SEATTLE _ The city of Seattle asked U.S. District Judge James Robart Friday to find the Seattle Police Department in "full and effective" compliance with federally mandated reforms, putting the city at odds with Robart's court-appointed monitor.
The request, made in a brief filed with the court, represents a watershed moment in the reform effort, coming just over five years since the city entered into a sweeping consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department to address excessive force and biased policing.
If Robart finds the city to be in compliance, it would trigger a two-year period in which the city would have to show the reforms are locked in place.
"A declaration of full and effective compliance will not end the Consent Decree or this case," the brief says. "It is, however, a crucial milestone on the path to lasting police reform in Seattle. It gives the police officers and other women and men serving SPD and the City the recognition for carrying out the hard day-to-day work of policing and reform."
In the filing, the city disputes the conclusion of monitor Merrick Bobb, who in a Sept. 8 report found that despite making a "great deal of progress," Seattle police have yet to comply with some key requirements of the consent decree.
The clash sets the stage for the Justice Department, in a response due by Oct. 13, to state its position.
The Justice Department is likely to concur with the city's request, although discussions are still taking place, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Justice Department attorneys obtained the consent decree under President Barack Obama's nationwide police reform effort, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions, under President Donald Trump, has questioned such agreements.
If the city is found in compliance, it is unclear whether the two-year clock would start running from the point of Robart's approval, or from when the city previously reached compliance with parts of the consent decree over the past five years.
Bobb, in his report, noted he had found in 10 earlier assessments that the Police Department had reached major milestones, including dramatic improvements involving use of force and dealing with people in crisis.
But important issues remain, his report said, including questions surrounding the fatal shooting by two white officers of Charleena Lyles, a 30-year-old African-American mother of four, on June 18.
"The ten assessments, all clearly important, nevertheless do not constitute all the requirements of the Consent Decree," Bobb writes.
The city, in Friday's filing, responds: "The parties and the Monitor have spurred reform that goes further than the Consent Decree, but those reforms are not a prerequisite to 'full and effective compliance.' The ten assessments document SPD's hard work to reach that milestone. It would be contrary to the letter and spirit of the Decree to move that milestone farther down the road."
Concerning the Lyles shooting, the city writes that Bobb's questions are "valid and important questions, questions that no one can fully answer until a thorough investigation is complete."
The city says it "welcomes the scrutiny of the Monitor, the community, and its own accountability system as it looks for answers. That scrutiny, and the conclusions it yields, will be a crucial part" of the next step.
In response to Bobb's report, Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole sent an email to her officers praising them for their "real, measurable success."
She also attached a 47-page memorandum from two top aides that asserts the department has met its obligations under the consent decree.
"I am requesting that the Mayor's Office and City Attorney highlight these compelling arguments and conclusions in the City's response to the Monitor's filing," she wrote in the departmentwide email.
In a news release Friday, City Attorney Pete Holmes said: "Seattle has made significant progress on reforming its police department since this process began, but we still have a great deal of work to do. We will continue to work, through the consent decree and under continued oversight from the Monitor and Court, to sustain the important reforms that have already taken place, build upon them, and implement the City's recent police accountability ordinance to ensure that reform will continue long after the end of federal oversight."
Mayor Tim Burgess said: "Today's filing by City Attorney Holmes is a clear signal that we've made major improvements in how we police Seattle. This is a significant milestone, and I'm very proud of the women and men of the Seattle Police Department who have worked hard to meet higher expectations. While we welcome this good news, we will not stop in our efforts to assure that all Seattleites feel safe and secure and have a relationship of trust with their police."
