The King County Sheriff's Office and Seattle police announced a new training partnership Monday, focused on putting more emphasis on verbal and de-escalation skills instead of physical tactics.
All recruits to the two largest local police agencies in Washington will undergo the training as part of a pilot program with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, which trains all police officers in the state except troopers.
"It's a strategy to build trust in the community by improving individual interactions between the police and people they encounter on the street," Sheriff Sue Rahr said at a news briefing to unveil details of the program.
Although police must use force at times and became fearful after the execution killings of five officers in the region in 2009, the goal is to make interactions safer for citizens and officers, Rahr said. She noted that when people believe the police are fair and trustworthy, they are more likely to cooperate, obey the law and avoid physical confrontations.
Rahr said initial talks about the program began last summer and weren't related to last month's announcement by the U.S. Justice Department that it was opening a formal civil-rights investigation into the Seattle Police's Department's use of force and treatment of minorities. The investigation comes after a controversial officer-involved fatal shooting and other high-profile incidents.
Rahr said those events added urgency and momentum to what she described as a justice-based policing initiative, with training to begin by the end of the year.
Eventually, the training will be extended throughout the ranks of the Sheriff's Office, which has 652 deputies, and the approximately 1,330 officers of the Seattle department.
Joe Hawe, executive director of the training commission, said the project continues efforts the commission has sought to weave into its programs for the past three years.
He said the project will be tracked by criminal-justice researchers at Seattle University to determine its success.
Rahr said research across the nation has shown that despite better training of law-enforcement officers and lower crime rates, public trust in police has lagged because of people's perception about how they were treated.
As a result, the Sheriff's Office and Seattle police have developed what they are calling the L.E.E.D. model -- for listen, explain, equity and dignity, Rahr said.
People need to be able to "tell their side of the story," and officers need to explain what they are doing, and even more why they are taking certain steps.
Explanations must reflect fair and unbiased decisions, Rahr said.
Most important, officers must act with the dignity of their office and leave citizens with their dignity, she said.
Assistant Seattle Police Chief Mike Sanford, who commands the Patrol Operations Bureau, said the program adds to skills the department is already emphasizing.
Sanford said officers need to be taught how to slow down situations and reduce the flow of adrenaline. Rahr acknowledged previous training has focused on quick physical compliance without considering less dangerous methods.
Hawe said a key element of the program is to develop interpersonal-communication skills among recruits in an era when texting and social media have hindered verbal abilities.
Included will be executive-level training to make sure the program's principles are articulated to the rank and file, Hawe said.
The project ultimately could be extended statewide, he said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
