Seattle Councilmember’s reply to Brian Wiles

Richard Conlin, Councilmember
Mon, 13 Dec 1999

Thank you for your message. On Tuesday, December 8, the City Council conducted its first public hearing about the protests held during the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting and the police response to them. It was sad and disheartening for me to hear how people had been tear-gassed in their homes, sprayed with pepper spray when they were not resisting or fleeing, or arrested for distributing flyers. The most moving and disturbing part of the evening for me was the fear and terror that people experienced, and the deep distrust of the police and elected officials that many people now say they feel.

Seattle had hoped to showcase its tolerance for dissent and support of democratic dialogue. In many ways, we succeeded admirably, but the fear, sadness, and distrust that many spoke of at Tuesday’s hearing was ample evidence of our mistakes. It seems clear now that the City could have been better prepared for the WTO conference and the planned protests, and that the responses of elected officials and law enforcement personnel were not always adequate or appropriate.

In order to move forward, we have to fully understand what happened and act on the facts to restore faith in our democratic institutions. As your City Councilmember, I am committed to ensuring that there is a critical and independent review of last week’s events, that potentially unlawful acts are investigated and prosecuted, and that safeguards are enacted to ensure that Seattle does not make the same mistakes again.

The men and women of our police force should be commended for their work last week. They worked long hours, in an often intense and difficult situation, and while there were some problems, by and large they did their best to protect the public’s safety and trust. In order to restore and maintain this trust in our Seattle Police Department, I am committed to working to ensure that individual officers who abused their authority or used excessive force are fully investigated and face appropriate consequences for their actions.

On Monday, December 13, the Council will pass legislation establishing a civilian-led Office of Professional Accountability to conduct internal investigations for the Seattle Police Department. In addition, an independent investigation of the WTO events is imperative. The goal of this investigation should be to assess what happened, publicly air the findings, ensure that the information available to the Council and public is complete and correct, and make recommendations to the Mayor and Council for corrective actions.

The Council and the citizens of Seattle need answers to the following questions:

• Was the overall plan for managing this event adequate? If not, how could it have been better?
• Why were demonstrators and bystanders treated as they were? Who gave orders?
• Were our law enforcement officers adequately prepared, and were the training, equipment, and orders appropriate and complete?
• What was the role of federal authorities in this situation? To what extent were local decisions driven by federal direction?
• Why are identification numbers not visible on riot gear? Should they be?
• What were the guidelines given on the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and other nonlethal weapons? Who made the initial decision on the use of tear gas, and why? Why were these weapons used in ways that clearly did not follow policy guidelines?
• What led to police action on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night? Why were pepper spray and tear gas used on people who evidently had no connection to the protestors?
• What is the legal definition of civil emergency, and how have the courts interpreted this? What were the legal bases for the orders given under it? Were these orders necessary and useful?
• What guidelines were given to police about the curfew zones? What monitoring was done to ensure that police understood and followed these instructions? Were police instructed to arrest people who were distributing information, wearing buttons, or engaging in similar activities that presented no present threat to public order?
• What was the actual cost to the City of the WTO, and what was the money spent on? What was the actual cost of the damage to businesses?
• How were those arrested treated and processed at Sand Point and the King County Jail? What was the plan, did the actions of those arrested and the quantity of the arrests change that plan, and how were prisoner’s health and safety needs managed?
• What was the policy for charging and processing those arrested through the courts?

Answering these questions will clarify how and why the City’s plan for managing the WTO and planned protests did not work. This will help us make changes to prevent similar problems in the future. The City Council also needs to determine who should be held accountable for decisions and actions that may have compromised the safety and security of citizens, law enforcement personnel, and the visitors to our city who came to attend the WTO or to protest it.

Ultimately, the legal system will have to determine accountability for individual actions that broke the law. However, the City is responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the rule of law and for effective management of City staff and resources. The City must know, understand, and make redress for actions that should have been within our control.