Originally published by The Spokesman-Review (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/oct/08/spokane-city-council-pares-down-police-oversight/)
by Mike Prager
Spokane City Council members voted unanimously Monday to create a new citizen Police Ombudsman Commission to oversee future investigations of officer misconduct and police performance.
Council members backed away from a proposal to empower the existing police ombudsman to conduct independent investigations.
An announcement last week that the mayor’s office has reached a tentative labor agreement with the Spokane Police Guild caused council members to back away from stronger ombudsman language – at least for the time being.