By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press–
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's mayor may
soon have something in common with tough-talking Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The U.S. Justice Department has
threatened to sue Mayor Mike McGinn over allegations that Seattle police
officers regularly use excessive force.
McGinn is due to respond this week
to DOJ demands for reforms in the Police Department.
If McGinn doesn't agree to make
changes that satisfy the DOJ and agree to the appointment of an outside
monitor, he can expect a lawsuit from the U.S. attorney in Seattle as early as
next month.
That's the same ultimatum — standard
in DOJ reviews of police departments — that drew an objection from Arpaio, who
said he couldn't stomach the idea of an independent monitor undermining his
authority.
"I am not going to surrender my
office to the federal government," he said last week after the DOJ sued
him over allegations that his department racially profiled Latinos.
It was only the second time since
the verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case and Los Angeles riots that
the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a law enforcement agency with
which it was unable to reach an agreement.
On Monday, McGinn said for the first
time that, in principle, he would agree to a monitor and a court-enforced
settlement.
But speaking on public radio station
KUOW, he also said the changes proposed by federal prosecutors — including
increased training and the hiring of more sergeants to supervise street
officers — could cost the city $41 million a year.
He said the changes could also
jeopardize the department's ability to respond to public safety emergencies,
and the cost could require cuts to important city services.
The DOJ disputes those points,
calling the cost projection "simply wrong" in a written statement.
Prosecutors invited McGinn to bring any concerns to their attention and said
they remain optimistic they can reach an agreement with the mayor.
"Constitutional policing does
not inhibit or hamstring the police," U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said.
"The city of Seattle and the police who do their jobs can't afford for us
not to fix the problems. On every front, the cost is too high, for
everybody."
The city's counterproposal to the
DOJ would require no more than $5 million per year, according to a confidential
city budget office memo obtained by The Associated Press.
Seattle is facing a projected budget
deficit of $32 million over the next two years.
"We hear the concerns DOJ is
raising," McGinn said. "My hope is DOJ can hear the concerns we're
raising."
The Justice Department launched its
formal civil rights investigation early last year, following the fatal shooting
of a homeless, Native American woodcarver and other incidents of force used
against minority suspects.
Surveillance cameras and
police-cruiser videos captured officers beating civilians, including stomping
on a prone Latino man who was mistakenly thought to be a robbery suspect, and
an officer kicking a non-resisting black youth in a convenience store.
In December, a DOJ report found
officers are too quick to reach for weapons, such as batons and flashlights,
even when arresting people for minor offenses.
In all, the report found, one out of
every five times an officer used force, it was used unconstitutionally. The
department failed to adequately review the use of force and lacked policies and
training related to the use of force, it said.
Five weeks ago, prosecutors sent the
city a confidential settlement proposal.
In the meantime, the mayor and the
police chief have proposed a series of initiatives called "20/20,"
including training to ensure that officers don't arrest or confront people
based on race and training to prevent low-level offenses from escalating.
Though the DOJ's proposal has not
been disclosed, the budget office memo suggests some of the changes the DOJ
wants.
The memo relies on assumptions made
by the Police Department that to satisfy the DOJ's demands for a better
sergeant-to-patrol officer ratio, the city would have to add 54 new sergeants at
a cost of $7.3 million.
In addition, the memo said the
Police Department estimated that the DOJ's recommendations would require four
times as much training — 160 hours per year — as officers currently receive.
Executive Assistant U.S. attorney Thomas Bates described that assumption Monday
as vastly overstated: "They just got it wrong."
The memo said that the additional
training could cost $18 million if it requires other officers to fill in — on
overtime — for those receiving training. However, the mayor's "20/20"
plan also includes increased training in many of the same topics the Justice
Department is concerned about — and the Police Department has represented to
McGinn that it can accomplish everything in the "20/20" plan under its
existing budget.
The memo notes that the budget
office had not yet vetted the assumptions being made by the Police Department,
and that even if the actual costs are far less than $41 million, the hit to the
budget could still be significant.
In his radio interview, McGinn said
"absolutely" when asked if the reforms would hamstring police and the
mayor's office in responding to emergency situations. He suggested the outside
monitor could effectively be a "shadow mayor."
City Councilman Tim Burgess disputed
the notion.
"That is not a legitimate
fear," Burgess said. "I'm disappointed in the mayor's recent
statements on this topic have been more designed to divide rather than keep us
on the same page headed toward good solutions."
Josh Chanin, a San Diego State
University professor who has studied the DOJ's efforts to reform police
departments, said such monitors are essential to the process because they
demonstrated to the public that the changes are actually taking hold.
They can also ensure reforms last
beyond the terms of the current mayor, police chief or U.S. attorney.
"This is the most effective,
most straightforward way to get to the point where the department is operating
constitutionally and regains the respect and legitimacy it needs to manage law
and order," Chanin said.