Hired in the late 1990s, Lt. Larry Longley is a shining example of a cop from the bad old days of the Seattle Police Department. It’s hard to picture this, but imagine how wild Seattle cops ran in the oughts, when they didn’t even have our meager, ineffective accountability system in place. Not even a joke. Keith Swank, now the unhinged sheriff of Pierce County, ran SPD internal investigations back then. That’s how bad it was.
Seattle police could, and did, get away with anything. That was the soil that nurtured Lt. Longley. Violence, lawsuits and racism marked Longley’s early career. He was eventually taken off the streets and made a hostage negotiator — an odd choice for a man with his temper. Longley was promoted to lieutenant. Now, he heads the Police Outreach and Engagement Team — again, another strange command decision — and he’s mostly charged with collecting intelligence on protesters under the guise of doing “outreach.” His day job is overseeing the training unit. A guy with this record is the one molding SPD’s new recruits.
Lt. Larry Longley is one of 10 officers featured in DivestSPD’s 2026 Protest Pack. Buy it today at our online store 👇
Beat and falsely arrested Isaac Ocak
While on patrol a few days after Christmas, Longley investigated a vehicle left running outside a department store.
When the owner, Isaac Ocak, returned, he explained that he ran inside to make a return.
The officers detained him and ordered him to stand with his hands on the hood of a patrol car. The man lifted his hands to gesture but never moved away from the car.
After telling him to keep his hands on the car, multiple officers forced the man’s upper body down onto the hood while Longley applied the first handcuff.
The man asked, “What am I being handcuffed for?” moments before Longley grabbed his face with one hand, using the other to punch him in the head twice. Longley and three other officers forced the man onto the ground.
The man was accused of biting Longley’s finger and booked for assaulting an officer, but charges were dismissed two years later.
Seattle police internal affairs closed the investigation into Longley before issuing findings, but Ocak sued the department in 2013. The case was settled for $70,000.
Made racist jokes and terrorized a group of Black youth
Longley and another officer, Jeffrey Thompson, were dispatched to a call about a fight in South Park between some teenagers and young adults.
Audio from the vehicle’s dash cam captured Longley and Thompson making jokes that referenced anti-Black stereotypes. They joked about the teens smoking crack and fighting over a 13-year-old girl with “multiple baby daddies.”
One of the officers also mentioned how his flashlight could break someone’s rib. When they arrived on the scene, no one there was fighting or engaging in any criminal activity, but the officers ordered everyone to “get on your fucking knees.”
A young man arrested in connection to the fight filed a complaint describing being beaten by Longley.
The excessive use of force complaint was determined unfounded after OPA review, resulting in no known consequences for the officers.
Punched a 13-year-old girl in the stomach
Longley identified a 13-year-old who was violating the terms of her release from jail and chased after her, throwing her to the ground
It wasn’t the first time he had interacted with the girl, as her complaint would allege that Longley had used excessive force against her in 2009. She claimed he made disparaging remarks at that time and again, at her residence, just a few days before the 2010 incident.
The girl said Longley punched her in the stomach and used his knee to hold her head against the ground, leaving her with an injured ankle and causing her to urinate from shock.
A visible bruise showed where the girl claimed Longley had punched her.
The girl’s mother submitted a complaint, including the accounts of juvenile detention staff who saw her shortly after the incident. Staff verified that she had urinated on herself.
After review, internal affairs determined Longley acted within policy.
Injured a woman and didn’t contact a supervisor
While trying to arrest someone for a warrant, Longley chased after them and shoved them down onto their knees, causing an injury.
Longley failed to notify a supervisor of the reportable force
According to the OPA, Longley “was aware of several pieces of information all indicating the possibility the subject had been injured as a result of his use of force”.
Upon review, the OPA found that Longley did not violate the use of force reporting policy as it existed at the time because he “thoroughly documented everything in his use of force statement”.
The OPA referred Longley for training, ordering him to always contact a supervisor when use of force results in injury.
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