Spokane Police Department is distancing from vague use of force techniques. Here’s what that means

When Spokane Police Ombudsman Bart Logue wrote in a 2019 report that the department should remove the use of “exceptional techniques” from its policy manual following the firing of an officer who kicked a handcuffed man in the groin, it would take another five years and a new police chief for the recommendation to be taken seriously.

Last week, Logue said, he was notified the department is trying to move away from the term “exceptional techniques” – which are those not built into department policy, but rather an improvised action to respond to what are called “rapidly unfolding conditions.”

The change comes less than three months after the appointment of Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall. He started new conversations with staff because the phrase is riddled with ambiguity, Hall told The Spokesman-Review.

“There’s no defined exceptional technique. That’s part of the problem. It’s so wide open,” he said. “Officers were using this when going outside the bounds of being taught or trained, and then using the term as a justification.”

It’s exactly what Logue had been trying to convey for the last five years following the firing of former officer Kristofer Henderson.

Washington’s commission that investigates law enforcement found Henderson had kicked a handcuffed man in the groin after a police pursuit in 2019 and claimed it was an “exceptional technique” because the suspect was large, upset and resisting the three officers who were holding onto him. The department’s investigative panel made up of supervisors did not believe the strike violated the department’s policy, mostly because the “policy was unclear,” ombuds reports say.

Regardless, Henderson was fired at the direction of former Police Chief Craig Meidl.

The explanation, and lack of action from Henderson’s investigative panel, prompted Logue and his deputy ombudsman to conclude in their 2019 report the department should eliminate the use of exceptional techniques from its policy manual.

“Exceptional techniques should not be a safeguard in order to approve out-of-policy techniques, at the end of the day,” Logue said. “We need to clearly define what is excessive and what is out of policy.”

The original policy states the exceptional techniques also have to accomplish a reasonable and legitimate purpose, but the term is so vague, it makes it harder for internal investigators reviewing a use of force incident to come to a conclusion on whether the actions were justified . A big part of the change, Hall said, is that eliminating the term will not only help investigators, but push police officers to “spell out exactly why they used the force they did” and to explain in detail why that specific tactic was used in place of other options.

It also eliminates the likelihood of misinterpreting or misconstruing the phrase, he said, which isn’t productive. Some Spokane officers who were hired from other departments would use tactics from their former agency – tactics not always approved by Spokane’s department – and apply “exceptional techniques” as a way to bypass policy, Hall added.

The elimination not only protects citizens and suspects, he said, but “protects officers if they know they have to justify and clearly define their actions.”

A means to adapt

Spokane attorney Jeffry Finer has seen it all, he says. He’s worked with police officers, with suspects, judges and other attorneys for 40 years. The exceptional technique method, as it evolved throughout the decades, “is often a mechanism after failed de-escalation,” he said.

“It’s heavily associated with excessive force, because by the time something requires an exceptional approach, things are probably out of control,” Finer said.

In the ‘80s, Finer noticed a clear shift where police tactics appeared more militaristic rather than to keep the peace. The mindset led to more tension between law enforcement and the community, because de-escalation was no longer at the forefront of local departments. Instead, he said, it was more about control.

“These techniques kept getting utilized in situations where de-escalation was never tried or working,” Finer said. “And it often backfires.”

Logue said an exceptional technique, like punching someone, for example, allows an officer to gain an advantage but may not get the officer “the compliance they are after,” which escalates the situation.

Regardless, Finer said, police should be able to defend themselves in tough situations. But finding the right response might be a work in progress. There’s not any city that has a perfect and ideal training program because communities and cultures change, Finer said, and “bad guys change.”

“We have to adapt, however,” he said. “If we are removing aggressive techniques, the idea is to have a big investment in trusting the police. If it works, that will be the outcome.”

Tension that has lingered for decades around police and their communities might not go away, Finer added, but it could leave “tough” feelings behind if the new chief is willing to look at effective policing that doesn’t place people in high-risk situations quicker than usual.

“How we get there could be tricky,” Finer said.

Similar to eliminating the “exceptional technique” terminology, Washington passed a law in 2021 eradicating the use of a chokehold to subdue a suspect. Logue said officers will adapt and still be able to operate within the guidelines they are given by the department, just like they did in 2021. And the distancing from the term “exceptional technique” won’t limit an officer’s ability to control and arrest a suspect within the parameters of department policy, according to Hall. 

In the end, Hall will set the standard for what will become of exceptional techniques. For now, the plan is to eliminate it from the use of force manual and the policy manual. The policy is currently being revised, Hall said, and conversations informing staff about the change and teaching alternatives are already happening.

Det. Dave Dunkin, president of the department’s police guild, said he welcomes the decision as long as it “makes things better.”

“I always want our department to be better … If revisiting this is something that gets us there, then yes, I look forward to what the chief comes up with,” he said. “If we can find improvement, let’s do it.”