Office of Law Enforcement Oversight says it needs more power to investigate

SEATTLE — The King County Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) says it needs more power to investigate.

The independent agency released its annual report for 2020 on Tuesday.

OLEO’s director, Tamer Abouzeid, told KIRO 7 the public wants more transparency.

“Policing has the potential to impact our lives in very dramatic ways,” Abouzeid said.

OLEO exists as a check to that power, operating separately from King County law enforcement and political actors. It’s OLEO’s job to ask questions, such as whether officers were justified in using force.

“We try to look at what leads to the situations and make policy recommendations,” Abouzeid said.

Abouzeid walked KIRO 7 through the newly-released report, which details community trends, complaints and ongoing investigations.

The document shows that 56 community allegations of excessive force were filed over the last year.

None of the accused law enforcement officials were found guilty.

“That means we need to look a little deeper into those allegations of excessive force,” Abouzeid said.

But OLEO can’t initiate investigations on its own.

“Unfortunately, that power which we do have in our ordinance has been bargained away,” Abouzeid said.

Abouzeid said currently, OLEO plays an advisory role to the internal investigations team with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

On Tuesday, Abouzeid asked the King County Council to change that.

He said as it stands now, the police are policing themselves.

“No matter how good of a job they do, it’s just simply ... there’s too much of a conflict of interest,” Abouzeid said.

The annual report said that in 2020, people across the region spoke emphatically about the need for change in law enforcement systems, saying they want greater transparency.

They’re calling for mandatory body and vehicle cameras. They also want to see less money spent on law enforcement and more spent on community-based alternatives.

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