Residents Talk Police Accountability and Psychedelics at the Public Safety & Human Services Committee’s First April Meeting

The morning of April 13, 2021, the Public Safety & Human Services Committee held the first of their virtual bi-monthly meetings. This meeting was led by the Committee Chair and District 1 Rep. Lisa Herbold. 

The meeting began promptly at 9:30 a.m. via the Seattle Channel due to the ongoing restrictions of public gatherings set forth by Governor Jay Inslee. The agenda consisted of approximately 20 minutes of public comment followed by appointments to the Community Police Commission. 11 community members showed up to the meeting to give statements during the public comment portion, during which they were each given 2 minutes to say their piece. The majority of these comments were regarding one of two topics: police accountability and decriminalizing psychedelic drugs. 

The public comment segment began with a statement from community member Howard Gale speaking to the issue of failed police accountability. He used his two minutes to list off evidence of the negligence and misconduct of the Seattle Police Department specifically since the shooting of John T. Williams in 2010. Gale asserted that SPD has killed 29 people since this, yet there have been zero officers held responsible and zero measures taken by the administrations that claimed to promote accountability. 

In another impassioned statement by a Seattle local, Erica Irwin chastised the council directly, telling them “almost a year after your reckless knee-jerk decisions you have still not come up with positive and sustainable solutions for policing”. Irwin pointed out the lack of data that shows any improvement in the SPD’s conduct despite a large budget, and called for “build[ing] community engagement immediately”. 

This was a common concern among meeting attendees. U-District resident Rachel Kay explained that “violent crime in Seattle has been increasing over the last 20 years, and at the same time police budgets have bloated” adding in that there is “no accountability or transparency” within the department.

SPD has been under public scrutiny the past several months as their budget was increased by $5.4 million at the last minute in December, despite the City Council’s vow to not do so in August of 2020. The council promised to deduct this amount from their 2021 budget, and constituents are fighting to hold them to it. Ballard resident voiced his support for the budget cuts, stating that the $5.4 million should be used to “fund items that can actually create community safety”.

Once this portion of the meeting concluded, they began the formalities to appoint new members to the Community Police Commission. This body appointed members Katherine Seibel and Le’Jayah A. Washington to the committee with a term ending December 31, 2021. 

The Seattle Community Police Commission is an organization that provides community oversight of the Seattle Police Department and aims to prioritize safety, respect, and accountability in policing. This organization began working in 2013 after a series of cases of police brutality towards people of color prompted a federal investigation about SPD’s use of excessive force. 

The commission became a permanent part of the city via an ordinance passed in 2017. Currently, they are fighting for five issues to ensure police accountability and justice for Seattle residents: banning crowd control weapons from being used on demonstrators, working towards police contracts that encourage accountability, improving investigations of use of deadly force by police, protecting the rights of journalists in the First Amendment, and using the Consent Decree to hold police accountable. 

During the public comment portion of the meeting, one speaker voiced their issues with the CPC, stating that they have exacerbated the lack of accountability happening in the SPD. The source criticized a recent decision by the CPC to not allow for full civilian oversight of police, even though recent feedback from the community indicated that this was a measure they found crucial to holding officers accountable. 

While there was slight variation in opinions from those discussing the SPD budget and accountability measures, residents who spoke on the use of psychedelic drugs were in unanimous support of decriminalization. Five residents attended the meeting to provide anecdotes about the positive affects psychedelic drugs had on their mental health.

Though the topics of decriminalizing psychedelics and police misconduct are primarily discussed as separate issues throughout the course of the meeting, there is a clear historical link between the two. One speaker related them in her comment, stating that decriminalizing psychedelics would be a positive step away from the policies set forth by the War on Drugs of the 1970s meant to target Black, Indigenous, and people of color. These are the same demographics that are more brutalized by the Seattle Police Department at a higher rate. 

Community members remain concerned with the amount of crime and brutalization occuring in Seattle and call upon the council to make substantive changes that will preemptively stop crime by addressing its root causes. The next meeting for the Public Safety & Human Services Committee is scheduled for April 27, 2021.

About Author