Editorial: Decertify officer who fatally shot Native woodcarver

Friday, February 18, 2011  

"The disturbing findings of the Seattle Police Department's Firearms Review Board investigation into the fatal shooting of John T. Williams must be used to ensure Officer Ian Birk will never again serve in law enforcement in Washington.

Forward the findings to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to launch an investigation leading to Birk being decertified as a law officer, forever.

Birk, who resigned Wednesday, must never again be allowed to patrol public streets as a sworn officer, or carry the imprimatur of police training into a private position where he is armed and deals with the public.

Birk's resignation must not be gamed into a calculated move to pursue appeals and reinstatement. No desk job to accrue retirement credits. He was the beneficiary of a narrowly written state law that discouraged King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg from filing criminal charges against him.

As we noted in a past editorial, the shooting death of Williams might not be found to be criminal, but it also might not be tolerable for those who work to protect the community. So it came to be with the release of the review, a withering professional indictment of Birk's actions:

"The totality of these findings lead to an unequivocal conclusion: The use of deadly force by Officer Birk resulting in the death of John T. Willians was: unjustified.""

Get the Story:
Editorial: The Williams shooting: decertify the law officer (The Seattle Times 2/18)

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