Despite reforms, 2022 was one of the deadliest years for police shootings in Spokane County

On the first Monday of January 2019, the sun was out and the air was crisp. It was a new year. Debbie Novak prepared to hit the gym when her phone lit up.

“Debbie, I think you need to check on David,” the message read.

She dialed her son. No answer.

On a local news website, she found a report of police shooting a man who had a gun the night before. She could see houses near David’s in the video.

She breathed a sigh of relief. David didn’t own a gun.

But her worry persisted.

Novak and her husband, Garry Creel, jumped in their car and drove from their Nine Mile Falls home to her son’s house in north central Spokane.

She called into her voicemail box and found a message from David’s neighbor: It looked like every police officer in Spokane was on the block.

A second message: The neighbor thought David was dead.

Novak called 911, hands shaking and barely able to speak. She begged the dispatcher to tell her what happened.

“I want to know if my son is dead,” Novak recalled saying. “Did this involve my son – is he dead or alive?”

The house, a navy blue bungalow with white trim, looked normal when they arrived: no flashing lights, no yellow tape. David’s 1970’s Dodge pickup was parked in the gravel driveway.

Then her eyes caught something else – a pool of blood on the porch.

Novak made her way inside. The home was cold. Her son’s dog, Gracie, met her with wide eyes and ears pinned back.

“I just started running through the house screaming for him,” Novak said.

It took hours for Novak to confirm her worst fears: David was dead. Police had shot and killed her son.

Years of confusion, frustration and lack of information about how her son died ensued as Novak received little information from investigators.

When there was news, the public found out at the same time she did. When Novak voiced concerns that the shooting wasn’t being looking into aggressively enough, no one listened, she said.

Last year, law enforcement officers across Spokane County shot at nine people. Six of them died.

It was the most police shootings in recent memory. The previous high was eight instances of police officers using deadly force. That was in 2020, when five died, and 2017, when six died.

Despite renewed scrutiny from state lawmakers and intense public attention nationally on deaths in police custody – with murder charges filed against officers in Memphis and Minneapolis, for example – shootings by law enforcement in Spokane County rose in 2022 to the highest number in at least the last two decades.

The Spokane Police Department ranks seventh in the nation for deadly police interactions per capita, according to Mapping Police Violence, a police accountability group. Nationwide, it was the deadliest year for police shootings since 2013, the group said.

Despite the increase in police killings locally and in jurisdictions across the country, local prosecutors rarely, if ever, charge police. When police have been charged, it was by federal or state prosecutors who step in at the behest of elected officials.

Of the dozens of police shootings reviewed by the Spokane County Prosecutor in the past two decades, the prosecutor’s office has determined each time that the actions of officers were justified.

Novak and others who advocate for police reforms believe that lack of prosecution is evidence that local prosecutors work too closely with law enforcement to make a thorough and unbiased decision.

Law enforcement leaders contend their officers use deadly force as a last resort. They point to independent investigations by other agencies to underscore their stance.

Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl said officers do their best to avoid using deadly force when responding to an increasing number of violent calls.

“I think some people expect officers to be perfect on every incident every single time, and that is not realistic,” Meidl said. “Our officers do an overwhelmingly phenomenal job with the types of calls that they’re going to.”

A new system

Since 2018, a series of changes to state law have been made regarding investigations of officers’ use of deadly force. Those changes were meant to ensure independent, transparent investigations and build community trust.

Police accountability advocates say law enforcement is incapable of investigating themselves or other agencies, and that prosecutors’ rulings are little more than a rubber stamp. That lack of trust is rooted, in part, by the often secretive way shootings are investigated, according to the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability .

Washington voters in 2018 approved Initiative 940, which led to many new requirements to foster independent and transparent investigations into police use of deadly force.

The initiative created more stringent rules, including the justification of deadly force when “a reasonable officer, in light of all the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time, would have believed that the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious physical harm to the officer or another individual.” Previously, an officer had to act with “malice” in order to have violated the law when using deadly force.

