Agencies combine to investigate deadly-force cases

COLFAX – The Colfax city council last week chose to join a mutual aid/joint police agreement with a list of area agencies for the aftermath in the event of a deadly-force major incident.

The group will make it so the department involved does not investigate itself.

“It’s essentially formalizing something we always did,” said Bruce Blood, Colfax police chief. “We want to be impartial, and this makes it much easier to gather resources.”

Under the agreeement – for Garfield, Asotin and Whitman counties – once a deadly-force investigation is complete, Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy would mak...