Firm proposes 64 recommendations to Tacoma police policy, including use of force rules
A private firm hired by the city has advised the Tacoma Police Department to clarify many of its policing policies, including uses of force.
The City of Tacoma spent $250,000 in June to hire 21st Century Policing Solutions, a consulting firm based in Chicago, to conduct a review of its police policies.
The 10-page report released Friday consists of 64 recommendations for TPD.
Additional recommendations likely will follow as the firm completes further review of TPD’s use-of-force incidents and misconduct investigations, according to the report. A final report with supporting data, evidence and rationale will be completed by March 15.
“While the 21st Century Policing Solutions report is a high-level preliminary look at their findings, there’s a lot of good feedback that I’m excited to be able to review,” Tacoma Police Chief Michael Ake told The News Tribune. “To get ready while we wait for the comprehensive report, we will begin working with the city manager to prioritize and develop the recommendations into a work plan.”
Tacoma has received national attention over the past year for cases that are now under review as uses of force, including an incident on Jan. 23 in which an officer drove through a crowd of people after being surrounded by a street racing group.
The report recommended Tacoma Police Department “revise its use of force policies to make clearer to officers when force is and is not authorized” and prohibit “various problematic” uses of force, including:
Techniques and/or modes of transport that run a substantial risk of positional asphyxia.
Shooting from moving vehicles.
Use of force against subject(s) who only verbally confront officers and are not involved in criminal conduct.
Use of force against subject(s) who are handcuffed or otherwise restrained.
Use of head strikes with hard objects.
A Tacoma Police Department spokesperson told The News Tribune that while some of the listed uses of force aren’t explicitly stated in policy, they generally are not practiced by the department.
City manager Elizabeth Pauli said in a City Council meeting Tuesday that some of the policy recommendations the department already practices, while others need to be improved or more clearly represented in TPD policy. More clarity will be coming in the future as 21st Century Policing Solutions works on its final report, Pauli said.
The report also advises creation of a “Community Safety Plan” to address community issues and foster relationships, including a specific strategy for engaging people experiencing homelessness and those living in encampments.
Another recommendation states TPD policy should impose a duty on officers to intervene when they observe other officers violating use-of-force policy and states that the “current language on the ‘duty to intercede’ is insufficient.”
TPD’s current “duty to intercede” policy states, “An Officer present and visually observing another Officer using force that is clearly excessive under Department policy shall intercede and attempt to prevent or stop the use of excessive force, if it is safe and feasible to do so.” The duty to intercede will be “reviewed under an objectively reasonable officer standard.”
The report also recommends the Police Department “substantially revise its treatment of the core concept of ‘objective reasonableness,’” but does not elaborate on what changes should be considered.
TPD’s use of force policy already addresses the objective reasonableness standard, which is currently defined as “the force used by an officer must be balanced against the heinousness of a persons actions and the threat they pose.”
The report also recommended change to the policy involving tasers to limit their use to three five-second cycles within one incident.
Tasers are the second most commonly used force by Tacoma police, second only to physical controls, which range from arm bars to hair holds. They were deployed 308 times from 2015 to 2019, according to department statistics.
A taser delivers a high voltage shock when probes attach to someone’s body. Each charge lasts about five seconds, and the probes emit 19 pulses per second. That can often be enough time for officers to gain control of the person, but sometimes officers must apply more than one cycle to get a person under control.
What comes next
At a study session on Tuesday, Tacoma City Council member Lillian Hunter said it was a “daunting task” to make sense of 64 recommendations.
Pauli said the next step is to prioritize the recommendations and develop a timeline for implementation. Some changes may require bargaining with the police union, she said.
“Depending on the recommendation, that will influence the timeline, but I feel we’ll be able to work efficiently with the unions on all of the issues,” Pauli said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Tacoma Police Union IUPA Local 6 did not immediately respond to a request for comment via email on Tuesday.
Tacoma’s Community Police Advisory Committee is in the initial stages of looking over the report, but CPAC chair Stephen Hagberg said it was a “good start.”
“It shows that there has been a comprehensive look at processes, best practices and a good listen of the public comments has been had,” Hagberg said in an email to The News Tribune. “We are certainly supportive of the high level aspects that this shows, and eagerly await some definition as to specifics that will come as a result. We are looking at the elements in this preliminary document for items that we can impact at the committee level.”
