jenny durkan press conference today

Our police department has worked so hard to ingrain those principles not just in their policies and in their training, but in everyday contact with the residents of our city. Over miles and for hours there were no confrontations.I thank those demonstrators, and I thanked them in person today for their work to march peacefully to protest what needs to be protested, and to raise their voices for a better path for justice.Last night the demonstrations continued around all parts of the City, including First Hill and Capitol Hill. Fundamentally, we need to answer the question of how we can be better. Thousands of people in downtown Seattle coming not just to protest the death of Mr. Floyd, but the treatment of people of color, particularly Black Americans over generations, and to demand that it stop. We know that these demonstrations are continuing not just in Seattle, but across the country, and it is a highly charged and very fluid situation. I want people to be able to peacefully gather to be able to demand change, express grief, experience community with one another, but we need them to do it peacefully.

The use of any force – whether it be the use of hands-on force or pepper spray or tear gas should only be done as circumstances require. OPA looks at individual actions and OIG looks at systemic changes. Over miles and for hours there were no confrontations.I thank those demonstrators, and I thanked them in person today for their work to march peacefully to protest what needs to be protested, and to raise their voices for a better path for justice.Last night the demonstrations continued around all parts of the City, including First Hill and Capitol Hill. But first, as I do every time we have one of these news events in the last four days, I want to acknowledge why so many people are gathering and marching in our streets. Our accountability system – both OPA and OIG – will be tested and there could never be a more important moment that they have the resources and confidence of the public, so as I said, we will make sure that in the budget OPA and OIG have the resources they need to do the job they need to do to give the public the confidence that the oversight is there. Chief Best is the one who brought to me at the very beginning of my being Mayor and said one of the things she was concerned about was making sure that as we did these investigations we not lose sight of the very important impacts that racial disparities can make on policing and building public confidence.We have those reports, but that’s just the beginning.

We’re going to find a way to get that done. And then later that night, in the span of seconds, things changed quickly. Many people who are on the streets don’t understand why the body-worn video hasn’t been turned on. But saying that doesn’t mean we’re done. I will double down to work for it harder, and I know we must continue to listen to the voices on the street. But I am committed and the chief is committed to make sure we do all we can to make sure people can march peacefully, that we avoid any criminal activity, but we also do what we can at the Police Department and at the City to ensure that things are de-escalated if possible. OPA, of course, looks at individual actions, but OIG looks at systems, and the Office of Inspector General has been observing what’s happened over the last four days in real time to set up and determine how to review, how we respond to large events like this.I welcome that independent review.

Chief Best is the one who brought to me at the very beginning of my being Mayor and said one of the things she was concerned about was making sure that as we did these investigations we not lose sight of the very important impacts that racial disparities can make on policing and building public confidence.We have those reports, but that’s just the beginning. I was able to meet with some of the protestors today who want their voice at the table talking about the changes they think need to be made. Much of their focus was on the demonstrations that have continued outside of the department’s East Precinct in Capitol Hill. For example, many have expressed concern about the mourning badges, and we’ve talked about the importance to police officers in acknowledging the loss of an officer, but the public wants apparently to know the badge number even if the name is present, so Chief Best and I have discussed it and we will change the policies of the Seattle Police Department so officers can wear mourning badges, but there is a way that a badge number is always displayed. Ultimately, we know that every interaction the public has with a police officer either adds to or takes away from public trust. In committing to those changes, we must admit and acknowledge the deep, deep systemic racial barriers are real and affect, as I said, every system in our society For denial of the truth – the denial of truth – is the life blood and oxygen that injustice needs to continue And when we commit to change, we must also commit  to centering the voices and experiences of the communities that have been locked out and left behind for generations in almost every aspect of our lives: from economic justice to civil justice to criminal justice to even our very life expectations.For in the end, the demands of these protestors must be our demands, they must be our collective demands. That’s what I’ve worked for in two years as mayor.