New Federal Monitor Appointed To Oversee Seattle Police Agreement

SEATTLE, WA — A federal judge this week confirmed a new court monitor to oversee the Seattle Police Department's compliance with the consent decree, a federal oversight agreement signed in 2012. It provides specific accountability measures, use of force policies and bias-free policing practices that the department must meet and maintain.

According to a court filing published Tuesday, Dr. Antonio Oftele will assume the court monitor role, taking the reigns from Merrick Bobb, the executive director of the Police Assessment Resource Center in Los Angeles. The order also installs Monisha Harrell, chair of Equal Rights Washington, as deputy monitor.

The Seattle Times reports the outgoing monitor confirmed his resignation Tuesday, telling the newspaper "it's time for a change."

His replacement, a Harvard professor and former member of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, published a Medium essay in June outlining his "vision for transformation in American Policing and Public Safety." In August, Oftelie penned an opinion piece for Crosscut, cautioning against largescale defunding of police departments, and arguing in favor of transformational changes accomplished over the long-term.

In 2018, U.S. District Judge James Robart found the police department to be in "full and effective compliance" with reforms, kicking off a two-year review period to measure its ability to sustain. A year later, Robart found the city had fallen partially out of compliance with the agreement, pointing to accountability weaknesses in the existing police contract, including an appeal process that allows officers to have disciplinary decisions reversed behind closed doors.

In May, just weeks before nationwide protests over policing began across the nation, Seattle filed a motion to terminate the sustainment plan, arguing the department was transformed and a now national leader in reform.

Seattle withdrew that motion in early June, and City Attorney Pete Holmes wrote that the city needed to "pause" the effort while its police accountability branches investigate use of force at recent demonstrations, including the use of "crowd control weapons."

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