Spokane County Jail & Law Enforcement Oversight Part 2
Spokane Jail & Law Enforcement Part 1
Citizen Oversight
The Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been revealed to be little more than a scam. There continues to be no independent citizen oversight of local law enforcement. Mike for Spokane provides a proposal for a quick and inexpensive solution to ongoing problems with the Ombudsman Committee.
Spokane Sanctuary City Status
Spokane Sanctuary City status came before the city council on July 13. The city council is still considering a ballot initiative challenging this status.
Sanctuary city status has become an increasingly controversial issue across the country. There has been proposed legislation announced at the Federal level that would block all federal funding for Sanctuary cities, which Spokane is now considered based on council action last Fall.
Mike for Spokane looks at some of the serious issues relative to sanctuary cities. If illegal aliens do not have to follow our laws then U.S.Citizens should not have to follow the laws either. There is no reason that tax paying citizens should have less Freedom than people who come to live in Spokane illegally.
Spokane Law Enforcement Oversight
In this Mike for Spokane Update: Public comments by the Spokane County Sheriff and Spokane Police Chief. Continuing issues relative to Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee.
Hoopfest Weekend & @YoungTRaaw is heading to Florida!
Hoopfest weekend is upon us and it is going to be hot. A quarter of a million people are expected in downtown this weekend. Stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat stroke.
Mike for Spokane sends a thank you to Tyler Harvey, for showing us how it’s done! @YoungTRaaw is headed to Florida!
#GoEags! #GoMagic!
Independent Police oversight issues continue in Spokane.
New Sanctuary City Initiative headed for the ballot.
Mandatory Sick leave & $15.00 hour minimum wage debate.
Sheriff’s Town Hall meeting on Monday at Central Valley 6:30 to 9:00. If you go:
1 – Printed tickets from eventbrite registration are a MUST – no ticket – no entrance.
2 – Questions for the Sheriff MUST be submitted on 3×5 cards, will be reviewed (combine frequently asked together) and read to the Sheriff.
Have a great Hoopfest weekend, stay hydrated and Have fun. ~ Mike
Police Oversight Irregularities
The findings from an independent investigation conducted by the law firm Winston Cashatt was released to the public last last week. This investigation looked into the conduct of individual members of Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee and found numerous irregularities that led to Spokane’s Mayor and City Council President to call for the resignation of three committee members. The City Council held a special meeting on Thursday last week and voted to remove the Chairman of the ombudsman committee and accepted the resignation of another committee member. A third committee member was out of town and council voted to give this member a week to respond to allegations of impropriety.
The findings of the Winston Cashatt investigation seem to indicate that Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been mostly a sham and Spokane still does not have any real citizen oversight. The committee appeared to be more interested in a highly politicized agenda and was hostile towards local law enforcement.
The process and transparency of police oversight has been a problem in Spokane for well over a decade and the events of last week reveal that our community still has serious problems in this area.
In this Mike For Spokane update, we review elements of the investigative report, problems with accessing official records and what our elected representatives can do to resolve these problems now and to restore confidence in the highly important process of police oversight.
The findings of the Spokane Ombudsman Committee investigation can be found here: https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/news/2015/06/17/whistleblower-report-finds-commissioner-misconduct/report-to-the-city-of-spokane-whistleblower-committee-update.pdf
MFS Update June 14, 2015
Mike for Spokane update for the week of June 14, 2015. Police oversight, Sanctuary City, Mandatory Sick Leave, Sheriff’s Town Hall Meeting.
Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse
Every elected representative should be taking Civil forfeiture serious, particularly in Washington State which received an F- in a recent review of abuses relating to unwarranted use of police power.
“Ayala was never charged with a crime in relation to the cash; nonetheless, a Montana judge ruled last fall that he could not receive his money back. Ayala’s cash is just part of the $172,000 in drug forfeiture funds the Montana Highway Patrol has spent since 2013.”
“The practice of asset forfeiture is common throughout the United States. Critics call it “policing for profit.” The Washington Post reports that police have seized at least $2.5 billion since 2001 from “people who were not charged with a crime and without a warrant being issued. Police reasoned that the money was crime-related.”
Story: http://www.westernjournalism.com/cop-took-16k-from-man-on-his-way-to-buy-tractor-parts-after-seeing-this-in-his-car/
How are civil forfeiture laws in your state? Find out: http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/09/this-map-details-whether-asset-forfeitur
Reducing Property Crime
Finding, Tracking & Reducing Property Crime in Spokane, Washington.
Taking the ‘Sting’ Out of State Surveillance
