Police taking appropriate steps in custody death

The death of a 44-year-old Olympia man who was handcuffed and in police custody last week stirred a protest about police at last week’s City Council meeting. But critics are jumping the gun.

Olympia police are taking the right steps to ensure a fair review of the witnessed incident at the Intercity Transit Center. And there is no evidence that excessive force was used to arrest Jeffrey McGaugh.

Police spokesman Paul Lower said no guns, batons or stun guns were used. An autopsy was inconclusive in showing the manner or cause of McGaugh’s death, said Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock.

But as a precaution, Police Chief Ronnie Roberts turned over the investigation to a multi-jurisdictional team led by the Lacey Police Department. Toxicology and microscopic lab work still need to be done to piece together why McGaugh died.

Four officers and a sergeant are on administrative leave while outsiders look into the incident. Among the officers was Ryan Donald, who was put on leave in May after shooting and wounding two young black men who he believed were about to assault him with skateboards.

After the Feb. 29 incident at the downtown transit hub, a few residents disrupted the Olympia City Council meeting Tuesday. One speaker complained Donald was involved.

But the two incidents appear vastly different — in part because this case was witnessed and deadly force appears not to have been used.

Just as with the shooting case, the public should give authorities time to investigate and determine what happened here before jumping to conclusions.

McGaugh was arrested after he allegedly assaulted transit station employees. McGaugh had entered a secure area of the station apparently by following an employee through a door.

Lower said he kicked and threw objects and bit an employee on the arm, puncturing the male worker’s skin through a shirt and jacket. McGaugh punched a female employee in the face and was restrained by IT staff when he lunged at the woman again, according to police.

The shooting of the two men by Donald last year spurred a community conversation about the use of force by police. It also spurred the Black Alliance of Thurston County to push for legislation that will create a legislative task force to review police use-of-force practices statewide and to recommend actions to the 2017 Legislature.

McGaugh was believed to be upset about lacking funds for a bus fare. His death is clearly a tragedy.

But the city and Roberts are acting appropriately by being as open and transparent as possible. In the long run, this is the surest path to building and retaining public trust.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Police taking appropriate steps in custody death."