By Steve Miletich and Mike Carter, The Seattle Times
The Seattle Police Department is putting together a special internal task force to examine the conduct of officers who work off-duty at downtown nightclubs, according to two law-enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry.
The task force, including several of the department’s most experienced investigators, will operate independent of a criminal investigation by the King County Prosecutor’s Office and the FBI, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the criminal investigation, law-enforcement officials and others have said, prosecutors and the FBI’s Public Integrity Task Force are looking into allegations that off-duty officers overlooked illegal drug and alcohol use at nightclubs in Belltown or Pioneer Square, or in some cases participated in criminal activities including drug dealing and promoting prostitution.