Although Mayor Ed Murray has hired a reformer as Seattle’s new police chief, he’s opposed to greater police accountability where the rubber meets the road — police contract negotiations.
The city negotiates a labor contract with its police union once every four years. The Community Police Commission has proposed 55 changes to improve the Seattle Police Department’s accountability system, including more civilian participation in the investigative and discipline process (currently, only Seattle cops investigate allegations of wrongdoing against Seattle cops), but Mayor Murray isn’t supporting any of them.
Nor does the public get to know what’s going on in the contract negotiations, which both the union and mayor’s office deem confidential (why? the public interest and citizens’ rights are being negotiated — or perhaps given away to appease to cop union — in there). Murray openly rejected a suggestion to include accountability experts on the city’s negotiating team.
Seattle citizens concerned about police behavior should watch how Murray handles these contract negotiations — and what comes out of them — closely. And this should be a top consideration among voters of whether he deserves reelection when the next election rolls around.
Photo: Is Mayor Ed Murray surrendering citizens’ rights to Seattle’s politically rightwing, aggressive, anti-discipline cop union in contract negotiations?