PARRISH, from Page 4

review panel, a strongly worded letter to the chief or the usual stew of reassuring clichés. It requires a change in culture, starting with (but not ending with) a change in leadership.

Since SPD has shown itself incapable of policing itself, it requires ongoing, outside, civilian oversight. It requires incentives for officers who do their jobs well and zero tolerance for those who misbehave.

The culture of denial, of lip service, of blue solidarity needs to end. In this new year, the new SPD needs to respect the people it serves.

In all likelihood, the mayor is calibrating his thus-far weak response around the perceived need to defend himself against Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, a former cop who is widely expected to run against McGinn next year.

But if that race happens, Burgess is going to get the law-and-order crowd anyway. If McGinn does what’s right — if he responds aggressively and comprehensively — he’ll win the support of a lot of other people.

So far, that hasn’t happened. GEOV PARRISH is cofounder of

Eat the State! He also reviews news of the week on “Mind Over Matters” on KEXP 90.3 FM.