After a Tacoma Police officer ran his vehicle through a crowd of people on Saturday, Jan. 23, unresolved questions about the police killing of Manuel Ellis and other past incidents of excessive use of force led to renewed calls from the community for police oversight. Meanwhile, the response from City of Tacoma officials to the incident this past weekend was disappointing for some.
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As of Jan. 25, Washington for Black Lives (W4BL), a coalition of over 35 Black-led organizations across Washington State, is renewing calls for community oversight legislation that would “end the practice of police investigating police.”
“What happened on Saturday was a tragedy made worse by the fact that our laws don’t allow the community to have direct oversight over those sworn to protect and serve us,” said Sedonia Young — a resident of Tacoma, co-founder of W4BL, and leader with Political Destiny — in a W4BL press release about the effort.
