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Harrell retained MFR Associates, a human resources and employment law firm in Mill Creek, last May to conduct an independent review and compile a report, an effort that involved interviews with nine city officials and a review of more than 52,800 pages of documents. That report, given to Harrell last month, concluded the department’s Equal Employment Opportunity office has a conflict because it is tasked both with investigating complaints of discrimination and offering advice on employee relations. […]
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The report noted a significant increase in the number of EEO-related complaints between 2019 and 2024 and the inability of the department to address them.
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A 30-page assessment of the Police Department’s EEO functions accompanied the letter and detailed the scope of the investigation and its recommendations, which were divided into “preferred” and “alternate” options for the administration and council to consider.
The preferred option would include further expanding the civilian-run, independent Office of Police Accountability to include workplace harassment and discrimination investigations, on top of its responsibilities to investigation allegations of wrongdoing and accountability within the Police Department’s ranks.
It also includes recommendations that the council amend the current laws to encourage and protect people who make complaints or witness violations and address workplace concerns that fall outside the EEO office’s jurisdiction.
Sweeping changes like this, particularly involving the scope of OPA’s jurisdiction, would almost certainly require collective bargaining between the city and the five unions — including the powerful Seattle Police Officers Guild — that represent the Police Department’s sworn and nonsworn employees. SPOG recently won a 23% raise for its members and is negotiating a contract with the city for 2024 and beyond. Those talks are hung up over accountability issues, officials say.
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