Blogs Feb 16, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Comments

1
Now it's Diaz who's saying it:
Statement of Police Chief John Diaz

Officer Ian Birk has communicated to me his intent to resign his commission with the Seattle Police Department.

His resignation will take place effectively at 4 p.m. today.

At my direction, the Office of Professional Accountability investigation will continue forward. The completion of this investigation is not contingent on Ian Birk remaining on the force. Reaching our own administrative conclusion is a necessary step to providing a small degree of closure to the many people affected by this tragedy over the past several months.

If the Office of Professional Accountability presents me with a recommendation for discipline, it will be kept on file per department protocol and presented to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2011/02/16…
2
holy jesus!
3
Cue wrongful death suit in 3...2....1
4
Officer Birk has left Seattle for his villa in Sharm el-Sheikh.
5
Is he going to return that month of pay he got since the incident too?
6
Now he should voluntarily put himself in prison for a couple years.
7
Everett just lost $500,000 (that's half a MILLION dollars if you can't count, or the cost overruns on the Are You Kidding Me? Tunnel for one day) for what @3 is referring to.

Canada should sue under the Trilateral Commission for a clear MILLION for this violation of civil rights.
8
Some people are saying that Birk can't be prosecuted if he believed he was in danger, but the relevant law states that deadly force is ok if the officer has:

"probable cause to believe that the suspect, if not apprehended, poses a threat of serious physical harm to the officer or a threat of serious physical harm to others." [emphasis mine]

We can't know his belief but we can determine if he had probable cause, so there's no reason not to prosecute.
9
Just more evidence that Birk is a wildcard. He's going to need all the free administrative duty pay he can to fight off the lawsuits.
10
Smooth update - thank you!
11
@8, the section of the statute you're referring to has to do with whether the use of force is justified. That's a different section than the one that deals with whether a law enforcement officer can be held CRIMINALLY liable.
12
@11 Thanks for the clarification. That's a shame, because it creates a situation where a police officer can use unjustifiable force and not be legally liable for it. Oh well, let's hope the civil suit that the Williams family is talking about bringing gets some justice done.
13
Civil suits don't result in jail time, though.
14
I'm sure one of more conservative burgs in the area will happily hire this murderer. I mean Birk kills the type of people conservatives hate!!

Ian Birk? The Kent Police Department is calling!!!
15
Your sentences consist of a noun, a verb, and the word "tunnel".

Looks like Birk pulled a Tricky Dick Nixon on Seattle, eh?
16
Good riddance. And a logical decision on his part, since it was quite obvious that Diaz was going to have to fire him, this was his least-bad option.

I have no sympathy for him. He should have been tried. Cops are supposed to enforce the law, not be above the law.
17
@14 - Sorry but Conservatives like me think this was WRONG too! Maybe the blame should be placed where it belongs?
1. Ian Birk
2. Seattle PD and their hiring, training and contact with the public, policies and procedures.
3. "To big to be challenged" Police Unions
Ian Birk is gone, the Seattle PD needs to make changes and the Unions need to stop protecting the bad apples.
But....We'll see if anything changes

18
City of Seattle and its insurers will pay the civil judgement against former Ofc. Birk, not Birk himself. And if the City has any heart at all, it will negotiate a handsome payment to the Williams family, and not make them suffer the pains of a court trial.
19
Woops, I was referring to #7.
20
Kudos to KIRO for breaking and reporting this story.

What would the Stranger do without outside news sources to borrow content from?

Oh yeah, actually have to do some work themselves.
21
venomlash...oh don't worry your comment could have been 50 comments past Will's and we still would have had no doubt who you were referring to.

And Rake @ 20: I suppose that's why Dom actually credits KIRO in his 1st sentence. Duh. And in the original version of this he noted that he had calls into both Diaz and McGinn for confirmation. Diaz's announcement made it all moot.

And if you think the Stranger did no work themselves I suggest you and look at the marvelous reporting done by Cienna on the inquest. No other outlet in town (and, therefore, the state...the country...the planet....the known universe!!!) covered that as well as the Stranger did. In fact, their coverage of the whole Birk-Williams saga has been as good as any outlet in town. And quite often much better.
22
FUCK YOU ian birk. SPOG IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.
23
@21,

You got a little left on your chin there.

Please wait...

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