The plan to stand up a Community Oversight of Law Enforcement group was unanimously approved during the City Council’s July 9 meeting, but not before city officials explained what led to the idea of the civilian group in the first place, and discussed whether it’s truly needed in Olympia.
Under the plan, the board recruitment process will start mid-fall. A request for proposals for an auditor would launch at the beginning of 2025. Board members would be appointed by April, and an auditor would be hired by this time next year. A program specialist and staff liaison will be hired through the City Manager’s office to help move the work along and educate the public on the city’s plans.
Mark Hodgson, chair of the city’s Social Justice and Equity Commission, spoke during the council meeting about why the committee suggested the civilian group.
“After all, Olympia isn’t associated with high-profile incidents of police misconduct,” he said. “In fact, our city is often a leader in fair, equitable and compassionate law enforcement practices.”
Hodgson said standing up the civilian group would show the city is recognizing the concerns of the public and declaring its commitment to transparency, accountability and oversight.
“By bringing forward this recommendation today, we are showing our commitment to reach every person in our city who has experienced discrimination, distrusted law enforcement or is skeptical of the investigation process,” Hodgson said.
Commission Vice Chair Robin Rosen-Evans said the commission’s core values envisioning a civilian oversight model have always been transparency and accountability. Rosen-Evans said the civilian oversight model recommendation is flexible and allows for change over time, but at the same time the plan is specific, with no room for guesstimating or fudging, she said.
“With enhanced accountability and transparency comes trust building between the community and law enforcement. And I think it’s also so important that this is not being done in response to community tragedy,” she said. “It is being done because you all recognize that it is always best to get ahead of an issue and to work to prevent a tragedy.”
Mayor Dontae Payne said the July 9 vote was a full-circle moment for him. He said he made the decision to run for city council after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Mayor Pro Tem Yến Huỳnh said she didn’t want to speak against the proposal, nor dwell, but there have been unfortunate public safety-related events in the Olympia community.
“You’re never going to really eliminate everything,” she said. “But there have been some very key incidents that have gotten a lot of public attention, a lot of public scrutiny, that have not helped as far as building suspicion, I think, on both sides on all sides of things.”
Huỳnh said she wondered if had the city had implemented a community oversight model earlier, whether previous incidents could have been mitigated.
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