SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - In a recent letter to Seattle Police Chief Adrian
Diaz, the city’s inspector general stated that Seattle police should
“strongly consider” eliminating traffic stops for minor, civil, and
non-dangerous violations.
According to reports, Seattle Inspector General Lisa Judge stated that
such stops should be “discontinued for the safety of both officers and
the public and for racial fairness.”
As inspector general, Judge is charged by law with helping to ensure the
fairness and integrity of the police system in its delivery of law
enforcement services. In her letter, Judge wrote that traffic stops
should be limited to offenses that create a danger to the public.
Examples of this include reckless driving, DUI, school zone violations,
and other similar circumstances.
Judge framed her “recommendation” as a “request,” but then went on to
argue that routine traffic stops for minor civil offenses, such as an
expired license tabs or a burned-out taillight can at times result in
unnecessary deaths, both to motorists and police officers.
In her letter, Judge cited the recent cases of 20-year-old Daunte Wright
who was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop and Darian Jarrot,
a New Mexico state police officer who was fatally shot during a traffic
stop by a driver with an assault rifle. She wrote:
“Many in law enforcement acknowledge traffic stops are inherently
dangerous, with officers approaching unknown persons, often in darkened
vehicles, sometimes in remote areas, without knowing whether that person
may try to harm them to avoid being arrested.”
She added:
“Many in the community believe traffic stops are inherently dangerous
for different reasons, especially for people of color.”
Judge wrote that traffic stops for minor violations are a “significant
infringement on civil liberty” and should be reserved for cases when a
person is engaged in criminal conduct that harms others. She wrote:
“Stops for government-created requirements like car tabs, with nothing
but a potential monetary penalty, do not justify the risk to community
or to officers.”
She stated in her letter that routine traffic stops are the most common
form of face-to-face interactions between police and the community and
can impact how community members form negative opinions of the police,
which can in turn influence public trust in the department. She wrote:
“Moreover, research has consistently shown that black and Latino
experiences during traffic stops are different from those of white persons.”
She added:
“I have discussed these issues with others in city leadership and I
believe there is support for exploring alternatives to traffic
enforcement in ways that do not involve routine stops for minor violations.”
In her letter to Diaz, she stated that she welcomes the opportunity to
“discuss this critical community matter” with him further.
PubliCola reported that the Seattle Police Department is not required to
act on Judge’s letter, nor is the letter a fully formed policy proposal.
Judge’s office will need to conduct additional research into best
practices if they plan to phase out low-level traffic stops.
Judge told PubliCola that she believes the issues raised in her letter
require an urgent response. She said in a statement:
“Rather than taking to time for a painstaking audit, we have a practice
of sending an ‘alert letter’ to SPD to get the ball rolling quickly.”
Reportedly, this is not the first issue Judge has flagged for the
Seattle Police Department. In February, her office sent letters to Diaz
urging him to clarify his department’s vehicle pursuit guidelines and to
reconsider how his officers respond to people experiencing mental health
crises while carrying knives.
City inspector general sends police chief letter "urging" PD to
eliminate traffic stops for minor violations
LAWENFORCEMENTTODAY.COM
City inspector general sends police chief letter "urging" PD to
eliminate traffic stops for minor violations

On 5/25/2021 3:26 PM, a425couple wrote:
>
> SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - In a recent letter to Seattle Police Chief Adrian
> Diaz, the city’s inspector general stated that Seattle police should
> “strongly consider” eliminating traffic stops for minor, civil, and
> non-dangerous violations.
> According to reports, Seattle Inspector General Lisa Judge stated that
> such stops should be “discontinued for the safety of both officers and
> the public and for racial fairness.”

> LAWENFORCEMENTTODAY.COM
> City inspector general sends police chief letter "urging" PD to
> eliminate traffic stops for minor violations

from
https://www.seattle.gov/oig/about/meet-the-team

Lisa Judge, Inspector General
Lisa A. Judge leads the Office of Inspector General, and for the past
two years she has built a department dedicated to critically examining
SPD use of force and improving its policies, practices, and culture. Her
works in progress geared towards institutional changes include
community-involved sentinel event review of significant use of force
events, recommending an officer peer intervention program, and
developing an innovative training program with oversight partners and
SPD for effective suspect and witness interviewing inspired by concerns
of organizations like the Innocence Project. Lisa spent over 20 years as
a Tucson City attorney and in-house counsel for the Tucson Police
Department, guiding police management in constitutional policing. Lisa
was an ACLU-approved trainer for court-ordered training on Fourth
Amendment law and anti-bias for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Lisa earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona. She and her
wife Kimberly enjoy spending time with their son and furry kids.

others!!!! plenty of others!!!

Amy Tsai, Deputy Inspector General
Prior to joining the Office of Inspector General, Amy was the
supervising analyst for public safety, health and human services for the
Seattle City Council. She staffed matters such as the Council's annual
adoption of the Seattle Police Department budget and the police
accountability legislation. Before that, Amy was a senior legislative
analyst for the King County Council on public safety, public health,
public defense, and other issues, and was honored to serve on the
County's Equity and Social Justice Inter-Branch Team. She has also
worked in areas of drug prevention program evaluation, court research,
and civil rights. Amy has an M.S. in industrial/organizational
psychology from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in psychology and J.D. from
the University of Washington, and is a member of the Washington State
Bar. Amy and her husband live in Seattle with two rambunctious boys.

