Watchdog recommends suspensions for two Seattle officers in fatal shooting of man

Two Seattle police officers violated department policy and failed to de-escalate an incident with a man they fatally shot last year, according to a police watchdog report released Tuesday.

The Office of Police Accountability (OPA) said two officers with the Port of Seattle Police Department should be suspended for failing to de-escalate the February 2021 incident with 44-year-old Derek Hayden, who was shot by police after pleading to be killed.

“They did not engage in any planning or tactical discussions, and their actions undermined the critical principles of time, distance, and shielding,” the OPA said in a news release on the report.

The officers were not named in the OPA report, but the Seattle Police Department identified the officers as Cassidy Butler and Willard Jared and upheld the recommended suspensions for both, The Seattle Times reported.

Police encountered Hayden, who was holding a butcher knife to his throat, in downtown Seattle last year. Butler and Jared arrived as a group of officers was attempting to defuse the situation. The two officers parked their vehicle directly in front of Hayden, drew their weapons and issued commands to him, according to the OPA report.

“Mr. Hayden advanced toward one of those officers with his knife raised up while saying, ‘Do it, please, just shoot me.’ Both officers fired shots at Mr. Hayden, who was struck and killed,” OPA’s release says.

The OPA faulted the officers for failing to slow down the incident to give police more time to de-escalate, citing a department policy requiring police to take steps to defuse rather than escalate. The watchdog also criticized the officers for not planning out a tactical response and parking the police vehicle directly in front of Hayden. The report did not find that the officers used excessive force as they fired in self-defense.

One of the officers said they responded the way they did to keep the public safe, according to an interview with the OPA.

“So he’s on the sidewalk, he has a knife. We’re on the waterfront. It’s a large tourist area. There’s restaurants, shops, right? All kinds of things. People are always, you know, on their bikes, walking dogs. So what I was trying to achieve was to contain him,” the officer said. “If we drive past him, he could find any of these potential people who are out there and cause them harm.”

The OPA recommended that the Seattle Police Department revamp training for officers encountering a person with a knife, conduct a survey of other departments in the U.S. on de-escalation tactics for individuals with knives and prioritize other less lethal weapons such as tasers in similar situations.

Seattle remains under a consent decree with the Department of Justice (DOJ) following a DOJ investigation revealing a pattern of unconstitutional police behavior resulting from an excessive use of force.

Hayden was known as a likable person who was studying computer science at Seattle University, according to The Seattle Times. His cousin was unaware of his mental health crisis.

“I wish there were some warning signs or something that could have been done to end it differently,” Jason Trammell told the newspaper. “I think as a society we need to keep up with other ideas.”