Charleena Lyles’ inquest hearing highlights systemic failures under the consent decree and the inability of Seattle’s police accountability entities to change deadly policies.
by Dr. Howard J. Gale
July 6, 2022 — The headline in our local paper of record shouts, “Seattle police officers justified in killing Charleena Lyles, panel finds.” The just-concluded King County inquest into the 2017 SPD murder of Charleena Lyles was never going to provide accountability, justice, or even closure. On July 6, following the verdict, Katrina Johnson, Lyles’ cousin, said (at 00:21:12):
“I’m not sure that this process is in the best interest of impacted families. Being a person that works with impacted family, I don’t even know how I recover from this. Truly, now, this is just as bad, if not worse, than the day Lena was killed. It might even be worse because this is just completely unnecessary and just the amount of intimidation and abuse of power at display from the officers and the attorneys has just been next level. And I don’t know why anybody would want to subject themselves to this.”
Continue reading OPINION | Seattle’s Police ‘Reform’ Process Hasn’t Tackled Lethal Policies