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Seattle Chief: Agency Is 'Not Broken'
December 19, 2011
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Seattle Police Chief John Diaz and other officers defended their agency, which has come under fire after a U.S. Department of Justice report claimed excessive force is "systemic" within the department.
In a rebuke to Assistant Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Perez of the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division, Chief Diaz said the department is "not broken." At a press conference Friday, Perez said the trust is broken between the community and the department and must be repaired.
The Justice Department's Friday report claims Seattle cops use excessive force that's unconstitutional 20% of the time.
Rank-and-file officers told the Seattle Times they believe the DOJ is unfairly targeting the department with the report. One detective called the findings "mind-boggling."
"You're talking about maybe 40 people who are knocking the crap out of people in a department of 1,200 officers," the detective told the media outlet. "I have a hard time believing there are 40 rogue guys or gals out there gratuitously beating people and getting away with it."
Read the DOJ's full report here.
Tags: Seattle PD, Police Chiefs, Excessive Force, Justice Department
Comments (2)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
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Jim @ 12/21/2011 8:20 PM
Something in this country is certainly broken. IT IS NOT THE POLICE!
Jim
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Karen Gilbreath @ 3/20/2013 11:24 AM
The incident's of so-called police brutality that made it to the news media only showed the tail end of the arrest, they didn't show if the suspect was spitting at the officers, or swinging at them or anything like what they have to deal with on a daily basis, the media only showed the officers using force to subdue the suspect! As far as Perez saying the communities trust is gone, how would he know when he is sitting in an office behind a mahogany desk! Get out on the street with the officers and see first hand what they see on a daily basis and I guarantee you'll have a different aspect of things!!
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