2013 Annual Report Recommendations

Recommendation Status
Begin posting all City-involved insurance/litigation settlements on the City of Spokane website. The information should encompass all departments, including the Spokane Police Department. Pending
Construct or purchase a new facility for the Spokane Police Department. The Public Safety Building is unwelcoming, inconvenient, and not easily visible, which makes the Police Department less accessible to citizens. Pending
Neighborhood Conditions Officers should receive 3% specialty pay due to the difficulties of the assignment. Pending

2013 Recommendations

Recommendation Status
Develop a policy regarding projection of an image onto public property, onto private property, and onto private property from public property. Once a policy is in place, provide the Police Department with training to bring them up-to-date. Training bulletin created and distributed.
Develop a formal process to clarify police procedure when seizing vehicles. Officers should refrain from driving private vehicles to storage facilities and should provide proper documentation to the drivers of seized vehicles. Training bulletin created and distributed.
Implement a policy to address trespassing from public or private property and from public or private events. Pending
Consult City Legal regarding the possibility of legislation to address the projection of images onto public or private property. Pending
The Ombuds recommends that City Legal review the permitting process as related to trespassing when renting City-owned or public properties to individuals for public or private special events. Pending
Utilize the allotted briefing time at the beginning of a Police Department work shift more efficiently. Specifically, the Ombuds recommends using any unused briefing time as training time, or for review of department policies. Briefing training implemented.
Review the process for documenting instances of handcuffing detainees. It appears that many officers are unaware of or have forgotten the requirement that such occurrences be documented. The Ombuds also recommends creating a code system to document detainee demographic information for the purposes of later data collection. Policy reviewed at briefing training.
Mark parking stalls so that officers can more easily find their assigned cars. Pending
The Ombuds recommends that any instance of drawing and directing a firearm at a subject should trigger a Use of Force report. The Ombuds further recommends that instances of officers holding their firearms in a low-ready position should also be documented to avoid the appearance of circumventing reporting requirements through a technicality. Additionally, demographic information on the subject should be collected for the purposes of data analysis. Pending

Contact Information

Office of Police Ombuds
1st Floor, City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99201
Phone: 509.625.6742
Fax: 509.625.6748
Regular Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday
opo@spokanecity.org

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Police Ombuds

Luvimae Omana
Deputy Ombuds

Christina Coty
Executive Assistant

Tim Szambelan
Police Ombuds Attorney