New Seattle police contract must include stronger accountability

In final negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild over a new contract, City Hall negotiators can choose to either re-emphasize accountability for discipline and alleged misconduct or take a pass.

It should not be a tough call.

To strengthen bonds between cops and communities, Seattle leaders must ensure that any new labor agreement fully implements the city’s landmark 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance.

Mayor Bruce Harrell voted for the ordinance when he served on the City Council. He also voted for a police contract the following year that was roundly criticized by community groups and others for undermining those same reforms.

With massive pay raises in the works for police and other city employees, now is the time to get this right.

The City Council unanimously passed Ordinance 125315 to overhaul Seattle’s police accountability system nearly seven years after an officer’s fatal shooting of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams in 2010 drew national attention to Seattle law enforcement.

The legislation created a new Office of the Inspector General, strengthened the Community Police Commission and the Office of Police Accountability, and mandated reforms on a wide range of other topics, including discipline for dishonesty and secondary employment.

But just a year later, the Community Police Commission unanimously urged the City Council to reject a 2018 police contract that it claimed took accountability back a few steps.

An example: Rather than conforming to the 2017 ordinance’s requirement for a single and transparent avenue of disciplinary appeal, the contract allowed officers to choose among multiple avenues of appeal without the same level of transparency and standards, according to a letter signed by 24 community leaders and organizations.

In addition, the contract included a new standard if bad behavior could be stigmatizing to an officer seeking other employment.

Back in 2018, only then-Councilmember Kshama Sawant voted no on the controversial contract.

First reported by the news site Publicola, the current tentative agreement with SPOG includes an immediate 23% pay bump to officers, who have not received a raise since their last contract expired nearly three years ago. The entry-level pay for Seattle police officers would rise from $83,000 to $102,000.

At the moment, new officers earn more in Redmond ($101,844), Kent ($96,268) and Bellevue ($95,850).

This initial contract runs retroactively and focuses mostly on pay. The real debate is yet to come: a SPOG contract covering the next few years that ought to include more robust accountability measures.

These reforms include strong policies on secondary employment by officers, closing loopholes used to avoid discipline and fixing the broken disciplinary-appeals system.

Compensation increases for SPD are well deserved. For this to be a milestone moment, lingering concerns about lax accountability should be resolved as well.

To take a pass would fan cynicism rather than build community trust.