The initiative also required police to complete de-escalation training and required the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to adopt rules for more specific requirements.

Over the next four years, the commission created and revised the law on how independent investigations into police use of deadly force should be conducted.

Spokane already had an independent team in place, but the new law put up more firewalls to prevent interference from the involved agency. The most recent changes went into effect in January 2022.

Investigators now must assign a family liaison, update two community members and send out weekly updates on the state of the investigation.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels and Meidl approve of the intent of more transparency , but say the regulations haven’t always been effective in practice.

“Transparency is always good,” Nowels said. “We have certainly been imperfect in law enforcement, not only in this state but in this country.”

Meidl said he hopes the standardization of investigations statewide and new transparency requirements will instill more trust in the system designed to hold police accountable.

“I think it does provide a certain level of consistency in investigation,” Meidl said. “That may provide a certain level of comfort for folks to understand the process is going to be the exact same.”

But, the new rules fall short, according to reform advocates, who remain skeptical that agencies that often work together – such as the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Police Department – can conduct effective investigations of each other.

“Why would a mother whose son was shot 6 times during a mental health crisis want to talk to another policeman about her son’s death?” Justine Murray, whose son was shot and killed by a deputy in 2019, wrote in an email to The Spokesman-Review. “Yet that is what happens when your child is killed.”

Murray’s son, Ethan Murray, was mentally ill, homeless and camping in a wooded area in Spokane Valley when Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies chased him into the woods.

Deputy Joseph Wallace said Ethan Murray threatened him with a knife, causing Wallace to shoot him.

An investigation revealed Murray was unarmed, and that what Wallace saw was likely a pair of sunglasses. Murray’s mother filed a claim and later settled with the county for $1 million.

A painful process

Debbie Novak spent hours making calls and asking questions in the aftermath of her son’s death. After what she described as an excruciating wait, the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the dead man was Novak’s son.

She was left with many questions and no one to answer.

Deputies told her they were investigating the shooting, but she had no idea what that entailed, how long it would take or who would decide whether the officer who killed her son should be prosecuted.

All Novak knew was what police had released to the media the night of her son’s death – that a neighbor reported her son was drunk, yelling racial slurs at them and firing shots at their home.

When police arrived, they quickly radioed that they had heard gunshots.

Officer Brandon Rankin was listening as he sped to the scene. Within seconds of Rankin joining his fellow officers at a fence up the street from Novak, he fired, killing him.

The Novak case occurred after voters passed Initiative 940, but before the guidelines on independent investigations were implemented.

Many of the new regulations enacted after Novak’s case, if followed, would have increased communication from law enforcement to the family.

Even with the intention of better communication, everyone involved agreed that the regulations don’t always work.

The agency that used force is completely cut off from information about the incident as soon as the independent investigation team takes over. And that frustrates Nowels and Meidl.

“How do I go out and talk to my community about what happened if I can’t know?” Nowels said. “It has needlessly complicated my ability to give information to the public.”

The public has questions that Meidl said he’s frustrated he can’t answer.

Previously, a lead investigator was assigned from an outside agency, but officers from the involved agency would be assigned as co-leads and placed in supportive roles.

That level of access meant the involved agency was in the loop.

The lead investigator on the Novak case was a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office detective, with a Spokane Police Detective assigned as a co-lead, according to case records.

The Novak family went to the police department looking for answers while the shooting was under investigation. But they came away empty handed.

Surveillance footage and witness accounts often are posted on social media or in news stories before the investigation is complete, which Meidl said can allow a false or misleading narrative to circulate for months before he can address it.

He fears his lack of a prompt response results in a loss of community trust.

“I’m not in a position to be able to either confirm and help us heal and move forward,” Meidl said, “or refute with the other information that wasn’t necessarily included.”

Meidl acknowledges he’s in a difficult position when police use deadly force. He backs his officers’ difficult, in-the-moment decision while also struggling with the tragic loss of a life.

Empathy, though, is rarely enough when a family’s loved one is gone forever.

