SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department is removing the use of the force term "exceptional techniques" from its department policy going forward.
SPD getting rid of the term is something that Police Chief Kevin Hall is adamant about doing. The reason stems from a previous incident in 2019 when Hall said reviewers with SPD used the term per the department's policy when it shouldn't have been an option.
Police said Henderson kicked the suspect in the groin area while handcuffed.
"It was during the review, as different levels of review occurred, the terminology exceptional technique was used to sort of justify the action, and that was problematic," Hall said.
Hall said the term used in that instance wasn't appropriate. After that incident, the department saw a steady decline in non-lethal use of force incidents from 117 in 2019 to 71 in 2020 and 66 in 2021.
However, during that time, the language was still tolerated by SPD reviewers. It isn't now.
"We're excluding it from the policy, and we're excluding it from the manual for the defensive tactics," Hall said.
A 2022 report from Spokane Police Ombudsman Bart Louge critiqued "exceptional techniques" as problematic.
Two years later, that change is now being taken into SPD's review of different circumstances.
"There's so much ambiguity in the term 'exceptional technique' that it could be applied to almost anything that occurs," Hall said.
With the term being removed, Hall said the next steps involve taking that term out of the department's lexicon.
Hall said he hopes the change will create better accountability for officers on duty after their actions are reviewed.