Urban League Seattle Defends Police Chief

By BERNARD CHOI and CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - Two powerful civil rights groups are taking sides in the controversy surrounding Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and his handling of an internal investigation.

The Seattle chapter of the NAACP on Friday called on the Kerlikowske to step down, while the Urban League is supporting the Chief.

James Bible, president of the NAACP, said the police chief took unusual steps in trying to influence what should have been an independent review of a controversial drug bust.

Last January, two Seattle police officers arrested a drug suspect in Belltown; that arrest was caught on tape. The suspect said he was roughed up and the cops planted drugs on him. The officers were reprimanded because their written report didn't match the video taken of the arrest, and the prosecution dropped charges against the man.

Then, the citizen oversight board released a draft report this week accusing the chief of interfering with the internal investigation into the two police officers and taking "extraordinary" measures to get a witness statement.

The NAACP says the chief should not have intervened to affect the probe. The local NAACP chapter has raised questions about one of the two Seattle police officers in years past. Last month, the local branch of the NAACP called for the chief's resignation.

"If we have a chief that will seek to hide information for his own personal gain or interest, then that chief needs to step away that chief needs to find another town," Bible said Friday.

The NAACP said Mayor Greg Nickels also needs to be held accountable for the outcome of the investigation.

The Urban League is standing by Kerlikowske.

"I will be damned to allow any draft report, any incomplete investigation, to ruin the five year relationship we have tried to establish on behalf of African-Americans and the police department," said James Kelly of the Urban League.

From King 5 News