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Public comment urges independent audit of Seattle police oversight offices after inquest findings
Summary
A public commenter told the City Council that multiple deaths in contacts with Seattle Police Department had been declared lawful while a King County inquest jury found criminal conduct in an SPD case; the speaker urged an independent audit of oversight entities that has not occurred in eight years, the commenter said.
Howard Gell, a public commenter, urged the Seattle City Council on April 29 to pursue independent audits of the city's police oversight agencies after a King County inquest jury reached findings in an officer-involved death.
“Last month, the SPD killed the nineteenth person in a period of less than 14 years who was brandishing either no weapon or only an edged weapon in their hand,” Gell said during public comment. He said each of those killings was declared “lawful and proper” by city oversight parts, yet a King County inquest jury found criminal conduct in the Ioseo Fullotogo case and that five of six jurors found either SPD policy or officers unnecessarily killed the person in a 2018 incident.
Gell said it has been nearly eight years since the city auditor recommended an independent audit of the Office of Police Accountability (OPA), the Community Police Commission (CPC), and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and that the audit has not been completed. “If you're confused by that, it's because the police monitor claims to have done an audit. If you're confused, it's because the OIG claims to have done independent audits. We have never had an independent audit,” he said.
Nut graf: Gell framed his comments as a call for an independent, external review of the city’s police oversight apparatus; he cited a specific inquest jury finding and the city auditor’s past recommendation. The transcript records his request as public comment; the council did not record a response or a formal referral in the meeting minutes.
The meeting record contains additional public comments that criticized another commenter for antisemitic and racist statements and urged the council to consider competency and trespass issues in that speaker’s cases. Those remarks appear as public reaction and are not recorded as formal council action.
Ending: The transcript shows the council closed public comment and continued with its agenda; no independent-audit motion or action appears in the meeting record.
