![]() ![]() The contract is titled, “Seabold Group Review of OPA Investigations.” SPD’s Chief Operating Officer Brian Maxey signed the contract on behalf of SPD, through which the OPA functions. At the time of those records requests, neither department had the contract.Īccording to the firm’s website, Seabold Group is a firm that specializes in “conducting workplace investigations, forensic accounting, and civil and criminal litigation support.” Kris Cappel, whose Seabold biography lists her as a former federal prosecutor and a civil litigator, appears to be the lead investigator on the case. ![]() It filed further public records requests for the Seabold Group contract within the last few weeks accordingly with both the City Clerk and Finance and Administrative Services, and emailed the Clerk’s office. The Emerald recently learned the name of the firm through a public disclosure communication regarding its still-open public records requests to the OPA for any records concerning the outside investigation into Best. The Emerald asked SPD about both of these issues over the weekend, and will update this story, if the department responds. It is unclear why SPD’s grants and contracts unit did not immediately file the contract and why it took two years to retain the firm. Once OPA was alerted by the City Clerk that the contract was not in their files, OPA produced the document directly to them.” ![]() When the Emerald asked the OPA why it had not filed the contract with the Clerk’s office, communications manager Jessica Schreindl told the Emerald that the OPA’s “filings are routinely done by SPD’s Grants & Contracts Unit, not us. The two-year delay between these conversations and the commencement of the investigation further suggests officials may have decided to slow roll investigating Best, targeting the release of the investigation to after the SER’s conclusion. As outlined in the Emerald’s February story linked above, City officials appear to have been waiting for the OIG to finish the SER, before starting an investigation into Best. Notably, too, it took the OPA two years to retain Seabold Group, even though the cases involving Best and conversations about investigating her began in the summer of 2020. The Clerk’s office confirmed to the Emerald in an April 28 email that it reached out to the OPA, after the Emerald made public disclosure requests for the contract in mid-April 2023. The $45,000 contract was not filed with the City Clerk’s Office until Wednesday, April 26, 2023, after the Clerk’s office asked about it, since consultant contracts are supposed to be filed with the Clerk’s office. The filing revealed that the firm and SPD signed the consultant agreement contract no later than last August, with the contract as signed expiring on Dec. According to the OIG’s webpage, the process reviewed “‘critical incidents,’ looking at SPD systems to determine how they can avoid future harmful outcomes and better serve the community.” Per a March 28 press release from the Mayor’s Office, the SER recently concluded. In February 2023, the OPA was reviewing documents and would not tell the Emerald the name of the firm or additional details about the investigation, including when the results would be released.ĭocuments in the above-linked story also revealed that officials may have been waiting for the Office of Inspector General ( OIG) to conclude the Sentinel Event Review ( SER) before pursuing investigations involving Best. ![]() The Emerald broke the news in February that the City had hired an outside firm, but that former Mayor Jenny Durkan may have pushed the OPA to delay investigating Best. The Emerald has learned that the Office of Police Accountability ( OPA) retained Seattle-based firm the Seabold Group to investigate former Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief Carmen Best over her actions and decisions during the 2020 protests, including the abandonment of the East Precinct, alleged improper deployment of tear gas, and allegations of dishonesty in the media. The Emerald’s Watchdragon reporting seeks to increase accountability within our city’s institutions through in-depth investigative journalism. ![]()
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