Impacted family member urges Spokane County to improve updates, records access after officer‑involved death

Debbie Novak, an advocate with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability and an impacted family member, told the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners during open public forum that families of people killed in officer‑involved incidents are not receiving timely updates required under Initiative 940.

Novak said her son, David Novak, was shot and killed in 2019 by a Spokane City police officer while on his porch; she described herself as an impacted family member and said other impacted family members were present at the meeting. Novak said Initiative 940, passed in December 2018, changed the legal standard from malice to what a reasonable officer would do and included a requirement that families receive regular updates.

“Try and imagine what it’s like for a family to go through what I have gone through,” Novak said. She told commissioners she has repeatedly been told investigators cannot release updates because of Initiative 940, but she said that is not the law and that families should receive at least weekly updates that need not compromise investigations. Novak also said public‑records releases are being delayed and cited state administrative rules (WACs), saying those rules require records release once investigations are delivered to the prosecuting attorney.

Novak told the board a sheriff’s office told a family member she had to view body‑worn camera footage in the sheriff’s office, in the sheriff’s presence, rather than receive copies. She urged the county and law enforcement agencies to provide more transparent updates and to release records to impacted families.

These comments were delivered during public comment; commissioners did not take formal action on Novak’s requests during the meeting.