Criminal Justice Professor Stephen Rice facilitated a dialogue on ways to increase transparency at the Seattle Police Department. Hosted by the Criminal Justice Department, the December 3 meeting brought together representatives of the Seattle Police Department, media, and legal agencies as well as local residents and Criminal Justice Department faculty. The group focused particularly on the effective processing of public disclosure requests of police actions.
 
“We focused on the transparency and accountability goals outlined in the Seattle Police Department’s 20/20 plan,” Rice said. “The goal of the meeting was for key stakeholders to have a voice in establishing best practices in the public disclosure of information to the extent allowed by law and public safety considerations.”
 
Organizations attending the meeting included the Seattle Times, KUOW, KIRO 7, Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, 973 KIRO FM, Seattle PI.com, Capitol Hill Seattle, the Washington Coalition for Open Government, The Defender Association, and the ACLU. Criminal Justice faculty also participating were Professors Jacqueline Helfgott, Peter Collins, Jennifer Sumner, and William Parkin. 

“The dialogue between the media, community representatives, and the Police Department represents an important step in developing a communication strategy to gain public insight into Department functions,” said Seattle Police Department Lieutenant Chris Fowler. “We want to continue this relationship of building trust to both further our 20/20 initiative and to reach out to our community stakeholders."
 
The College of Arts and Sciences,  the largest college in Seattle University, offers 42 undergraduate major degrees, 37 minors, and 7 advanced degrees, including an M.A. in Criminal Justice.