Amid continued community questions and Seattle City Council concerns about the communications debacle surrounding the July 26 shooting at the Bite of Seattle, Mayor Katie Wilson took steps that are raising eyebrows further.
On Aug. 11, Wilson announced that she had tapped the city’s Office of Inspector General to review the timeline of communications between the mayor’s office and Seattle police and identify delays after the shooting that killed three people and injured four. A 15-year-old is in detention. Court papers suggest at least one other possible suspect is still at large.
Wilson fired police Chief Shon Barnes less than a week after the mass shooting. On the evening of the incident, the city released no details for about five hours except for a statement from Wilson that contained erroneous information.
The OIG was established in 2017 as part of a suite of police reforms. According to its website, the office “oversees the management, practices, and policies of the Seattle Police Department and the Office of Police Accountability.”
This led some to question whether the mayor’s office was shunting responsibility for communications problems to the police instead of convening a truly independent review.
“In the past, an OIG investigation implies wrongdoing on behalf of the police, maybe implicitly or explicitly. And so the question is: Will they also be reviewing the chain of command all the way to the mayor herself?” asked Councilmember Dan Strauss at a Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday.
“We’ve asked the Inspector General Office to review all actions by all offices, all departments … and that includes the Mayor’s Office, Office of Emergency Management, to cooperate fully in the after action review,” responded Alison Holcomb, the mayor’s public safety adviser.
Yet, City Hall sources confirmed to the editorial board that before the Aug. 11 announcement of the OIG’s lead, the mayor’s office was in contact with former Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske to complete an independent review of all communications during the incident.
Kerlikowske, who also led the Buffalo Police Department and served as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and chief of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, was to form a team that included former Seattle police chief John Diaz and others. Kerlikowske submitted a proposal on Aug. 3.
However, Wilson’s office subsequently changed tack and wanted the OIG to lead the effort. Kerlikowske, said to be concerned about his independence, backed out.
To regain public trust, the mayor’s office should have stuck with Kerlikowske’s team and given it free rein and a reasonable time frame to complete its work. As it stands, a news release from Wilson stated the OIG review is anticipated to be completed by mid-December.
Does anybody want to be still talking about this in December?
Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle has scheduled another briefing about what happened at the Bite of Seattle for Sept. 22. He also has a list of operational questions about SPD staffing and strategy to make future events safer. He is considering whether the council ought to hire its own consultant to delve into what happened.
“We’re doing our oversight in the Public Safety Committee, and we’ll do it again in September. But we should investigate the possibility of doing an independent review ourselves,” Kettle told the board.
Police officers and fire personnel performed bravely during the Seattle Center shooting. But communications mistakes were clearly made. Wilson’s firing of the police chief did little to quell alarms and mistrust. Now, the assignment of an after-action report is itself mired in questions.
How this all plays out remains to be seen. Advice for the mayor’s office: When you’re in a hole, stop digging.
