After U.S. Department of Justice officials interviewed Seattle-area residents Saturday about alleged abuses by police, several people said they felt encouraged their complaints had been heard, the Seattle Times reports. “It felt good to get it off my chest. It felt good to talk to somebody outside the local system,” said Rick Dale, a bus driver who contends his 14-year-old son was unjustly roughed up by Seattle police last year.
Several dozen people talked to Justice Department officials during in closed-door meetings. The Justice Department is investigating whether Seattle police have engaged in a pattern of unnecessary force and biased policing.When Police Chief John Diaz suspended and demoted Detective Shandy Cobane last week for telling a robbery suspect he would beat the “Mexican piss” out of him, Diaz said in the future he would fire officers who used racial epithets.