The Office of Independent Investigations (OII) announced last month that it is accepting requests to review past investigations of deadly force cases. The agency has a budget for 80 staff members, but has hired fewer than 30 so far. In recent years, the issue of police use of force has garnered significant attention and sparked widespread public debate. Cases of excessive force, often resulting in tragedy, have raised critical questions about accountability, transparency, and the need for comprehensive oversight of law enforcement agencies.
To address these concerns, many communities have turned to independent civilian-led reviews as a means of promoting trust, fairness, and justice within their policing systems. The Legislature voted in 2021 to create the OII to help hold police accountable when they kill someone on the job. The idea was to ensure officers aren’t investigated solely by other officers. The civilian-led agency gained authority to start investigating cases in July 2022, but has yet to begin that work.
Independent reviews of police are established to address the inherent conflict of interest that can arise when law enforcement investigates their own officers. In cases of alleged misconduct, bias or a lack of objectivity may exist within the department, potentially leading to a lack of trust in the investigative process and outcomes.
For a case to be reinvestigated, there must be new evidence available, such as video footage, previously unknown witnesses, or information that calls an existing witness’s credibility into question, according to a policy the agency adopted in June. A new Washington state office to scrutinize police uses of force is still not fully up and running, but it’s taking suggestions from the public for past police killings that should be reinvestigated.
Communities are more likely to cooperate with police when they have faith in the integrity of the system. It’s unclear when the office will be ready to start investigating police uses of force as they happen, one of its purposes outlined in state law. The team isn’t fully staffed and doesn’t have the resources to send teams into the field to investigate new cases
