Federal oversight of Seattle Police Department ends after 13 years

(The Center Square) – Federal oversight of the Seattle Police Department has ended after 13 years and $127 million in reform funding.

Judge James Robart of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted the city’s motion to terminate the federal consent decree on Wednesday.

The 2012 court order was sought by the U.S. Department of Justice following an investigation into the Seattle Police Department’s policies and practices at the time. The investigation found that 20% of the department’s serious use-of-force incidents were deemed unconstitutional.

The consent decree mandated that the department improve its use of force, crowd management protocols, de-escalation policies, and police accountability system.

Seattle was nearing full compliance with the consent decree requirements up until the mass protests of 2020, in which a federal monitor concluded that SPD did not follow the consent decree’s mandated use of force and de-escalation policies.

Since then, the department’s use of force has lessened. For instance, out of the 8,305 crisis incidents that Seattle police officers responded to in 2024, only 1.33% involved any use of force, and just 0.17% of all dispatches involved force.

In order to ensure use of force reforms were followed, Seattle established the Office of the Inspector General for Public Safety in 2018 to provide oversight of the police department. The city also has the Office of Police Accountability, which is responsible for investigating complaints of Seattle Police Department employee misconduct.

The Seattle City Council prioritized public safety in the aftermath of a shakeup of the city council, including some members sworn in at the beginning of 2024. Since then, the council has passed more than 10 pieces of legislation related to public safety.

One key piece of legislation – passed in February – establishes restrictions on when available crowd-control technologies can be used, including blast balls, which are rubber devices that create a loud sound and bright flash. Blast balls can also contain tear gas.

In a statement, Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan said officers worked throughout the consent decree process, adapting to “the ever-changing policies.”

“The weaponized financial grift that is the Department of Justice Consent Decree process is finally over,” Solan said. “Seattle’s taxpayers no longer must bear the financial DOJ Consent Decree burden, now over 220-million-dollars.”

In Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s prepared statement to the federal court, he said the consent decree gave the city the opportunity to improve accountability measures within the police department. He notably thanked former Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole and current Chief Shon Barnes, but left out former Chief Adrian Diaz, who was fired by Harrell last December.

A six-part series across the city is planned to launch this fall that aims to work with community groups to discuss how police can address neighborhood-specific issues.