Review of Olympia’s 2020 policing tactics reveals need for reform in handling crowds
.jpeg "Police auditor Tara Parker reviewed 18 demonstrations in 2020 that were deemed significant demonstration events to offer recommendations for how the department should respond in the future.")
During a summer of nationwide unrest after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer, Olympia was no stranger to the fight against police brutality.
In 2020, the city saw more than 70 demonstrations that the police department responded to. Of those, police auditor Tara Parker reviewed 18 that were deemed significant demonstration events to offer recommendations for how the department should respond in the future.
Parker and interim police chief Rich Allen reviewed the responses, department policies and trainings during a meeting with the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee in late April.
In her report, published on the department’s website, Parker said the 70+ assemblies “took an enormous toll on the community, engendered distrust toward the OPD by many, and raised legitimate questions regarding the Department’s responses to particular events.”
But overall, she said the department’s responses were within current policies.
Still, Parker made five recommendations for reform in the department. Most are specific to how the department handles public assemblies and crowd management tactics, including switching away from language such as “demonstration” and “crowd control.”
Public statements and policies
In her report, Parker said the department should have a statement on the purpose of public assembly and crowd management tactics police use. During the meeting, interim chief Allen said Parker drafted a statement of purpose for the department, which was adopted with no edits.
The statement reads, “The Olympia Police Department will support and facilitate the exercise of people’s First Amendment rights in a fair and equitable manner, without consideration as to content or political affiliation, with as minimal interference with such activities as is reasonably necessary to preserve public safety and order.”
Parker also recommended the department adopt a comprehensive crowd management policy, which is still in the works. This would provide more clear guidance and rules for how department members handle crowd management and how to partner with other city agencies to best address a situation.
Communication and resources
Parker recommended the department acquire better audio and video recording technology for use during all police interactions. Allen said the department is on its way to receiving body cams and vehicle dash cams, which should aid in reporting, transparency and accountability.
Parker said the department’s complaint form could be made more clear for people trying to access it. This would give people the chance to submit inquiries about police response, personnel, internal and formal complaints.
Susan Grisham, assistant to the city manager, said a new online complaint form was launched in February. It has received about a dozen online submissions so far. Only two were about the department, and Allen said they’re working to direct people to other online resources for crime reporting and other matters.
The department also lacks some formal communication protocols, such as proper and consistent engagement with the community on incidents and actions, Parker’s report said.
Training
Parker said a combination of inadequate crowd-specific guidance in training and the fact events in 2020 often involved other law enforcement agencies with little communication resulted in an “unacceptable lack of clarity and transparency regarding OPD conduct.”
She said the language used in crowd-specific training needs to be amended as well. She said written materials for a March 2020 training referred to demonstration participants as protesters and included images of violence and disorder, despite the majority of demonstrations being relatively peaceful.
Because of this, Parker recommended the department enhance its crowd management trainings by requiring all officers, supervisors, commanders and community partners to get trained on First Amendment rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles, procedural justice, and crowd de-escalation.
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