SEATTLE — Reports from an independent agency say a Seattle police officer who threw a tear gas canister that hit a reporter, and other officers who threw blast balls that hit individuals during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, violated policies.
The Seattle Office of Police Accountability received more than 19,000 complaints about police misconduct during protests.
The agency released five batches of investigative reports since September, with the latest 22 cases posted Friday.
Seattle police spokesman Det. Patrick Michaud said Tuesday that to date no officers have been disciplined for any of the sustained findings.
In the latest batch of cases made publicly available, there were three cases in which Seattle officers deployed tear gas canisters or blast balls overhand without being "fully aware of their surroundings," according to the Office of Police Accountability. Some blast balls hit people not posing a risk to safety or property.
"Numerous" complaints were also made regarding a June 1 incident in which officers chose to disperse protesters using blast balls, tear gas, and pepper spray. The Office of Police Accountability found the reasons to disperse the crowd were "not proportional to the risk of injury/damage that dispersal would cause."
In two cases, the Office of Police Accountability found that while officers were within policy, their decision to make arrests for low-level crimes led to "greater disorder among the crowd."
The office recommended Seattle police change its policy to prevent officers from deploying blast balls overhand or directing blast balls at a person unless it was to prevent serious bodily harm.