AG Inquiry Finds Police Struggling To Uphold I-940

OLYMPIA, WA — The Attorney General's Office has completed an inquiry into police investigations reviewing deadly use of force by law enforcement officers, but results show few investigations fully complied with the requirements set forth by Initiative 940.

For their inquiry, the AG's Office chose to examine 22 investigations into police use of deadly force, all from the first six months of 2020. Of those, just 18 could be completed: the Pierce County Sheriff's Department and Region III Critical Incident Investigation Team both refused to complete surveys regarding four investigations.

From the remaining 18, just five investigations followed all provisions set forth by I-940.

In 2018, Washington voters overwhelmingly approved I-940, a police reform initiative designed to increase police accountability and emphasize de-escalation. It also changed how law enforcement agencies review cases where officers use deadly force, requiring that separate law enforcement agencies, with no ties to the case, helm the investigations.

The AG's office chose to focus on several requirements set forth by the initiative, requiring that investigators:

• Appoint a family liaison.
• Provide weekly public updates on their investigation.
• Involve at least two non-law enforcement community representatives.
• Ensure that their investigation is completely independent of the involved agency.

“The people of the state adopted these requirements to ensure completely independent investigations into officer involved deadly force incidents,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. “They are important, and it is incumbent on investigative teams to comply with the law.”

Key findings from the attorney general's inquiry include:

• All 18 investigations were adequately independent.
• Seven of the 18 included two community representatives.
• 12 of the 18 investigations included at least one.
• All but one investigation team assigned a family liaison.

The inquiry concludes by saying that the investigative teams which did complete the survey made a good effort to follow I-940, but may not have fully understood the requirements:

"Overall, the Office of the Attorney General found that the 12 IITs that responded to the survey generally made good faith efforts to comply with the new requirements. Most instances of non-compliance stemmed from a genuine misunderstanding about the rules’ requirements."

The inquiry came largely as a response to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department's botched investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis.

Ellis was killed by Tacoma Police as they attempted to restrain him on March 3, 2020. I-940 required that a separate agency review Ellis' death, and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department was tasked with the investigation.

The sheriff's department investigated for months, until it was discovered that they had had a deputy on scene near the time of Ellis' death - meaning their agency was not fully independent, as required under I-940. The sheriff's department also failed to establish a liaison with Ellis' family.

Upon the discovery, Gov. Inslee ordered the Washington State Patrol to take up the case. WSP finished their investigation in November, and the Attorney General's Office is expected to make a decision on the case in the coming weeks.

Related: AG's Office To Announce Decision In Manuel Ellis' Case Soon