SEATTLE — King County residents approved Charter Amendment 1 which writes the county's inquest process into the county charter, setting the process for investigating a death in police custody.
“Now it's in the charter, which makes it harder to change and harder to ignore,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine.
Inquests are now required when investigating an officer’s conduct when someone dies during police contact. King County must also pay for an attorney for the victim’s family.
The changes mirror requirements Constantine signed as an executive order for the county two years ago.
“These together I think, will help restore some confidence in the community,” Constantine said. “None of us wants to see an unnecessary deaths happen on the streets of King County.”
There are several inquests in King County currently on pause due to lawsuits from nearby cities and police agencies. The approved ballot measure will not impact those cases, but will be implemented for future inquests.
“Now we're able to take action when we find out something that could have been done differently, whether it's training or policy, or maybe an officer not following the training and policy,” Constantine said.
Inquests now also can apply to jail and police staff, who are non-commissioned positions, and other positions within law enforcement if that person’s actions may have contributed to a death.
“We have a responsibility to figure out how to unwind that. How to make it so that we minimize or eliminate situations in which a resident's life is lost because of a conflict,” he said.