OLYMPIA, Wash. — The State of Washington is about to change the way it investigates deadly police encounters.
Starting December 1, the state’s Office of Independent Investigations will head up inquiries into cases where police are involved in deadly incidents.
At first, the agency will only investigate cases in southwest Washington and the Olympic peninsula.
Agency director Roger Rogoff, a former King County prosecutor and judge, said he has only hired around 50 of the agency's 80 positions and the office is not ready to offer statewide services yet.
“When we hire the people we will do it,” said Rogoff, “My hope is that it’s months, but I wouldn’t want to make that promise.”
Currently, when a police officer kills someone, detectives from an outside neighboring or surrounding agency conduct the investigation. In 2021 state legislators voted to change that and created the new agency to handle all deadly use of force investigations.
"I've heard so many people describe it as a huge reform and change, something very different - to me it's just common sense,” said Rogoff, who added it will be good to have investigations conducted by people who don’t know the involved officers.
According to an agency spokesperson, the team of investigators will consist of a supervisor who has received “extensive training and experience,” and senior investigators, who will be working with newly trained staff.
The agency will also provide liaisons to work with impacted families, communities, and tribes.
"It will create, I think, some comfort for families as we will be able to let the family know what's going on with the investigation, in broad terms, to the extent we can, in a way that helps with transparency and some trust in the system,” said Rogoff.