Bellingham City Council discusses these options for a police oversight process
Bellingham City Council members want to move ahead with plans for independent oversight of the Police Department and possibly the entire municipal staff, according to comments during a committee meeting Monday, Aug. 24.
Council members discussed what form such oversight would take, from a civilian review panel to an independent ombudsman or external auditor.
“The time for establishing a mechanism for accountability and transparency is not after something bad has happened,” Councilman Michael Lilliquist said at the Committee of the Whole session.
“This is not an indictment of current employees,” Lilliquist said. “The accountability mechanism is justified anyway.”
Bellingham Police have faced criticism in recent years for officers’ behavior both on-duty and off:
▪ Several officers used a man with severe mental health issues as a pawn in a September 2019 prank they played on other officers, according to a Bellingham Herald report.
▪ Former Officer Brooks Laughlin was sentenced to eight years in prison Dec. 12 after he was found guilty of nine charges relating to a pattern of domestic violence.
▪ Former Officer Sukhdev Dhaliwal was convicted of misdemeanor assault in connection with an off-duty fight, a conviction that was later dismissed.
“I think there needs to be a broader standard,” Councilman Dan Hammill said at the committee meeting, the first since The Herald’s story that disclosed the prank, which involved internal discipline.
Hammill said the officers’ actions in the prank were “a violation of the community’s trust” on his Facebook page, calling the September 2019 incident “reprehensible and unforgivable.”
At least 200 cities across the U.S. have civilian oversight panels, according to a city memo on the issue.
“Putting that check on power is so important for maintaining trust in our community,” said Councilwoman Hollie Huthman.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood said he would arrange a staff presentation on the complaint process for a City Council meeting in the near future.
Council President Gene Knutson noted that the discussion of police oversight comes amid calls for social change stemming from the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people by police officers.
“With all that’s happened, now is the time,” Knutson said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 8:19 AM.
