Councilmember Tim Burgess
Three appointees nominated for Seattle police accountability review board
City Council’s Public Safety committee to review candidates
Seattle – Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee, announced today the nomination of Claudia D’Allegri, Elizabeth Holohan and Dale Tiffany to serve on the Seattle Police Department’s Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) Review Board. The three nominees, selected from a pool of more than 60 applicants, will be considered by the Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
“There was widespread interest in these openings,” said Councilmember Tim Burgess. “We reviewed more than 60 applicants for these important positions. These three candidates have the background and experience to serve with distinction and represent the community’s interests very well.”
Claudia D’Allegri is Vice President of Behavioral Health at Sea Mar Community Health Centers, where she has had 17 years of experience administering health programs. Sea Mar is an organization that serves more than 153,000 clients in Washington State each year, the majority of whom are low-income. She also chairs the Latino Civic Alliance, a statewide organization that focuses its efforts on civic engagement, conducting town hall meetings and working on legislation with the State Legislature.
Elizabeth Holohan is an intellectual property attorney and a volunteer on the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct Advisory Council, where she has coordinated programming to connect area residents and businesses with local police officers. As a graduate of Seattle’s Community Police Academy, she has a strong working knowledge of the practices and functions of the police department. She also provides volunteer services for the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.
Dale Tiffany is a consultant with more than 35 years of leadership experience in problem-solving and project management at the state and local government and community level, including several years working with local (including Tribal government) police departments, courts systems, prosecutor and defender offices as well as citizen oversight and advisory boards. He has an extensive record of volunteerism that includes service on the boards of directors for the Seattle Indian Center, the Southeast Seattle Community Organization, the Seattle chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA and Filipino Youth Activities, Inc.
Working in concert with the civilian OPA Director and the civilian OPA Auditor, the Review Board plays an important role in Seattle’s police accountability system through its assessment of policies and practices and recommendations for their improvement.
To inform its conclusions, the OPA Review Board (a) reviews the handling process for police accountability complaints, (b) organizes outreach to receive community feedback and (c) researches national trends and best practices in police accountability and civilian law enforcement oversight. It delivers its findings and recommendations to the City Council twice a year.
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