New Seattle Bill Seeks To Strengthen Subpoena Powers For OPA, OIG

SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council next week will consider new legislation that would expand the subpoena power of the city's police accountability branches, granting clearer authority to compel witnesses in cases of alleged officer misconduct.

The legislation, announced Thursday by Mayor Jenny Durkan and Councilmember Lisa Herbold, seeks to grant the Office of Police Accountability and the Office of Inspector General legal power to subpoena witnesses while ensuring due process protections for complainants and witnesses. In a news release, the mayor's office said the latter part is intended to increase compliance with subpoenas and "mitigate any chilling effects" of providing information to investigators probing allegations of misconduct.

"You don't have to be an attorney to know how important subpoenas are in investigations — that includes investigations into police misconduct too," Herbold said. "This legislation gives explicit authority to our civilian-led police accountability system to issue administrative subpoenas when gathering information critical to their investigations."

The new effort comes as the OPA investigates more than 100 allegations of police misconduct in 2020, stemming largely from the Seattle Police Department's response to ongoing protests over police brutality.

While the OPA and OIG have been able to compel officers to cooperate with investigations since 2017, the new bill would clarify the authority and extend those powers to witnesses and records, enforced by court order if necessary.

Seattle's Community Police Commission, the third branch of the city's police accountability structure, welcomed the move Thursday morning.

“The CPC has prioritized robust civilian-led investigations of police misconduct since its inception. This is why the CPC pushed for increased subpoena powers for OPA and OIG in the 2017 Accountability Ordinance and have continued to advocate for those reforms since. We are hopeful this legislation will bring the City of Seattle one step closer toward full implementation of that ordinance and remove another barrier on the road to police accountability.” -Community Police Commission Co-Chairs Rev. Aaron Williams, Rev. Harriett Walden, and Prachi Dave.

Mayor Durkan said the bill would boost public confidence in police oversight and accountability systems and serve as an important step heading toward police contract negotiations.

"Passing this bill will set the City on better footing to pursue stronger accountability measures in our collective bargaining agenda for the next round of negotiations with SPOG," Durkan said. "Ultimately, we also must pass critical reforms in Olympia regarding police discipline and other key accountability components."

As the Associated Press reported Wednesday, state lawmakers intend to pursue several measures related to police accountability when the legislature reconvenes in January.

Some of the bills being drafted for 2021 include:

• Banning the use of police K9s during arrests
• Easing the requirements for 'decertifying' police officers found guilty of misconduct, making it harder for them to get rehired at other agencies
• Curbing the use of private arbitration in misconduct appeals, which often result in fired officers getting reinstated or having punishments reversed
• Creation of a new statewide agency to oversee investigations into fatal shootings at the hands of police

The Seattle City Council will consider its subpoena legislation during a meeting scheduled Dec. 8.