Who’s accountable? SPD Officer Cynthia Whitlatch (top left) arrested an elderly black man last summer for no apparent reason, alarming members of the community. It’s going to take a big push from Mayor Ed Murray (top right), Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole (bottom left), and Office of Professional Accountability Director Pierce Murphy (bottom right) to make sure Seattle responds more quickly to concerns about its officers.
The Seattle Police Department’s Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) has a real problem. Its mission is to investigate police misconduct and recommend discipline for bad cops. But in one of the most egregious cases of misconduct from last year—Officer Cynthia Whitlatch’s July 9, 2014, arrest of William Wingate, an elderly black man, for no apparent reason—the OPA was missing in action.