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The Office of Professional Accountability—the Seattle Police Department's internal investigation unit—has determined that excessive force was used during the Mark Hays' arrest in November 2007.

Hays and a friend got into a confrontation with officers after, police say, the men jaywalked in front of an unmarked SPD vehicle. There was a verbal altercation and, police say, Hays tackled one of the plainclothes officers. Hays was found guilty of assault and obstruction in February 2007.

The OPA issued the finding on the case in October, and the incident was mentioned in the OPA auditor's semi-annual report, released earlier this month:

The officer had been jumped on from the rear as he took control of the subject’s jay-walking friend. When the attacking young man was down and under control, the officer continued to use punches and knee strikes, which he claimed were necessary to control resistance. In the majority of cases, the in-car videos I have seen support the officers. In this case, however, the video was at 180-degree variance with the officer’s perceptions or recollections and a Sustained finding was recommended by OPA and confirmed by the Chief.

I was troubled by a case with very similar circumstances three months later, involving the same officer, same kind of strikes delivered, same justification claimed, and same words spoken; but where no in-car recording was available. In that case a person with a felony warrant fled from the officers, was tackled, and was delivered knee strikes in the mid-section during handcuffing.

Since the officers’ testimony was consistent and supportive of each other, the result was a finding of Exonerated. The Director and I agreed that, despite some similarities, there was no evidence available to sustain an allegation of excessive force against the employee.

I'm trying to find out how the officer was disciplined.

In other misconduct news, the OPA also issued a sustained misconduct finding in the case of a civilian dispatcher who was charged with molesting his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter.

Pierce County prosecutors filed charges against the man last year and was told he would be terminated from the department. However, he appealed his termination before eventually pleading guilty to lesser charges. He was let go from the department this summer.

Earlier this year, the OPA also sustained a complaint against another dispatcher for taking 16-year-old home, providing him with alcohol and having sex with him.