3 years in the making: New law on police use of deadly force
OLYMPIA — In the next few days, state lawmakers will pass a bill to ensure that police are trained to use deadly force only when it’s unavoidable, and that they are prosecuted when the facts prove otherwise.
When Gov. Jay Inslee signs the new law, it will conclude an unprecedented chapter during which citizens — badged and unbadged — worked together on change they hope will defuse tense situations involving police.
All it took was three years of difficult conversations; the collection of 360,000 signatures and $3.2 million to get Initiative 940 in front of voters; three months of an unwanted election campaign, thanks to the state Supreme Court; 1,834,579 votes cast to pass the ballot measure; and two weeks of fine-tuning this year.
“The process that you guys have engaged in is nothing short of revolutionary … revolutionary listening, revolutionary hearing, revolutionary cooperating and collaborating,” Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, told the bill’s citizen-architects at a Jan. 15 hearing. “It moves me. It moves my heart.”
Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, knows their journey well. He was one of a handful of lawmakers who traveled with them the entire way.
Not long ago, Washington law provided cops pretty much the best protection in the country against prosecution if they killed someone in the line of duty.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/3-years-in-the-making-new-law-on-police-use-of-deadly-force/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=ea1d9a3005-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-ea1d9a3005-228635337
