In light of a series of high profile Seattle Police Department incidents over the past few months Mayor Mike McGinn has taken some action to address questions hovering over the department. Levinson is a former Deputy Mayor, a leader in the city's gay and lesbian community and co-owner of the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. She appeared on the Seattle Channel in 2008 here.

The Mayor's office released this press release today:

Mayor Mike McGinn has appointed former Judge Anne Levinson to help oversee investigations of allegations of police misconduct. Levinson will serve as the civilian auditor for the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), an outside consultant to the city who reviews complaints and investigations of misconduct, assesses substantive policies, procedures and training that impact the accountability of the Police Department or the public's perception of that accountability, and makes recommendations to the mayor and Council to strengthen accountability.

BACKGROUND

Levinson was a Seattle Municipal Court judge from 1999 to 2001 where she handled criminal cases. She also developed and presided over one of the country's first mental health courts. She served as legal counsel in both the Rice and Royer administrations. Levinson also served as chief of staff and then deputy mayor for Mayor Rice. She was chairwoman of the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission, the state's quasi-judicial body that regulates private telecommunications and energy companies. She recently served on the Police Chief Search Committee and co-chaired the committee to select a replacement for Dow Constantine's position on the County Council. She has a long history of community leadership on a range of civic issues.

Seattle's police accountability structure has three parts: the OPA civilian auditor who is an outside advisor, the OPA civilian director who works in the Department, and the OPA Review Board. The OPA civilian auditor's position was expanded in 2008 after the Police Accountability Review Panel called for 29 changes to Seattle's police accountability system, including a stronger role for the outside auditor.

The OPA auditor is appointed by the mayor and subject to confirmation by the City Council. There have only been three previous auditors since the position was created. They were former US Attorney Katrina Pflaumer, former Judge Terrance Carroll and former Judge Michael Spearman. The OPA auditor serves a three-year term and may be reappointed to two subsequent three-year terms by the mayor, subject to City Council confirmation. Judge Levinson will be filling the unexpired term of Judge Spearman, which runs until June 2012.