SPD politician Friedrich Ebert served as the first President of Germany and the SPD was the strongest party until 1932. After the rise of the Nazi Party to power it was the only party in the Reichstag to vote against the Enabling Act of 1933; the SPD was subsequently banned, and operated in exile as the Sopade. There is immense pressure and stress on the SPD staff to keep up with the workload demands. For the most part, the staff is very dedicated and committed to doing a good job. But they are often rushed and many new and inexperienced techs have not been given the level of training needed to perform the tasks they are given. . Please note that until further notice all individuals attending State Personnel testing or training in Montgomery must wear masks or other facial covering.
Three more Seattle Police Department officers are under investigation for possibly participating in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Office of Police Accountability (OPA) informed the Community Police Commission (CPC) at the CPC's meeting today that two more SPD officers self-reported that they were in Washington D.C. on the day of the Capitol insurrection. Hours later, SPD announced a third officer self-reported. That brought the total number of SPD officers under investigation for federal crimes up to five. The three officers who self-reported are still on duty, but the two officers who were initially reported to the OPA are on paid leave.
'I anticipate there will be more,' said Andrew Myerberg, director of the OPA.
Previously, Chief Adrian Diaz reported that two officers were at the Trump rally in D.C. on the day of the insurrection. Those officers have been suspended with pay while the OPA investigates. Oddly, last week Diaz seemingly slipped up and said that 'several' officers were under investigation. After The Stranger asked for clarification, an SPD spokesperson edited Diaz's statement from 'several' to 'two' in order 'to avoid confusion.'
Crosscut identified one of the officers as Jason Marchione. According to the report, Marchione has been on SPD's payroll since 2017 and worked in the South Precinct. The other four officers are still unnamed.
Myerberg explained the investigation to the CPC today.
'Really what our focus is in this investigation is we're trying to figure out what [these officers did] at the demonstration,' Myerberg said. The officers were at the rally, which in and of itself isn't a crime since officers are allowed to demonstrate their First Amendment rights, Myerberg explained.
'The important consideration for us,' Myerberg continued, 'is 'Did they cross the barricade? Did they go into the Capitol building?' Chief Diaz has been pretty clear that if that did happen it's going to be termination of employment.'
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In order to investigate whether or not at least five of our boys in blue committed acts of domestic terrorism, Myerberg and the team at the OPA will be interviewing officers, pulling video directly from the Capitol, and looking at third-party video to 'see if we can identify people from their clothing,' Myerberg said. 'And if it turns out that there were people crossing barricades and going into the Capitol, we will refer them to the FBI for criminal investigation.'
Police Blotter Seattle
Last week, Rep. Pramila Jayapal tweeted a condemnation of SPD:
Spd Twitter Solo
I'm furious that police officers from my hometown were among the people attacking the Capitol.
It's time for a reckoning in every police force to find any other officers who broke the law in this riot and investigate any ties to white nationalist groups. Hold them accountable. https://t.co/o1y6VhGStL
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) January 13, 2021
The original version of this post stated all the officers under investigation are on paid leave. Only two of the officers are on leave, the others are still on duty.
The members of the jury in Minnesota have found Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer, guilty of all three counts in the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
The Seattle Police Department knows that Mr. Floyd’s murder was a watershed moment for this country. The eyes of the nation saw in horrible detail what so many have been fighting to change. It was soul crushing. From that pain, though, real change has begun.
The events of the past year have made clear the community’s expectations of what police work should be.
The Seattle Police Department already is making changes to move towards a more equitable model of public safety. We have banned neck restraints, chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
The SPD also requires Department-wide implicit bias and active bystandership training to empower officers to recognize and intervene when a colleague is doing wrong.
Other more recent modifications since George Floyd’s murder, include:
- Reducing the SPD’s visible footprint around crowd events to avoid escalation that may result from an SPD presence;
- Clarification of the rights, roles, and identification of volunteer medics, media and legal observers;
- A more robust statement of purpose that embraces Seattle’s approach to facilitating public assembly, over and beyond what would be required under a strict First Amendment analysis;
- Emphasizing de-escalation and force modulation responsive to changes in crowd behavior following an order to disperse;
- More robust emphasis on crowd intervention tactics that focus on isolating and arresting law violators within an otherwise peaceable assembly;
- Providing consistency in required warnings around the use of less-lethal tools;
Spd Twitter
The Seattle Police Department acknowledges the future of public safety is something we need to create together. These revisions incorporate recommendations by members of the community and our accountability partners, including the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Police Accountability and the Community Police Commission.
Seattle Police Reports
The SPD understands many people may be inspired to collectively voice their on-going concerns about the criminal justice system in our country. The SPD supports the First Amendment rights of everyone and requests that, when you gather, please do so peacefully while respecting the rights of others.