Why Do Western Wash. Cops Keep Killing Indigenous People?
Gabe Galanda and Ryan Dreveskracht are featured in a compelling new investigative podcast: “The Killing of Stonechild Chiefstick: The Investigation,” which exposes Kitsap County and City of Poulsbo law enforcement’s cover-up of the killing of Mr. Chiefstick on July 3, 2019.
In an encounter that lasted only ten seconds, Mr. Chiefstick, a Chippewa Cree member and father of five, who hailed from the Suquamish Reservation, was shot dead by Poulsbo Police Officer Craig Keller in a crowded Poulsbo waterfront park on the night of July 3, 2019.
Mr. Chiefstick is the latest in a growing number of Indigenous people who have lost their lives at the hands of Western Washington police. Over the past decade, John T. Williams, Milo Harvey, Cecil Lacy, Jr., Renee Davis, and Daniel Covarrubias also died in this region due to local police violence. Indigenous mental illness or mental health crisis was a factor in most if not all of these tragedies.
Criminal charges were not filed against any of the officers involved in those fatalities. None of those situations resulted in a civil jury trial, with cases brought by the decedents’ families either getting dismissed or settling out of court. Only two resulted in inquests, where the officers were exonerated.
In episodes 3, 5, and 6, Galanda and Dreveskracht expose various aspects of the “playbook” that the extended Western Washington law enforcement family uses to conceal the truth associated with officer-involved deaths. In the final episode, they explain why those local deaths continue unabated:
Galanda: “It’s important to recognize here that officers make mistakes. Our police officers are by and large undertrained and unqualified to perform for the job that they are tasked to perform by local government. Mistakes happen. But just societies admit mistakes and learn from mistakes. They do not cover up mistakes and hide from the consequences of mistakes….[W]hat we are seeing throughout our society and throughout Western Washington is that our system of government is designed to not atone for the mistakes made by law enforcement but to hide those mistakes, and hiding those mistakes only leads to the next person being killed by the police.”
Dreveskracht: “[W]ithout having the truth out, without having the facts available to the public, with the sort of broad defenses available like qualified immunity, like the felonious conduct statute…these cases don’t even get to a jury. There’s no testimony to figure out what exactly happened and there’s no fact finder to evaluate that testimony. It’s just going to keep happening.”
Galanda and Dreveskracht also discuss what justice might look like for Mr. Chiefstick’s family, including his five surviving children:
Galanda: “Justice in this case would be some remedy that does not allow these officers, like so many officers in Western Washington or America, to escape the repercussions of the decisions they made on July 3, 2019. And hopefully that justice for Stonechild Chiefstick’s family will result in the next life being saved or spared from law enforcement rather than being lost at the hands of law enforcement.”
Dreveskracht: “I think that would involve, in this case, training for the officers, critical incident training. It would involve an approach to law enforcement from a level of supervision to a level of policymaking that takes these situations and takes a de-escalation approach as opposed to rushing in and being scared and making a bad decision….”
Emmy award-winning Producer/Editor Dom Caprese produced the powerful podcast series. Please listen.
Gabe Galanda and Ryan Drevesckracht are partners at Galanda Broadman, PLLC. They sue local and state governments, officials, and officers for the wrongful death of Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons. Gabe belongs to the Round Valley Indian Confederation, descending from the Nomlaki and Concow Peoples.