Officer treatment

An officer who uses deadly force is allowed to take weeks to review their own body-camera footage before making a statement to investigators. Often, officers will consult with defense attorneys before submitting written statements.

That frustrates the Novaks and other families of people shot by police. They said police officers should be treated as criminal suspects.

In Novak’s case, she and her attorney, Rondi Thorp, complained Rankin wasn’t interrogated like a typical suspect. He was only asked if he wanted to add to his written statement, which he had weeks to write.

“What other suspect would they treat like that?” Thorp said. “What suspect would they say, ‘You don’t want to say anything, right?’ when they’re trying to investigate a situation.”

Nowels, Meidl and Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell argue that officers don’t get special treatment. They have the same rights as anyone else.

While it’s true that no one has to talk to police without an attorney present, often people who have no prior involvement in the criminal justice system will answer officers’ questions, said Rob Cossey, a Spokane defense attorney.

“The people that talk to cops are typically the people who are not familiar with the system,” Cossey said.

Cossey said he advises people, including police officers in the aftermath of deadly shootings, to call an attorney before speaking with investigators and then follow the advice of their legal counsel.

Investigations often take months, sometimes more than a year, which Nowels attributes to myriad factors, like delays in forensic testing and the sheer manpower some investigations require.

As they waited for answers, Novak, her husband, daughter and some family friends began picketing in front of the Spokane County Courthouse on the seventh day of each month, the same day her son died.

They hoped their presence would push police to give them more information.

That information vacuum the Novaks experienced was targeted with a requirement that law enforcement publish a weekly update on the investigation.

The intent was “so there’s not a black hole” once the investigation commences, said Leslie Cushman, a citizen sponsor of I-940 and member of the coalition for police accountability.

In practice, investigators send out the same form email each week. It usually reads: “There are no updates at this time.” Or “The investigation remains ongoing.”

“They’re not following the spirit of communication and transparency,” Cushman said of key tenets of laws enacted by the criminal justice training commission last year.

“Communication is key to enhancing the public’s perception of police legitimacy and fairness. A lack of open communication leads to suspicion and damages trust,” the law reads.

Meidl and Nowels argued more substantive updates would put a burden on their already overworked investigators and could jeopardize the investigation if too much information was released.

Maybe the weekly email update is too frequent, Cushman said, but the core tenet of transparency isn’t being followed.

As part of the communication and transparency goals of the new law, investigators are required to assign a liaison to update the family of the person who force was used against.

That wasn’t a requirement when the Novak case was being investigated.

Debbie Novak called the investigators a few times. When they answered, they were short with her or didn’t provide much information, she said.

Thorp also represents the family of Robert Bradley, a man who was killed by police last year while unloading his van from a camping trip.

The attorney said the sheriff’s office hasn’t assigned a liaison to the case and they haven’t received communication from police investigators.

Thorp was unaware the department was sending weekly updates to the press about the Bradley shooting until she was asked about the emails by The Spokesman-Review.

The Sheriff’s Office said they assigned a family liaison in the Bradley case but declined to provide further detail, citing the ongoing investigation.

Laws catching up

In 2021, the Legislature established a new independent office of investigations. Under the purview of the attorney general, the state can take over investigations from local independent teams.

As of early 2023, the office is being set up. Advocates are now pushing for an office of independent prosecution – saying it is the only way to reduce bias and ensure transparency and fairness.

In 2020, the Washington State Auditor’s office began reviewing investigations into deadly use of force to ensure agencies are complying with I-940 and subsequent legal changes. The office has yet to review a Spokane case.

Meidl acknowledges that his department may have missed the mark on occasion with communication, but said they have tried to explain the process to affected families.

Families should be provided as much information as possible without compromising the investigation, Nowels said.

“We should never be willfully withholding information from families that they have a legal right to,” Nowels said.

Many families, like those of Novak and Bradley, would like to see body camera footage released shortly after the incident.

Meidl agreed that could be helpful and said he would like to release footage more quickly. However, without being updated on the investigation, Meidl said he couldn’t speak publicly to the context of the footage.

