Here’s what civilian oversight of Bellingham police could look like
As protesters across the country and in Whatcom County call for defunding police and more civilian oversight of law enforcement, Bellingham City Council members have signaled renewed interest in what that might look like.
Previous discussions on civilian oversight didn’t gain much traction, city council member Michael Lilliquist said. However, council members discussed models during an August committee meeting.
“I think under the previous (city) administration and in previous years, it was felt that we had a good department,” Lilliquist said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald. “I think times have changed. People are convinced that there have been abuses in other communities, and I think we’re afraid it will happen here.”
Bellingham police came under scrutiny after a Herald story revealed several officers used a man experiencing mental illness to prank their fellow officers. In a separate case, a former officer was sentenced to eight years in prison Dec. 12 for charges related to domestic violence.
Additionally, another former officer was found guilty of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault in 2018 but his conviction was later dismissed.
Council member Gene Knutson, who has served on the council since 1993, said in an interview with The Herald that he is seriously considering civilian oversight of Bellingham police after previously opposing it because he thinks it will allay community concerns.
“What I want to do with this, and I think it will bear out in time, is prove to a certain segment of our population that we don’t have a racist, horrible police department,” Knutson said.
Knutson acknowledged that the department has been criticized in the past, but added he thinks the department has done a good job overall.
Council member Lilliquist, who has served on the council since 2009, said he has supported increased accountability and transparency for a long time.
“I believe that our law enforcement officers, should be held to a higher standard and I believe most of them meet that higher standard,” Lilliquist said. “But we need mechanisms to build the confidence that those higher standards are being met.”
Meaningful change
For oversight to be effective, it should have the independence and authority to enact meaningful change, said Nancy Tulner, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington.
“If it’s just an advisory body that’s looking at what the police do, then that’s not enough,” Tulner said. “It needs to be some actual authority and oversight.”
Any oversight model should also publicly report its findings and be transparent with the community about its activities, Tulner said. She added the model should be headed by a person or group that is part of the local community and committed to being independent.
Earlier forms of civilian oversight were often called review boards, but advocates for police accountability have since expanded the term, Tulner said.
As different models emerged over time, some did not necessarily require boards, hence the switch to the broader term, civilian oversight. Tulner said this newer term better aligns with the key principle of accountability.
“As long as we are going to have police in our communities, the community needs to have a voice at the table and the police need to be accountable to them,” Tulner said.
Types of civilian oversight
The Bellingham City Council discussed three potential civilian oversight models during an online committee meeting Aug. 24.
The National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, a non-profit that advocates for greater police accountability, identified investigative, review and auditor models in a 2016 report that the city council had access to during the meeting.
First, there is the investigation-focused model, which is commonly staffed by civilians who regularly investigate complaints against police officers. These civilian investigators often work independently of police departments and may even parallel the internal affairs process, according to the report.
As an independent, civilian-staffed model, this type may reduce bias in investigations into citizen complaints and shore up community trust, the report read. Additionally, staff for this model often work full time, potentially ensuring highly specialized training.
However, the report also found such a model is often the most expensive and complex form of civilian oversight. Additionally, this model can face stiff resistance from police personnel, and the public may become disillusioned if investigators fail to meet community expectations for change.
Second, there is the review-focused model that often evaluates internal affairs investigations after they are completed. The report found this model is typically run by a volunteer civilian review board that may issue recommendations to police departments or request further investigation.
Additionally, this model characteristically includes public meetings where the board can collect community comments and facilitate discussions with police. This enables community input to be factored into the complaint process, which may improve public trust, according to the report.
The report also found the review-focused model to be the least expensive because of its volunteer board. However, the report noted that a reliance on volunteers can create problems because they tend to lack the expertise, time, authority and resources to be effective.
Lastly, the report found a review-focused model lacks the independence of the investigation-focused model because it relies on information provided by police departments.
Examine broad patterns
Third, the report described an auditor or monitor-focused model that examines broad patterns in complaint investigations rather than individual cases.
The auditor usually promotes broad changes aimed at addressing systemic issues, the report read, and they may even monitor or participate in open internal investigations.
The costs for this model tend to fall between review-focused models on the low end and investigation-focused models on the high end, according to the report. This model may also be more effective at creating long-term change while having the strongest public reporting practices, the report found.
