Pierce County will no longer probe fatal police encounters. Meet the staff who will
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- A state agency will begin investigating fatal police encounters in Pierce County on May 1.
- The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII) is taking over for PCFIT.
- OII was formed by state lawmakers in 2021 to bring more independence in the process.
Pierce County residents will have two opportunities in early April to learn about a new state agency taking over investigations into deaths that result from police officers’ use of force.
The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations, created by the Legislature in 2021, will assume conducting probes into fatal police encounters in Pierce County beginning May 1. Since 2020, that job has belonged to the multi-jurisdictional Pierce County Force Investigation Team (PCFIT), composed of personnel from different law enforcement agencies throughout the county.
The Office of Independent Investigations (OII), which first started operating in a dozen counties in southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula, was formed to bring more independence to the investigative process.
OII has planned an in-person open house from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Tacoma Mall Office Building, 4301 S. Pine St., Suite 200.
The agency said it expects to hold a virtual community meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. on April 9. People interested in the Zoom meeting should register at https://bit.ly/4t7FpL6.
“The purpose of the meetings are to provide community members a chance to meet OII staff, including investigators, and learn more about how the agency operates and upholds its mission to conduct fair, thorough, transparent, and competent investigations,” OII said in a statement announcing the two sessions.
OII is expected to investigate only fatal incidents involving police use of force, at least initially, meaning that PCFIT will continue to handle probes into non-lethal cases, an OII spokesperson previously said.
