(Continued from Part Three published April 5th, 2016)
UPDATE: Still no word on the “Staffing Analysis” RFP/Contract. I did reach out via email to Craig Meidl requesting a copy and received this response:
______________________________
“Brian I’m not going to have time to respond to individual requests for reports and don’t want to start that habit. If you submit a PRR, they will make sure this and any future requests are located and redacted as appropriate. Thanks, Craig”
______________________________
During our Q & A, Interim Chief Meidl, brought up the COPS/DOJ Collaborative Reform Process of the Las Vegas Metro PD early in the Q &A. I had intended to bring that process up since in my pre-journalism career I had to study it. When he opened the door I began to ask my questions, which included what I feel is very significant to the Spokane Community, and that is Recommendation 8.7 of the Spokane COPS/DOJ Report.
The highlighted area in the image above is a recommendation that SPD establish some kind of a “separate forum” to release the “facts” regarding a Deadly Force incident involving an SPD Cop.
That recommendation was predictable, at least to me, based on the COPS/DOJ Process with the LVMPD, which also was conducted by the consulting group CNA, so I asked how SPD was going to handle that recommendation, and I drew a comparison. Meidl said it had been a long time since he had read the LVMPD Report so I kind of filled him in.
COPS/DOJ LVMPD Link:
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/a0155272-5b61-41de-bb9e-41e625585371
According to the Spokane COPS/DOJ Six-month review this is where SPD stands regarding 8.7:
For folks that don’t know, or haven’t figured out yet, the COPS/DOJ COLLABORATIVE REFORM PROCESS is very similar to a situation where a CONSULTANT (CNA in this case) comes in, does a study, comes up with recommendations, and there is a period of back and forth where the two parties argue about what can and can’t be done. The final report usually ends up being a compromise in certain areas so it will ultimately be up to our City Leaders to decide what SPD does or doesn’t do.
I have said this several times but I will say it again. The results of SPD’s Deadly Force Review Board have only been made public on TWO occasions, in the Use of Force Commission Report and the COPS/DOJ Report. In both cases the reports were quite critical of SPD. If someone wanted to do a PRR to get them they could, or if it involves a civil litigation they are available through Discovery. Of course I’ve said a lot about this stuff before, as many know.
As an aside, during this portion of the Q & A Justin Lundgren and I had a short discussion of SPD’s use of Rifles when I pointed out that both the Use of Force Commission Report and the COPS/DOJ Report addressed the issue of Rifles.
Use of Force Commission Report:
COPS/DOJ Six Month Report:
It will be interesting to see how COPS/DOJ Recommendation 7.5 turns out.
Getting back to COPS/DOJ Recommendation 8.7 (Spokane) and the COPS/DOJ Recommendation in the LVMPD Report I want to note that in LVMPD Recommendation (8.1) they discuss “Coroners Inquests”, since that report Clark County NV ran into a lot of the problems we are seeing with the Spokane City Council’s current investigation. Cops refusing to testify, political intrigue, law enforcement lobbying, and the whole shooting match. I was invited by Liz Moore a short time ago to a Peace and Justice Action League (PJAL) meeting to talk about this topic, I’m not sure I got my point across so maybe this story will help.
This is what Clark County Nevada ended up with to make OIDs available to the Clark County NV Public, some folks might like the way they handle those type of cases others may not.
Clark County Today Public Release Link:
http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/countymanager/Pages/PoliceFatalityPublicFact.aspx
If you really are interested, you can go to the link below and watch some video of the OID/OIS Hearings in Clark County.
Police Fatality Public Fact-finding Reviews Link:
http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/public-communications/Pages/Agendas.aspx
What are the chances for something like the above happening in Spokane? I don’t know what the Vegas Odds are but I would say at this point…SLIM TO NONE!
One of the things I should note is that one of the big reasons for the involvement of COPS/DOJ with Las Vegas Metro was the intense media coverage of Metro’s problems.
Here is just a sample:
Las Vegas Review Journal:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/officer-involved-shootings
More coming soon, I hope.
Buffalo Brian Breen 
“He believes to some extent in crude statistics and crude inferences drawn from them. He’s probably quite ignorant of the complex causation at work in crime and other matters. However, as president he no doubt went through the motions of assembling experts and producing written support for his ideas. That kind of process is common but deeply flawed. It is easy to manipulate the outcomes to magnify or reinforce the biases of those who hold the power.”
This is from an article about Bill Clinton but sounds a lot like someone a bit more local. I’m not trying to imply that the mayor might be a closet democrat but it illustrates that when it comes to motives and methods there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between R’s and D’s.
LikeLiked by 2 people