By Pepper Fisher
VANCOUVER, Wash. — A new Washington state agency is set to take over investigations into fatal police shootings on December 1. It’s going to be phased rollout of the program, and Clallam County will be in the first group.
The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII) was created in 2021 based on the recommendation of a task force that Gov. Inslee convened on how to investigate police use of deadly force.
The OII is led by a civilian director and is intended to eventually include civilian investigators on its teams. The director is supported by a board that includes both law enforcement and civilian members.
The way things are now, when a deadly police shooting happens, like the one in May in downtown Port Angeles involving a suspected bank robber, those investigations are taken over teams of neighboring law enforcement agencies. In our case, that’s the Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team (KCIRT).
It’s not unusual for investigations of this kind to take a year or more, but when they are completed, the results are turned over to the Prosecutor in the county where the incident occurred. Since Clallam County is in the first group, we asked Clallam County Prosecutor Mark Nichols if the OII will be taking over the investigation of the Port Angeles police shooting, and will the results still be handed over to his office when complete.
Nichols told KONP that because the OII won’t begin responding to use of deadly force incidents until December 1, the Port Angeles investigation will remain in the hands of KCIRT. He added that the results of KCIRT’s investigation will be referred to his office for review.
It’s important to note that there have been two attempts by politicians to create an Office of Independent Prosecution in Washington state. The first occurred during the 2021-2022 legislative session, and again in the following year. Both attempts failed. Nichols said the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorney’s has argued that the bills were unconstitutional because legislators lack the authority to diminish the role of elected local prosecutors.