Comments on Seattle, Meet Your New Police Watchdogs

The cops should be happy with these guys.

are these folks going to be volunteers?

Who's going to go into a case in depth if not paid?

Burgess is a bully.

@2—sorry, I should've noted that. The old board members were paid a $400 a month stipend. I'll find out if the current board gets the same.

@1. I don't see it that way at all. While I don't know many of these people, this panel is clearly loaded with experience and competence (the uber fair-minded Pat Sainsbury for starters--no pushover) and includes people accustomed to locking horns with the cops. It is more than a gaggle of kneejerk community activists and as a result is likely to work with professionalism and fairness, with credible deliberations and decisions. The Department won't be able to dismiss or ignore actions of this panel that may be adverse to the cops. It appears to me that someone worked hard assembling this group.

fixo, are you one of the Burgess staffers - or are you Tim himself? You sound like the double speak that Burgess is so experienced with.

Thank you SLOG for informing me that I did not get a OPARB position that I interviewed for.

@1

Of course they are happy with them...

If there were any members they weren't happy with the new contract gives the guild veto power over any proposed members of the board.

Of course, we wouldn't know if a member was vetoed off the board by the guild because there is no public reporting requirement when the guild utilizes it's veto power to determine who serves on the OPARB.

Nice stuff, huh?