Will pursuits change under Pierce County Sheriff-elect Keith Swank? Here’s what he says
Pierce County Sheriff-elect Keith Swank will take office in January to replace Sheriff Ed Troyer, and Swank is already signaling potential policy changes, particularly regarding police pursuits.
In a post on his X account Nov. 25, Swank referred to a recent pursuit in Spanaway involving the Washington State Patrol and a speeding driver who lost control of his Lexus and collided with a pickup truck, killing a 50-year-old passenger in the Lexus and seriously injuring the other driver.
“Another example of why we need to evaluate our decisions to pursue,” Swank posted. “This takes experience and leadership. That’s what I will bring to the PCSD. My heart goes out to all those affected by this.”
Police pursuits have been a divisive topic in Washington in recent years. Under state law — which the Sheriff’s Department’s current policy mirrors — deputies can chase people suspected of committing any crime, so long as three circumstances exist.
The deputy must have reasonable suspicion that person has broken the law.
The pursuit must be necessary to identify or apprehend that person.
The person is a threat to others’ safety, and the risks of failing to identify or apprehend them outweigh the risks of the pursuit itself.
Swank expressed a cautious view of engaging in pursuits in a previous interview with The News Tribune. It was his opinion that for a pursuit to be worth the risk, the fleeing driver needs to be suspected of a violent crime.
The sheriff-elect clarified his view further in response to questions Nov. 26.
“My philosophy is that we should not engage in pursuits unless the need to capture the suspect outweighs the risk to the public, the suspect, and the deputies,” Swank said in a written statement. “That is why, to keep it simple, I say violent crimes. However, I am open minded, and if law, and industry standards deem otherwise I am good with that. I don’t think that will be the case though.”
The approach sounds similar to the way state law governed police pursuits prior to June 6 this year. When Senate Bill 5352 was in effect, its requirements for weighing the risks and necessity of a pursuit were nearly identical to current law, but officers weren’t allowed to pursue people suspected of some crimes, including theft of a motor vehicle and second-degree burglary.
Legislators outlined specific offenses that officers could chase suspects for. Those were violent or sex offenses defined in RCW 9.94A.030, a vehicular assault offense, domestic-violence assaults, escapes from custody and DUI. A previous version of the law, House Bill 1054, was even more restrictive.
The president of the union representing Pierce County’s rank-and-file deputies told The News Tribune restricting pursuits further could lead to an increase in crime.
How pursuit laws have changed
The push to restore law enforcement’s discretion to pursue suspects of any crime came from a Republican-backed citizens initiative, I-2113. Statehouse Republicans argued that previous versions of the law emboldened criminals and taught them that if they get in a vehicle, they can drive away from police.
Lakewood Mayor Jason Whalen pointed to the pursuit restrictions in an opinion piece for The News Tribune where he said that after HB 1054 took effect, vehicle thefts in Lakewood doubled, and there was a 700 percent increase in the number of instances of people fleeing from officers. He said SB 5352 was a good step but still too restrictive.
The policy director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, James McMahan, also supported giving law enforcement officers wider discretion to pursue at a public hearing for I-2113 in Olympia.
“Law enforcement recognizes the potential dangers for vehicular pursuits, and no one wants more pursuits,” McMahan said. “However, overly restrictive laws that allow fleeing from law enforcement to be a get-out-of-jail free card are not the solution.”
Critics of giving police more leeway to engage in pursuits argued that vehicle chases led to the deaths of innocent people. After I-2113 passed the Legislature, the interim executive director of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, Gary Damon Jr., put out a statement.
“We believe it will lead to more injuries, more deaths, and increased collateral damage, without any benefit to public safety such as solving crimes or reducing lawlessness,” Damon Jr. said.
Police pursuits have led to deaths in Pierce and Thurston counties. In August, a 41-year-old man who fled a traffic stop in Spanaway for expired tabs caused two collisions while a Sheriff’s Department deputy pursued him. After the deputy used a PIT maneuver, the driver’s vehicle spun out and flipped, killing a woman who was in the passenger’s seat.
In Thurston County, pursuits have led to three deaths and more injuries this year, according to The Olympian.
Swank fears that a future death could result in criminal charges for a law enforcement officer.
“I believe that in the near future, we will, unfortunately, see an officer charged with a crime such as vehicular assault or vehicular homicide because the officer will be deemed to be driving recklessly (with wanton disregard to life) or negligently driving,” Swank said in a written statement. “I don’t want that to happen to any law enforcement officer, especially a deputy of PCSD.”
Asked about alternatives to police pursuits, Swank turned to technology.
“There are different types of technology we can use to identify the suspect, track the suspect, and disable a vehicle,” he said. “I want to invest in these types of technology and train our deputies how to use them. If we know the identity of the suspect we can capture the suspect at a later time unless it is too dangerous to let the suspect go at that moment and time.”
The Sheriff’s Department’s pursuit policy is not the only one Swank intends to take a look at when he is sworn in.
“I will not just change the pursuit policy (or any policy for that matter),” Swank said. “Policies need to be based on law, and industry standards (best practices). I plan to review the whole policy manual to see if it complies with the law and best practices. That is my duty as sheriff. My leadership team will assist.”
What do deputies think?
Sgt. Shaun Darby has been president of the Pierce County Deputy Sheriffs’ Independent Guild for a little more than two years. He’s also in charge of the traffic unit, meaning he reviews all deputies’ reports on vehicle pursuits and eluding drivers.
Darby said it would be refreshing to have a sheriff who is dedicated to reviewing the department’s entire policy manual. Once in office, Darby said, he believes Swank will see that many of the pursuits deputies are engaged in are with violent, wanted career criminals.
“Those are the people that are chronically running from the deputies, and those people do pose a serious risk to the public,” Darby said.
More restrictions on when deputies can pursue suspects, Darby said, would lead to increases in crime in the county.
“Everybody saw what the crime stats were doing, and now that we’ve had those restrictions lifted, and we’ve started catching those career criminals and those people that are wanted by law enforcement, recent crime stats are actually starting to show a tick downwards,” he said.
Darby agreed that technology such as GPS trackers that can be shot at fleeing vehicles were a worthwhile investment. He also said that better staffing in the department could help end pursuits more quickly.
“If we had more deputies on the street, we would be able to deploy stop sticks, deploy these tools at our disposal a lot faster,” Darby said.
Higher pay and better benefits packages would help recruit and retain more deputies, according to Darby, who said deputies make 20 percent less than officers in the Tacoma Police Department. According to a Pierce County recruiting website, entry-level deputies make between $40.78 and $53.97 per hour. There is also a $10,000 hiring incentive available.
Tacoma’s recruiting website says new officers make $42.38 per hour, which can go up to $53.26 per hour as a commissioned officer after a year.
Arguing that Pierce County residents’ primary concern is robust law and traffic enforcement, Darby pointed to a 2023 survey that found that 77 percent of residents in unincorporated areas said public safety was “most important” when determining where to allocate county resources.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
