A new report is shedding light on the mistakes of the city and Seattle Police Department in response to the CHOP protests. The Office of Inspector General released a report identifying critical errors by the City of Seattle and Seattle Police Department leading up to and during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protests (CHOP). The impetus of the protests was the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The IG report analyzed the city and the police department’s failure to communicate with residents and business owners inside the protest zone. These residents and owners were cut off from city and public safety services. However, it looks like the main flaw were caused by ineffective communication between city departments. This led to the two fatal shootings in the protest zone.
The report is the result of a Sentinel Event Review. During this review a panel of community members and SPD representatives work to identify decisions made and actions taken by the city and SPD. The group found that some of the decisions made “eroded public trust” and led to “poor policing outcomes” between June 8, when CHOP was formed in Capitol Hill and July 1, when former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered the police department to disband the occupied protest.
The report began by analyzing the city’s controversial and “unprecedented” decision to evacuate the East Precinct based on intelligence from the FBI. That intelligence stated that protesters planned to target government buildings. SPD evacuated the precinct on June 8. SPD was supposed to return to the precinct the next day, but it remained empty for the next 23 days.
The move led to complaints that SPD’s evacuation from the precinct resulted in the establishment of CHOP, which has been criticized for criminal activity. The zone experienced four shootings in 10 days, which resulted in the deaths of two teens.
