Seattle considering stricter limits with less-lethal weapons as federal oversight nears its end | Law Enforcement Today

SEATTLE, WA - As federal oversight comes to its end in Seattle, new rules around the kinds of weapons police are able to use during protests are moving forward to a final vote even though a deep division exists within the Seattle City Council over how strict these limitations should be.

According to KOMO, on Tuesday evening, January 14th, members of the Public Safety Committee cast a preliminary vote that narrowed down what limits will be placed on the use of crowd control tools. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell submitted the original less lethal weapons legislation to bring the protocols in line with city law and the police department's current crowd management practices.

City leaders are looking for a balance between upholding people's right to free speech and planning for situations that turn violent and threatened lives or property. Councilmember Robert Kettle, the chair of the Public Safety Committee, said, "That's pretty much a theme of this entire effort. We want to find a balance to protect the free speech and assembly, but then also do it in a way that we can do it peacefully."

Clarifying these laws is also a critical final element to ending federal oversight of the Seattle Police Department (SPD), which is also known as the consent decree. SPD has been in federal oversight ever since the Department of Justice (DOJ) found a pattern of excessive force by police.

Most of the discussion during the preliminary vote on Tuesday focused on blast balls, which SPD used in 2020 during violent protests and riots over the death of George Floyd. In the vote on Tuesday, councilmembers decided to only allow blast balls when the mayor has proclaimed a civil emergency and then the chief of police gives final approval.

Councilmember Cathy Moore introduced an amendment to give the mayor the ultimate authority over using blast balls, but it was voted down. Kettle said that playing too many limits on these less lethal tools could have unintended consequences and potentially turn a not-so-great situation into something even worse.

Kettle said, "These are the kinds of things that we need to be smart in terms of addressing the need but not being overly prescriptive because that may hamstring, that may create its own problems."

There are no current regulations on the police department's use of less lethal weapons for crowd control in either the Seattle Municipal Code or any council ordinance. The discussion and vote comes as the prospect of more civil unrest looms as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in the coming days.

Some Seattle city leaders believe that protesters will flood the streets to denounce the Trump administration's plan to conduct a mass deportation operation of illegal immigrants. Lindsey Burgess, a member of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said, "I do think that there are going to be demonstrations. I think that when protesters go to a demonstration expecting to be hit by blast balls, they are already going to have high tensions."

During public testimony, many speakers brought up the $10 million in settlements the city paid out due to injuries and civil rights violations protesters experienced during protests that turned violent. Blast balls, tear gas and other crowd control tools led to 15,000 complaints being filed against Seattle police during the racial justice protests in 2020.

Moore, who sponsored many of the more restrictive amendments that were voted down, indicated that there will be much more negotiating in the weeks to come. She said, "Based on the amendments I put forth I think there's a lot more room for additional improvement."

According to KIRO7, some of the amendments proposed include strict guidelines for deploying blast balls, requiring them to be thrown underhand, directed away from people, and launched from a minimum of 10 yard. The city council could take up the final vote on less lethal weapons as soon a February 4th.