Justice Department refuses to release report on its examination of Spokane Police Department

The U.S. Department of Justice has refused to release its report on the Spokane Police Department’s reforms after a public records request and appeal by The Spokesman-Review.

The report details how well Spokane police implemented 42 recommendations from the Justice Department’s collaborative reform process, a voluntary review the department undertook starting in 2012. The reform was focused on evaluating Spokane police policies and practices related to use of force.

Collaborative reforms were a program of the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services, known as COPS, which Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended after President Donald Trump took office.

Spokane police were to receive a final report in the summer of 2016, but after a long wait, the COPS program told Chief Craig Meidl in the fall of 2017 they wouldn’t be getting one. Read more…