2 Seattle police reformers out, showered with praise but shown the door

Anne Levinson (l) has served two three-year terms as an independent auditor of the Seattle Police Department. Mayor Ed Murray said Friday he will not reappoint her. "I know he has not been comfortable with my reports," said Levinson. The civilian director of the Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability is also on the way out. less Anne Levinson (l) has served two three-year terms as an independent auditor of the Seattle Police Department. Mayor Ed Murray said Friday he will not reappoint her. "I know he has not been comfortable with ... more Photo: Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photo: Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 2 Seattle police reformers out, showered with praise but shown the door 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Two of Seattle's most influential public advocates for expanded civilian oversight of the Seattle Police Department will not be reappointed to their posts, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said in a pre-holiday Friday afternoon announcement.

The director of the Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability, Pierce Murphy, and the OPA's independent auditor, Anne Levinson, are at the end of their three-year terms. Levinson spoke this week with aides to the mayor about temporarily staying on the job.

Murray couched his announcement in terms of clearing the decks for a reform package he will offer the City Council, likely including adoption of an Inspector's Office with expanded authority. He is also pondering the future of the Community Police Commission (CPC) established under former Mayor Mike McGinn.

But the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which has been sharply critical of Murphy, celebrated as if it were already the Fourth of July.

"This is very good news," SPOG tweeted. In a previous, subsequently deleted tweet, reported late Friday by Ansel Herz in The Stranger, the Guild said, "This is the best news in a l" presumably meaning long time.

Murray showered praise on Murphy and Levinson as he was showing them the door.

"Because it is likely that the positions currently occupied will be modified as we consider legislation to improve civilian oversight of the SPD, I would like to take a moment to publicly thank them for their important contributions," Murray said in a statement.

The mayor even invited them to sign back on.

"When the legislation is adopted, I will conduct a national search process to fill each of these modified positions," added Murray. "I have notified Director Murphy and Auditor Levinson that they are welcome to apply for the modified positions."

Levinson did not return the compliment but used cool understatement to criticize Murray. She said her police auditing job was one that required making the mayor uncomfortable.

"I know that he has not been comfortable with my analyses and reports regarding the lack of significant progress on his watch for much-needed strengthening of the accountability and disciplinary systems," Levin said in an email.

"But that kind of independent, informed assessment is why the oversight role was created. I still hold out hope that he will find a way to see the value in strong civilian oversight and can embrace real, sustained reform."

Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, wondered why the mayor is pushing aside two people who have worked hard for vigorous accountability in the SPD. Levinson "knows more than anyone in the administration" on the subject, Taylor said.

Levinson has been a longtime advocate for putting teeth in the auditor's position, providing staff and "real authority" to conduct more comprehensive audits.

Taylor praised Murphy, Levinson, the CPC and Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole, but her praise ended there. "There hasn't been much leadership in the administration for police reform outside the chief," she said.

Mayor Murray was endorsed in 2013 by the Seattle Police Officers Guild. He appointed Interim Police Chief Harry Bailey, a former officer of the guild, who wiped the slate clean of pending disciplinary action against SPD officers.

The city has just reached a tentative four-year contract with the guild, subject to ratification by its members.

The terms of both Murphy and Levinson expired on Friday. The mayor has asked both to stay on until the City Council passes accountability legislation.

Murray will move to his "national search process to fill each of these modified positions" using the same, somewhat lengthy process that resulted in the selection of Chief O'Toole.

A former judge, once co-owner of the Seattle Storm, Levinson has a full plate and had intended not to ask for a third three-year term as auditor. She is chair of the state Public Disclosure Commission. Still, she worries that there will be "a gap" in oversight and knowledge until the new positions get filled.

"I told them (Murray aides) I would be willing to pitch in for a short time, but only if the mayor was serious about getting behind the proposal that I and others have been trying to get them to champion," she said, "to move from the status quo to an Office of Inspector General with real capacity and authority to mandate change well after the (U.S. Justice Department) consent decree has ended."