Though the association outlined three contemporary types in its report, it also noted no two models are identical. Among the different models across the nation, they can vary in organizational structure, differ in organizational authority and combine to create organizational hybrids.
The report advises jurisdictions to establish the model that best fits the local community rather than pursue the model that seems to hold the best practices. Additionally, the report recommended jurisdictions use the least amount of force necessary to meet its aims.
Some practices may be too costly for some jurisdictions and the success of each can depend on the history and culture of local law enforcement, the report added.
Local preferences
Knutson is interested in forming an advisory committee that looks at trends and reports its findings to the City Council. He added he thinks this committee should reflect different parts of the community and would not have any disciplinary authority on its own.
“It would be a committee and they wouldn’t have any powers to hire and fire,” Knutson said. “We don’t even have hardly any power to hire and fire. It would be an advisory committee… the bottom line lies with us so that’s the way I would form this one.”
Lilliquist said his thinking on oversight has evolved over time but he is currently interested in establishing an audit model where a civilian oversight board reviews patterns in accountability with support from experts. He added he does not foresee such a board having disciplinary authority.
“If there’s genuinely an act of transgression, then it’ll go to the court, the people will be charged with crimes,” Lilliquist said. “The ultimate accountability, depending on whatever the misbehavior is can be carried on by different mechanisms, but that oversight, that’s sort of a front end of accountability.”
Reform advocates wary
However, some advocates for police reform are wary of the city council establishing a weak civilian oversight system. Junga Subedar, director of the Whatcom Civil Rights Project, said her organization supports defunding the police and has moved past traditional oversight models.
“Police shootings and a lack of accountability has gone on this whole time with a lot of places with civilian oversight,” Subedar said.
Instead, the project is pushing for community control over police, a model where civilians in separate wards or districts vote on whether to keep the existing police or create a new police force.
The community control model would also entail a civilian police control board with the power to direct policing priorities, set department policies and discipline police for violating practices.
Lilliquist said he is receptive to calls to rethink how police are used but noted the City Council does not have the authority to divert funds from the police to some health and educational services.
“There are ways to get at these fundamental issues, but city government doesn’t do everything,” Lilliquist said. “I’m hoping we’ll take care of our part of this and I hope there’s equal attention on the other agencies and other entities who can do their part as well.”
Subedar said she thinks any form of oversight the council enacts should at the very least have subpoena power over the police department and be primarily led by community members rather than people with law enforcement backgrounds.
If the council made an audit-focused oversight board and found serious problems with the department, Lilliquist said he may consider stronger forms of oversight. However, he added any stronger form of oversight would likely need the cooperation of the police guild.
Knutson said he has not received any push back from local police or the guild since discussions started back up, and he hopes the police will be open to oversight.
Police guild involvement
However, the lack of pushback may stem from a lack of communication. The Bellingham Police Guild has not been contacted by the City Council regarding the discussion, guild President April Mitchelson wrote in an email statement to The Herald Friday, Sept. 25.
“We have not been asked for our input, preference, or to even be a part of the discussion,” Mitchelson wrote. “The irony of this is that the only person who has asked for our opinion on civilian oversight is a Herald reporter.”
Mitchelson wrote she thinks that implementing civilian oversight should be a collaborative effort and welcomed the opportunity to evaluate any proposals the City Council considers. She added any change to working conditions or the contract between the city and guild must be negotiated.
“If additional oversight is what City Council desires, then I would ask them what are they looking to achieve?” Mitchelson wrote. “What specific problems have they identified that justify the addition of such a complex new program and the associated costs that go with it – especially as we are dealing with serious budget impacts from COVID-19.”
Currently, the discipline matters are handled by the chief of police, Mitchelson wrote. The guild believes the public should be better educated on this process before it is deemed a failure worth replacing or adding to it, she added.
“Any model of oversight which could result in discipline or termination of a police officer should be fair, lawful, and just,” Mitchelson wrote.
Looking forward, Knutson said he hopes the Council can get some kind of oversight plan together by the end of the year or early next year. However, Lilliquist said he expects the Council to complete its study on the matter by the end of the year.
“I would hope that we would start to scope out something before the end of the year,” Lilliquist said. “I hope it’s already clear that the City Council is serious about increasing transparency and accountability even if we haven’t decided how best to do that yet.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: The spelling of Bellingham City Council member Gene Knutson’s last name was corrected Sept. 30, 2020.
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