The Seattle Police Department has been criticized and praised for its handling of demonstrations in Seattle this year. Now the department is creating a group of experts to review the department further.

Seattle sees its share of noteworthy protests, and this year’s May Day demonstrations and numerous protests against police killings and brutality kept the tradition going.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has been criticized and praised for its handling of these demonstrations and others. Now Police Chief Katherine O’Toole is creating a group of experts to review the department’s actions further, according to a news release.

“The goal of this project will be to gather knowledge that will inform the development of future SPD policies, training and tactics,” the release says.

In the release, the department says it has been at the “forefront” of crowd management for more than a decade, and that it facilitates hundreds of peaceful demonstrations a year. But recent concerns from officers and community members about “the changing dynamics of demonstrations” prompted the panel’s creation.

Representatives from the Center for Policing Equity at UCLA and police experts in “crowd management” and use-of-force will join the panel to review recent protests in Seattle, from demonstrations following the death of Michael Brown, a young black man shot and killed by police last August in Ferguson, Mo., to the recent May Day protests. The panel will start immediately, the release says.

The full list of participating panel members can be found at the SPD Blotter website.