OPA Clears Police Brass In Abandoning Of Seattle's East Precinct

SEATTLE — A lengthy investigation by Seattle's Office of Police Accountability has cleared former police chief Carmen Best and an assistant chief of all allegations of misconduct relating to the abandonment of Capitol Hill's East Precinct in June 2020, hours before the formation of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, later called the "CHOP."

The Seattle Police Department boarded up and left the precinct on June 8, 2020, after nearly a week of escalating clashes outside a police barricade, police munitions injuring protesters and the repeated blanketing of Capitol Hill in tear gas.

Exactly who ordered the precinct's abandonment had remained a mystery for more than a year, with both Best and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan insisting it was not their call. In July, KUOW revealed the decision ultimately came from assistant chief Tom Mahaffey. In a closed case summary dated Sept. 30 and released publicly Monday, the OPA said most of KUOW's report was largely consistent with its findings.

According to the OPA, its investigation included interviews with two community members who filed complaints, along with nine SPD employees and two staffers from Mayor Durkan's office. Watchdog investigators also obtained a log of cellphone calls between Best and Mahaffey, internal emails and a spreadsheet of text messages.

Both faced four allegations of misconduct, and OPA director Andrew Myerberg sustained none, ruling that neither Best nor Mahaffey violated SPD policies or the city's laws and charter.

In a news release Monday, the OPA writes:

"On June 8, the Mayor’s Office directed the Chief to remove the barricades and permit demonstrators to pass along the street. The Chief did so and delegated the specifics of maintaining continuous police operations within the confines of the East Precinct to her Assistant Chief. Ultimately, the Assistant Chief, in consultation with other commanders, ordered all police personnel to evacuate the East Precinct facility. OPA found this to be a reasonable decision based on the information available and the Assistant Chief’s need to protect both the East Precinct and the physical safety of protesters and SPD officers under his command."

In a statement released with the findings, Myerberg said he believed the evidence showed the chief and assistant chief "made the best decisions they could under high-stress, unprecedented circumstances."

During his interview with the OPA, Mahaffey spoke with investigators about his decision to evacuate the precinct:

"I had to weigh what was put in front of me, based on the current concerns I had. I mean, I think—ultimately, our hand was forced by us not being allowed to use the tactics that I suggested to better fortify and secure the building, so left with minimal options, uh, I took the best course of action that I felt at the time was necessary, again, to protect the sensitive files, our computer systems, and not allow firearms to fall in the wrong hands, to get, uh, police vehicles that we didn’t want destroyed out of—out of there, uh, you know, with—that’s what I was left with, that’s what I had to deal with, and that’s what I felt was necessary to do at the time."

The OPA said Mahaffey and Best offered differing accounts over whether the chief was made aware of his decision to abandon the precinct before it was underway. In a second interview, Mahaffey said he told Best in a phone call "exactly what we were going to do," and that he wouldn't make the decision without running it by her.

According to the OPA, Best said she would have "preferred to have been a part of the decision-making process before we decided to exit and [she] wasn't." However, Best said she had "every confidence" in Mahaffey and that incident commanders were expected to make big decisions.

Myerberg writes:

"Ultimately, the evidence is conflicting as to whether [Best] explicitly approved the plan to evacuate the East Precinct or if [Mahaffey] made this decision independently. OPA believes it much more likely that this ambiguity was the result of a number of complicated decisions being made during a highly stressful, rapidly evolving situation."

In a statement released Monday afternoon, the Seattle Community Police Commission said it was reviewing the OPA's case and planned to discuss the findings with Myerberg and interim police chief Adrian Diaz during its regularly scheduled meeting on Wedneday.