Independent Report Criticizes Police Shooting of MHB Client MiChance Dunlap-Gittens
Posted by Tiffany Cartwright
On February 11, 2020 the King County Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) released an independent systemic review of the January 2017 shooting death of MHB client MiChance Dunlap-Gittens and presented that report to the Law & Justice Committee of the King County Council. Dunlap-Gittens was only 17 years old when he was shot in the back of the head by King County Sheriff's Deputies while fleeing from a botched undercover operation targeting a different teenager.
The OLEO report was conducted by Michael Gennaco of the OIR Group, a former federal prosecutor who has investigated more than 600 officer-involved shootings. The report was highly critical of the internal investigation conducted by the King County Sheriff's Office into the shooting, most notably the failure by King County to act on reforms that were recommended by its own Administrative Review Team. The report noted that these reforms "were largely countermanded or ignored by an apparently disapproving Use of Force Review Board" and ultimately "were allowed to die on the vine." The report further criticized the Sheriff's Office for not thoroughly examining the flawed tactical decisions that led up to the shooting.
The King County Sheriff's Office refused to participate in the independent review of the shooting and fought to prevent the release of OLEO's report.
Read the entire OLEO report here.
Read further news coverage about the report by The Seattle Times, The Stranger, and KUOW.
MHB partners Tiffany Cartwright and Tim Ford represent Dunlap-Gittens's estate as well as his mother, Alexis Dunlap Francois, along with co-counsel David Owens of Loevy & Loevy and Pat Bosmans.