Seattle Police Department receives positive report from federal monitor

The Seattle Police Department received a good report card from the federal monitor overseeing reform.

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The 162-page report found the department in compliance with court-ordered reforms on stop-and-frisk practices, as well as a requirement to create a bias-free police policy and training.

The monitor found there were an exceedingly small number of unjustified stops (1 percent) and when they did happen it wasn’t because of race. Officers were also justified 97 percent of the time they frisked people, which also didn’t vary by race, according to the report.

Still, the report found black people are stopped and frisked at a higher rate for their population share — something the monitor says SPD needs to take a closer look at.

The department has now been found in initial compliance with all 10 of the monitor’s progress assessments, including major use-of-force reforms. That means the city could petition the federal judge overseeing the case to find it in full compliance with the 2012 DOJ consent decree.

The city attorney told The Seattle Times he’s still reviewing the report and wouldn’t comment on the possibility.

The report was released on the same day two white officers shot and killed a pregnant black mother.

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