SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department will undergo an independent review of its response to a recent evening of protests after Police Chief Kevin Hall and Mayor Lisa Brown requested the Office of the Police Ombudsman analyze law enforcement’s actions.
The June 11 protests began around 2 p.m. as a peaceful demonstration against ICE at the immigration office in downtown Spokane. Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart led the initial protest, sitting in front of an ICE vehicle to prevent it from transporting detainees to the immigration detention facility in Tacoma.
The situation escalated when some protesters vandalized ICE vehicles by spray painting windshields and flattening tires. A second protest group at Riverfront Park later marched and joined the demonstration at the ICE facility.
Mayor Brown directed Spokane Police to break up the protest rather than federal agents. Police Chief Hall said tactical teams were called in, leading to more than 30 arrests on mostly misdemeanor charges, including failure to disperse.
Police said they used inert smoke and pepper balls to disperse the crowd, Mayor Brown declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew from 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until 5 a.m. Thursday.
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The task represents possibly the biggest review to date for the Office of the Police Ombudsman, which provides oversight for misconduct involving the Spokane Police Department. The office operates from inside Spokane City Hall.
Both the police department and ombudsman’s office said they hope the review reinforces that actions taken during the protests aligned with SPD’s approach of de-escalation first and use of force second.
“Any time administrators and police chiefs take a stance towards transparency, that automatically brings accountability to the system itself,” said Bart Logue, Spokane Police Ombudsman.
Chief Hall said they requested the analysis to build trust with the community while providing an opportunity to “practice continued learning and improvements.”
The Spokane Police Guild, which represents officers, said it welcomes the outside perspective.
“There are certain things that we ourselves can see that we could have done better or that we should have had, but it’s not always easy to, from the inside, see how things could be better or different,” said Dave Dunkin with the police guild.
The ombudsman’s review will examine whether SPD adhered to its policies regarding command operations and decisions during the protests. With more than 185 officers deployed that night, the scope represents a significant undertaking.
For Logue, who is leading the review, the assignment presents an opportunity to fulfill the office’s core mission.
“It’s something that I believe we exist to do – bridge the gap between understanding, between the community, and the police in regards to why actions take place,” Logue said.
The review timeline remains uncertain, but the police ombudsman expects it to take months due to the volume of material requiring analysis.
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