The Seattle Police Department has loosened its interpretation of a state law that requires law enforcement to provide juveniles with attorneys.
Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr described the law as a "delicate dance" for officers who are responding to volatile situations. The Seattle Police Department has loosened its interpretation of a state law that requires law enforcement to provide juveniles with access to an attorney before questioning them.
both previously claimed the law kept officers from talking to witnesses at the scenes of two fatal shootings“I sent a memo out to our entire department clarifying that police officers can interview juvenile witnesses,” Rahr told KOMO News. “The challenge is, how do you separate out who may be a witness and who may be involved, that is a really tough call for the officers to make.”“When our officers get to the scene, they don’t know right off the bat who are the suspects and who are the witnesses,” Rahr said. “The minute you suspect that somebody might be involved, you have to stop and you have to offer them consultation with an attorney. Every attorney that I know will advise the kids ‘don’t talk to the police’ - so we don’t have an opportunity to talk to juveniles that may have a connection to the crime that there may be cause to view them as a suspect.”In December 2023, an audit released by the Seattle Office of Inspector General said Seattle police officers were engaging in "broad non-compliance" with the requirements of the state law on juvenile attorney access. “SPD officers generally did not provide juveniles with access to an attorney in the course of custodial interrogation, detainment based on probable cause, or before requesting consent to search,” the audit stated. Auditors claimed in a sample of 50 interactions where police should have provided youth with access to an attorney, they only did so in two cases. “OIG observed several instances of non-compliance where officers verbally acknowledged restrictions on questioning a juvenile but also did not appear to discuss the requirement or possibility of providing access to an attorney. This indicates that although some officers are aware of restrictions on juvenile questioning, they may be unaware of the full requirements or how to provide meaningful attorney access,” the audit said. A month after the audit’s release, Seattle police responded to a call of a shooting in the bathroom of a teen life center near Chief Sealth High School. Officers found 15-year-old Mobarak Adam dead from a gunshot wound inside a bathroom. Detectives quickly learned that Adam was in the bathroom with three other juveniles when he was shot in the chest.Adam’s family and Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka have been critical of the state law "Unfortunately, because of a reasonable, but strict, interpretation of the law currently as written, the family was thwarted in getting what they want and deserve," Saka told KOMO News. Saka added he plans to work with lawmakers to clarify the state's rules on when police have to connect youth with a lawyer. “The problem is it’s very vague and very broad right now, so let’s write the clarification tweaks into the state statute itself," Saka said. “Because of this law, we are unable to investigate properly, and adequately investigate crime by talking to witnesses who happen to be youth." who previously cited the law as the reason for not questioning some witnesses to a June shooting at Garfield High School“During my roll call visits, I have heard repeatedly that officers believe they cannot question juveniles without an attorney present. That is not accurate,” Rahr’s memo said. Rahr’s memo told officers they may question juveniles outside the presence of an attorney when the juvenile is a victim or witness of a crime and not suspected of criminal involvement. The SPD guideline also said police can question juveniles outside the presence of an attorney if there is not sufficient probable cause to hold the juvenile in custody. The memo added officers must end questioning and contact an attorney once they develop probable cause that a juvenile was involved in a crime. Rahr’s memo said that police can question juveniles if the juvenile is not in custody or detained, and they have been advised they are free to leave. “Your responsibility as a peace officer is to use your best judgment based on your training and experience to comply with the law when you conduct a preliminary investigation. If you follow this guidance, you have fulfilled your role. It is up to the prosecutor and the courts will fulfill their roles,” the memo stated.While Seattle police have reached the conclusion they can talk to juvenile witnesses, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said the law is not so clear. “While former lawmakers and certain legal counsel for some agencies across the state, have determined that the statute applies only to juvenile suspects of a crime, others have reasonably interpreted the statute to apply, in its plain language, to all juveniles, including those which may only have been a witness to the crime or even the victim of it,” WASPC President Steven Strachan told KOMO News in a statement. Strachan called the law "ambiguous" and "poorly written," adding there are multiple interpretations by Washington law enforcement for when officers have to provide an attorney to youth who are being questioned. “Law enforcement agencies relying on interpretations which diverge from that of the Seattle Police Department are not obstructing investigations or interpreting the law incorrectly. Those agencies are relying on legal counsel to avoid even the potential of violating a juvenile’s rights, especially in instances where officers arrive and are unsure of the circumstances of each juvenile’s involvement,” Strachan wrote.“We propose that statutory ambiguity is one of the root causes for a set of very diverse interpretations of Washington’s law regarding a juvenile’s access to an attorney,” Strachan said.While police have raised concerns about the youth attorney access law, public defenders said the statute is clear. “There is absolutely nothing here that precludes officers from speaking with witnesses,” said Anita Khandelwal, the director of the King County Department of Public Defense. “The law says when you are seeking to have a young person waive a constitutional right, then you connect them to a lawyer. Officers have to know this line all the time. They know when someone is arrested and not free to leave.”and was part of a suite of police reform bills in the legislature that year. Advocates said it would protect youth from abusive police practices and from giving false confessions or incriminating themselves. In the shooting of Adam, the three teens were taken into custody but investigators said they were not questioned about what happened due to the state law on questioning juveniles. "What we know from brain science and our own clients is they felt – two things – they didn’t know what their rights were or didn’t understand them, and two they were intimidated,” Khandelwal said. “ can question witnesses, this has always been true and it remains true. At the time they believe they have a suspect, they want to put that person under arrest, they believe they have probable cause, that is the moment constitutional rights kick in for all of us. All this law says is that once those constitutional rights kick in, you need to connect this young person with a lawyer because they don’t understand their rights on their own.”Jimmy Hung, the chief deputy prosecutor for the Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said there is "no doubt" the youth attorney access law has made it more difficult to investigate juvenile crimes. “Once kids are able to talk to a lawyer, it’s not a surprise they don’t incriminate themselves,” Hung said. “But the law is achieving what it was designed to do. The law was passed to protect the rights of children who are suspects in criminal activity and it certainly has accomplished that.” Hung sent guidelines to police in King County also clarifying they can speak to juveniles who are witnesses or victims of crimes. In some circumstances, the officer may question juveniles who they suspect of committing a crime. “What I am trying to instruct law enforcement on – if you are running into a situation and you don’t know who committed it and you don’t have probable cause that someone committed a crime, in that scenario, and they are children, you can talk to them,” Hung said.“Every law has a certain degree of legalese in it, that’s why there are lawyers and non-lawyers, but I think that area of it is law is as you can try and make it,” he said. “It’s really challenging if don’t think they can talk to victims and witnesses, but that’s not what the law says.”
Crime Washington State Juvenile Crime Witness Washington State Patrol Law Enforcement Seattle Police Department Juvenile Witnesses State Law Attorney Access Interim Chief Sue Rahr Witnesses And Suspects Juvenile Questioning Legal Interpretations
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