SPOKANE, Wash. — The time it takes to investigate and close a police shooting case in Washington does not follow a standard timeline, which the state is trying to fix in deadly cases.
A Spokane Police officer shot a man on Sunday, marking one of the department’s first uses of deadly force this year.
Last year, SPD officers shot six people, the highest number of shootings for the department so far this decade.
The department routinely ranks in the top 10 nationwide for shootings resulting in deaths, according to Mapping Police Violence, an organization that tracks police killings.
According to the website, the Mapping Police Violence Database sources data from a variety of channels including state tracking programs, police reports, and national databases such as The Gun Violence Archive.
Mapping Police Violence says in the last 12 years, 27 people were killed by SPD, putting the average annual rate of killings per 1 million people at 9.8, which is third in the United States.
When a police shooting takes place in Spokane, the Spokane Independent Investigation Response (SIIR) Team conducts an investigation into what happened and then presents a final report.
The Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney said no timeline for how long those investigations should take has been established because investigations vary depending on the nature and complexity of a case.
They also said the length of time before a charging decision is published is directly affected by the time necessary for law enforcement to complete the investigation
None of the six deadly force cases from 2024 have been closed, and three are still under investigation.
The man police shot on Sunday is expected to survive. SIIR will conduct the investigation. They appointed WSP as the lead agency to investigate and compile the report.
“The involved agency, the one whose officer was involved in the incident, that agency is removed from the investigation process. That’s how it’s supposed to work,” said Hector Castro, Director of Communications for Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII).
In 2021, the Washington Legislature created the OII to conduct thorough, transparent and unbiased investigations of cases that involved police use of deadly force that results in a death.
The office is also meant to speed up the time it takes to close those cases.
“Our statute specifically calls out the length of time our investigation should take. And you’re right, by our statute, we’re directed to complete our investigations within 120 days,” says Castro.
Their investigations are required to be completed within 120 days.
Castro said if an OII investigation is expected to go over, a reason must be provided.
The office is meant to handle investigation of all deadly police shootings in Washington.
OII is currently investigating its first two cases in Southwestern Washington, but has not yet expanded beyond that region.
The state agency tells 4 News Now they will soon announce a timeline for when it will start investigating deadly police shootings here in Spokane county.
RELATED COVERAGE: Spokane Police use deadly force for the 6th time this year
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