On Dec. 1, the Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII) began investigating deadly force incidents by law enforcement, starting with Region 1 — West, which includes Clallam County.
OII’s mission is to conduct fair, thorough, transparent and competent investigations. Its is that all investigations of police use of force will be free from bias and trusted by everyone.
Deadly force causes death, great bodily harm or substantial bodily harm to a person.
Establishing Washington’s OII became necessary when bias favoring police was detected when police were investigating themselves.
The disproportionate number of fatalities of people of color was a major concern. Skepticism of law enforcement’s integrity increased.
Deadly force investigations have been locally controlled by Independent Investigative Teams (IIT) since 2019. The state OII now in charge is a welcome change.
OII jurisdiction includes a limited, if any, use of local IIT non-law enforcement community members, also a welcome change.
An example: With expectations for loyalty by local police departments of Public Safety Advisory Board volunteers, when these volunteers are assigned to IITs, they have conflicts of interest, a proclivity for prejudice.
They cannot fulfill duties required for fair, impartial decision making in deadly force incidents.
To obtain thorough, impartial investigations, let’s encourage our legislators to create a state independent prosecuting attorney’s office to be in charge of deadly force cases.
Gayle Brauner
Port Angeles