The Spokane Police Department has made it a practice in recent years to voluntarily release body camera footage after the investigation into officers has concluded.

Deputies didn’t start wearing body cameras until the beginning of 2022 and have not had a completed deadly-use-of-force investigation since then.

The Novak family wasn’t warned that body camera footage of the incident was released to the public and instead found out from The Spokesman-Review shortly before a news conference.

When asked about families not being alerted, Meidl indicated he thought his department had already been notifying families.

“If that’s not happening, we’ll make sure that it’s happening,” Meidl said.

After the investigation is complete, it’s forwarded to the county prosecutor to determine whether the officer broke the law.

Haskell reviews the cases but frequently consults with deputy prosecutors. He receives all the reports in the case along with all the evidence like body camera and surveillance footage, photos and forensic test results.

It takes months to review the investigation, sometimes longer, depending on what other issues need Haskell’s attention, he said.

He tries to complete his review within three to four months, he said.

The county prosecutor writes a statement of facts from the investigative file and his justification for his ruling on the case.

After alerting the investigating agency and the involved family, Haskell releases his finding to the public, he said.

In the Novak case, Haskell found Rankin had a reasonable belief he was entering a shooting situation, where he, his fellow officers and bystanders could be hurt.

But that “reasonable belief” had a problem, just like Novak’s mother knew the day after he died – her son didn’t have a gun.

When police approached Novak minutes after shooting him, all they found was a metal baseball bat. Investigators later determined that the loud bangs officers described were Novak using the bat to hit a pickup.

Haskell held a news conference to announce the shooting was justified.

Neither Haskell nor the police department told the Novaks about the public announcement.

They showed up, outraged that they were the last to find out .

Haskell offered an apology to the Novak family for their loss, but justified the shooting.

Meanwhile, shootings continue

While the debate over how police deadly uses of force are investigated and prosecuted continues, people continue to get shot by police.

Bradley, 41, was shot and killed while unloading guns from his van after a camping trip. Officers were called to his home to serve a temporary anti-harassment order.

Thorp, who is representing the Bradley family, compared the case to Novak’s. She said officers shot Bradley within seconds of arriving and without giving Bradley time to respond to commands. She also argued that officers didn’t fully understand the circumstances they were facing.

The Bradley family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department earlier this month as the sheriff’s office continues to investigate.

The suit follows large settlements last year against local law enforcement for use of deadly force. The Novak family settled with the city’s insurance company for $4 million in September and the Murray family settled with the county for $1 million last spring.

While there’s more focus on deaths, Spokane-area law enforcement also injured three people last year.

In one instance, seven officers shot at and severely injured Israel Garcia, who is charged in federal court with drug trafficking. Investigators described the situation as an exchange of gunfire.

The record number of shootings last year is surprising to Meidl and Nowels.

“That’s disappointing,” Nowels said. “I would love to see the day when we have none. I would love to see the day when police don’t have to use force on anyone, ever.

“If they were just compliant, what a wonderfully boring job police work would become.”

Both argued that their officers are dealing with increased incidents of violent crime and more repeat offenders who quickly resort to violence.

Four officers have been shot and injured in Spokane in the last three years, Meidl said.

“The number of felons that are in possession of firearms is at a level that we just had never seen before,” Meidl said. “It feels like it’s a tinderbox out there everyday.”

And with all the scrutiny of police shootings from the public and the state Legislature, officers are putting themselves at risk, Meidl said.

“The level of scrutiny of these bills that we’re seeing being pushed, is that officers are so worried about the potential ramifications of a shooting, even if it’s justified, that they are now unnecessarily exposing themselves to risks that are going to get them hurt or killed as well,” Meidl said.

That increased outcry is something Meidl attributes in part to how quickly police misconduct from anywhere in the country can easily be seen on video by anyone, anywhere.

However, Meidl acknowledges that on some level, the numerous investigations and public pressure is warranted.

“There should be that level of scrutiny,” Meidl said. “But that has to be coupled with realistic expectations of the fact that we hire humans and they’re forced to make split-second decisions.”