents were delivered Dec. 14 with a cover letter signed for Diaz by Police Department attorney Shawna Skjonsberg-Fotopoulos, saying that some pages contained redactions for privacy reasons and that "three pages are being withheld as it is a witness statement."

It contained no indication that any other documents were being withheld.

The documents the department did provide included letters from a number of community groups and citizens, most expressing concern and criticism over the Williams shooting.

Other requests made

After receiving the department's response, The Times filed similar public-disclosure requests with the mayor and City Council for documents and e-mails sent to Diaz or his assistant chiefs relating to the Williams case.

Last week, the council turned over documents — including the e-mail sent by Burgess to the chief the day after the Williams shooting — that had not been included in the Police Department's response.

The state Public Records Act requires state agencies to make most of their records available to the public, although there are numerous exemptions. The state Supreme Court has said that, even if a document is exempt from release, an agency still must disclose that it exists.

McGinn's office, asked for comment, said in a written statement: "We expect the police department to fully comply with the Public Records Act."

The subject of the Burgess e-mail is "Public Confidence and Transparency," and Burgess tells Diaz he's disturbed about a "growing concern among citizens in Seattle about officer behavior."

Before Williams was shot, the department had come under scrutiny for several incidents involving the use of force by officers, including one where a detective was videotaped stomping on a prone Latino man suspected in a Westlake-area robbery and threatened to "beat the Mexican piss" out of him. Another video showed an officer slugging a teenage girl who was trying to interfere with a jaywalking arrest on Rainier Avenue South.

"I want to encourage you to take specific actions that will dispel a further erosion of the public's confidence in our officers," Burgess wrote. "Nipping this in the bud is important for our city and for our officers."

One reassuring step, Burgess said, would be for Diaz to ask an outside law-enforcement agency to join SPD detectives in the Williams investigation, and present their findings to the prosecutor at the same time as the department's homicide investigators.

"This will not be easy," wrote Burgess. "You will face sharp internal criticism, but I believe our officers will come to a deep appreciation of your actions once they see the results."

A week after the e-mail was sent, Burgess made a more modest call for the department to accept an "outside review" of the department's investigation. Diaz said he had no issue with a peer review, but added: "I'm confident in that the investigations we do are transparent and detailed."

Burgess, contacted Thursday, declined to comment. "My e-mail speaks for itself," he said.

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