King County Executive Dow Constantine unveiled new reforms on how officer-involved shootings are investigated at the county level.
So far nine inquests have been put on hold in King County while officials worked with community members and other government agencies helped to draft changes.
The inquest process was sometimes called unfair by families whose loved ones died at the hands of law enforcement during officer-involved shootings.
Before Wednesday’s reform, inquests looked into whether or not the officers involved in a shooting felt their lives were in danger. Now, inquests will instead determine if involved officers followed their department’s training or policies.
One of the 9 inquests currently on hold is the King County Sheriff’s Office officer-involved shooting death of Tommy Le.
The department’s own review already determined his shooting was justified when they thought he was carrying a gun – but he wasn’t, he was only carrying a pen.
Constantine says the 9 inquests currently on hold will benefit from Wednesday’s reforms, adding that hearings will likely resume in early 2019. Constantine also said his office will pay close attention to I-940 to make sure the inquiry process follows state law. (Q13 Fox News, October 3, 2018)
Details of the changes to police shooting inquiries can be found on the King County web-site.
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