These clarifications to police accountability legislation will go into effect immediately
In an effort to clarify police accountability laws passed by the legislature in 2021, two new measures were signed into law Friday and will go into effect immediately.
Gov. Jay Inslee held a virtual meeting to sign those bills, along with other bills, at the state capitol.
Legislators last year introduced major reforms in order to set a baseline of standards for police use of force and behavior, as well as requiring more transparency from law enforcement.
However, law enforcement agencies claimed that those measures prevented them from being able to do certain aspects of their jobs, such as responding to mental health calls, resulting in some agencies refusing to respond to those calls altogether.
House Bill 1735, introduced by Rep. Jesse Johnson, D-Federal Way, was one of the pieces of legislation signed into law Friday to make clarifications.
In a statement, Johnson said that it “became clear” that clarifications were needed after conversations with police officers, EMTs, firefighters and behavioral health professionals.
“Designated crisis responders often enter volatile and unstable situations, and it is vital that they have the support of law enforcement to safely do their job,” Johnson said. “The goal remains the same, de-escalation and limiting unnecessary police violence while still allowing police to do their job.”
The law clarifies that police officers can indeed use reasonable care standards for use of force in non-criminal instances such as behavioral health calls, child welfare and involuntary treatment.
“This bill strikes a balance between necessary police reform and ensuring that officers can still help people in crisis,” Inslee said before signing the legislation.
Additionally, last year the legislature passed a measure that prohibited law enforcement from using .50 caliber firearms but law enforcement agencies said that ambiguous language made them unsure if they were still able to use less-than-lethal munitions, such as bean bags or rubber bullets, in order to de-escalate certain situations.
In order to remedy this, the governor signed House Bill 1719 into law on Friday as well.
“This bill addresses an inadvertent and unwanted consequence of the 2021 police reform legislation,” said Inslee.
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Bronoske, D-Lakewood, the law clarifies that less-than-lethal munitions can still be used by police officers.
“I am happy that we were able to eliminate any ambiguity in the statute,” said Bronoske in a statement. “The Legislature never intended to ban less-lethal alternatives and it is important that officers have every tool to prevent deadly force available to them.”
The 2022 legislative session ends March 10.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 4:28 PM with the headline "These clarifications to police accountability legislation will go into effect immediately."
