Spokane Police Ombuds Commission votes to oppose House Bill 22 20, will send letter to Legislature

The Spokane Police Ombuds Commission voted unanimously on Jan. 20 to draft a letter opposing House Bill 22 20, which commissioners said would change decertification procedure and panel composition.

Ombuds Bart Logue summarized the bill’s three elements: new reporting requirements for mandatory training, raising the decertification standard from a preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence, and changing decertification panels’ membership. Logue, who testified on the bill, said the proposal would “raise the standard for more likely than not up until 70 to 80%” and warned that the panel changes could “neutralize the community member component” added in 2021.

Commissioner Amy McCollum moved that the commission send a letter opposing HB 22 20; former chair Jenny Rose seconded the motion and the commission approved it by voice vote. McCollum told the commission she does not object to the bill’s reporting requirements but said she opposes raising the legal standard and altering the panel makeup because those changes would, in her view, “water down civilian oversight.”

Commissioners cited Initiative 940 and recent changes intended to increase civilian participation in decertification panels. Logue said he had coordinated testimony and ethical checks before speaking to the Legislature, and noted that the process he described is “a very fair process, and it’s very rigorous.” Commissioner McComb and others asked that the commission circulate the video of Logue’s and McComb’s testimonies on the Washington Legislature website to members.

Next steps: commissioners agreed that Commissioner McCollum and Commissioner Rose will draft the language for the letter and circulate it to the commission; staff will provide any legislative links and background materials the commission requests.