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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ANAURY 9, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 13 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Seattle Police Video PLUNGE PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED 2010 beating triggered by parked car, engine running Friends Ellen Diaz, Dennice Jordan and Mary Margaret Kopcho started the New Year with a dip Lake Washington along with hundreds of other people during the 11th Annual Polar Bear Plunge at Matthews Beach on Jan. 1. King County Gun Safety Initiative First gun buyback program in 20 years scheduled for this month M ayor Mike McGinn and an array of local leaders and business owners this week announced a new Gun Safety Initiative, including the first gun buyback program in 20 years. The countywide gun buyback will provide a monetary incen- tive to individuals who turn in firearms, while engaging our communities toward a common goal of reducing gun violence. The first gun buyback will be held on Saturday, Jan. 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in downtown Seattle in the parking lot under- neath Interstate 5 between Cher- ry and James Streets. “This gun buyback program can help us protect public health and safety and reduce gun vio- lence in our communities,” said McGinn. “We will continue working with the police depart- ment and other organizations and agencies on a broad range of solutions to the epidemic of gun violence.” “If we can prevent just one child, one innocent bystander, from being the victim of a ran- INDEX News ................2,3,6,8 Opinion .....................4 A & E .........................5 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 dom accident, or the target of an unstable person, it will be well worth our time and effort,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “This is an opportunity for people to get unwanted guns out of their homes. We hope that people will take advantage of this opportunity to safely dis- pose of those unwanted, unused, and forgotten guns that we know are lying around. If this prevents just one tragedy, it is worth the effort.” Chief Metz “The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to providing a safe place for citizens to turn in guns they no longer want. It is a much better choice to remove an unwanted gun from your home than to leave it where it can be stolen and used in a crime,” said King County Sheriff John Urquhart. “The Seattle Police Founda- tion is proud to partner with the Seattle Police Department and many other community partners to improve the safety of our community by removing See GUNS on page 3 SEATTLE (AP) — A lawyer released a video Friday showing a Seattle police offi- cer striking a restrained man during an arrest in 2010. Isaac Ocak, who was 18 at the time, had left a car locked with the engine running outside a department store while he returned some items on Dec. 29, 2010, said his attor- ney, James Egan. When he came back, offi- cers questioned him about why he’d left it there. The store was on private property, and leaving the car did not constitute a crime or infraction. The video shows Ocak initially speaking calmly with the officers and referring to one as ``sir’’ but becoming more agitated as he was questioned for several minutes and Officer Larry Longley grilled him about why he had so many keys on his key chain. Egan obtained the video under the state’s Public Records Act and publicized it Friday after filing a complaint for damages against the city on Ocak’s behalf. As the questioning continued, Ocak occa- sionally lifted his hands off the hood of a patrol car despite orders to leave them there. As officers pressed him to the hood, Ocak resisted. Longley grabbed Ocak’s mouth and Ocak bit him, prompting the officer to punch him twice in the head as other offi- cers held him down. Egan said the incident shows unnecessary aggression by the officers, and fits in with the Justice Department’s findings that Seat- tle police had a pattern of unnecessarily using force, especially in low-level situa- tions that could be resolved verbally. The police department’s Office of Profes- sional Accountability is reviewing the arrest, which Assistant Chief Jim Pugel pre- viously determined to be justified. ``Officers were concerned the car could be a potential getaway vehicle for a shoplifter or robber, and tracked down the man who had left the car running,’’ Sgt. Sean Whit- comb said in a written statement. ``Officers See BEATING on page 3 ‘Franken Food’ Labeling Ballot Initiative About 50 countries already require consumer notice on GMO foods By Shannon Dininny Associated Press YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Any food sold in Washington State and made with geneti- cally engineered crops would have to be labeled under a ballot initiative submitted Thursday. The move came two months after Califor- nia voters rejected a similar measure that pitted food safety advocates against agricul- tural and biotechnology giants in a roughly $55 million advertising battle. Opponents of the food labeling argue it will raise food prices and hurt farmers. Sup- porters contend that consumers should have a choice about eating genetically engineered products, even if the federal government and major science groups say such foods are safe to eat. Proponents promised to take their fight to the Northwest after the California ballot measure failed. On Thursday, initiative sponsors delivered 350,000 petition signatures to state officials inside an ambulance with a sign on the side reading ``Label GMO Food.’’ To qualify for the ballot, it requires at least See FOODS on page 3
