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Oversight commission approves four recommendations after report on officer drawing firearm during wildfire traffic-control
Summary
After reviewing a July 8 incident near 2800 West Elliott Drive in which an officer drew a handgun during traffic control, the commission approved four OPO recommendations to change SPD policy on when drawing a firearm counts as reportable force, clarify "immediate threat," route tactical concerns into supervisory review, and combine de-escalation policy with use-of-force policy. Recommendation 26-06 passed with one dissent.
The Office of Police Ombudsman Commission voted to approve four recommendations from an OPO closing report about a July 8 traffic-control incident near 2800 West Elliott Drive in which an officer removed a handgun from their holster during an encounter at a wildfire scene.
OPO Bart Logue summarized competing accounts: the community member alleged the officer drew a firearm, and an officer (identified in the report as officer A) acknowledged pulling a handgun and later told investigators that, had the vehicle driven through the blockade, they may have used lethal force to protect firefighters. Logue said the case raised questions about the line between reportable and reviewable uses of force and prompted both a tactical review and supervisory scrutiny.
Logue told the commission that Washington law (RCW 10.12.020) requires an "immediate threat" for officers to…
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