Mary Dory
Mary Dory, Supervising Auditor
Mary comes to OIG from the Office of the City Auditor of Austin, Texas,
where she was a supervising senior auditor. Her portfolio includes
managing complex audits, including leading large performance audits of
the Austin Police Department. Mary has a masters degree in Public
Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas
at Austin, where she was named a Powers Fellow. She has a deep
commitment to public service.

Matt Miller
Matt Miller, Public Safety Auditor
Matt has spent the past six years auditing U.S. government assistance to
Afghanistan under the auspices of the Special Inspector General of
Afghanistan Reconstruction. His work included auditing the Afghan
National Police personnel and payroll systems and accountability
procedures and preparing congressional briefings on the results of his
audits. Matt has received three Inspector General Awards of Excellence
and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on
Terror. He has a Masters in International Affairs from Boston University
with a focus on African Studies. He enjoys biking and skiing with his
family and their dog.

Steve Komadina
Steve Komadina, Public Safety Auditor
Steve joined OIG after serving as a senior analyst at the U.S.
Government Accountability Office (GAO). He conducted performance audits
about a range of federal issues, including FEMA's employee misconduct
policies, federal agencies' response strategies to illicit synthetic
opioids, and TSA's efforts to enhance pipeline systems' security. Prior
to GAO, Steve was an economist at the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development. His work there included conducting affordable housing
market analyses in the Pacific Northwest and developing demand estimates
for FHA multifamily housing underwriting. Steve has an M.A. in Applied
Economics from Washington State University and a B.A. from Gonzaga
University. In his free time, he likes hiking, cross-country skiing,
reading, and going to the movies.

Dan Pitts
Dan Pitts, Public Safety Auditor
Dan previously worked for the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General as
an Audit Program Analyst, where he performed audits of overseas
operations and wrote the office's key report on Volunteer Drug Use.
Prior to working for the agency's Inspector General, he served as an
English Teaching Volunteer in Indonesia for two years. Dan has a
master's degree in Public Affairs from the Evans School of Public Policy
at the University of Washington.

Miroslava Meza
Miroslava Meza, Policy & Statistical Lead
Miroslava has an MS in Mathematics from Claremont Graduate University
and a BS and MS in industrial Engineering from the Monterey Technology
and Science Institute. She is a certified Six Sigma professional. She
has participated in a wide range of projects interconnected by
statistics, mathematics, data analysis, problem-solving, six sigma and
project management techniques. Before joining OIG she was project
manager and main data scientist for a joint project between Southern
California Edison and Claremont Graduate University, where she predicted
and minimized volatility in Los Angeles power grid outages. She has
taught statistical engineering and conducted demographic and social
research regarding public policies and its impact on gender issues in
Mexico.

Daniel Hernandez-Aldaco
Daniel Hernandez-Aldaco, Policy & Statistical Analyst
Daniel has six years working in policing and public safety for public,
academic, and nonprofit institutions. Before joining OIG, Daniel was a
consultant for Innovations for Poverty Action, where he researched the
implementation of Operation Ceasefire in two California cities. Prior to
that, Daniel was an advisor to the Undersecretary of the National
Commission of Security in Mexico. His work included drafting federal
public security policies, researching alongside academic partners, and
preparing strategic briefings for the Federal Police Chief and the
Federal Commissioner of Security. Daniel has a Master's in Public Policy
from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was named Julius Babbit Fellow,
and a Master's in Economics from Mexico Autonomous Institute of
Technology. Besides public safety, Daniel focuses his work on racial and
ethnic justice.

Conor McCracken
Conor McCracken, Policy & Statistical Analyst
Conor is a policy analyst with a passion for harnessing data to make
government more effective and accountable to the public. Prior to
joining the OIG, Conor worked as a data consultant and policy
professional for a variety of organizations in the Seattle area. With
the City of Tukwila, he authored a report on designing and implementing
a citywide performance dashboard. At the Washington State Office of the
Attorney General, he conducted research on emerging policy issues,
including violence against Native American women and gig economy labor
policy. Conor holds a Master of Public Administration from the Evans
School of Public Policy and Governance, specializing in policy analysis
and evaluation and public financial management.

Anthony Finnell
Anthony Finnell, Strategic Initiatives Lead
Prior to joining the Office of Inspector General, Anthony was Interim
Executive Director of the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) in
Oakland, CA, and the Executive Director of its predecessor, the
Citizens' Police Review Board (CPRB). CPRA conducts independent
investigations into allegations of officer misconduct in the Oakland
Police Department. Before that, Anthony was a Supervising Investigator
for the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) in Chicago, Illinois,
overseeing IPRA misconduct complaint review, investigation compliance,
and recommendations for disciplinary action for members of the Chicago
Police Department. Anthony retired as a Sergeant for the Indianapolis
Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) after a career spanning more than
23 years. During his tenure with IMPD, Anthony worked as a Unit
Supervisor in the Community Affairs Branch, a Homicide Investigator, a
Field Supervisor and a Field Training Officer. Anthony brings more than
29 years of experience in law enforcement and civilian oversight of law
enforcement. He serves on the Board of Directors for the National
Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). Anthony
holds a Master of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of
Management and a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from
Oakland City University. Anthony is married and has three adult children.