By Juan Peralez / Herald Forum
Two significant legislative bills are being considered in the state’s 2025 legislative session that will prioritize increasing public safety, building trust and accountability with peace officers and correctional facilities staff.
It must be acknowledged and our Legislature recognizes systemic abuse of power such as repeated peace officer misconduct in using excessive force and discriminatory practices that violate people’s rights that have led to consent decrees issued by the U. S. Department of Justice. The Seattle Police Department’s consent decree from 2012 to 2024 cost the city $200 million.
House Bill 1399, sponsored by Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, chair of the Community Safety, Justice and Reentry Committee, would modernize, harmonize and clarify laws regarding sheriffs, chiefs, and town marshals. All will be subject to the same requirements and standards that will enhance the effectiveness and professionalism and accountability of law enforcement to promote public trust and confidence in law enforcement. The bill also addresses the use of volunteers by sheriffs.
The bill turns the wheel of justice in a positive direction by prioritizing public safety, a concern in everybody’s mind these days more than ever. It will build much needed trust especially in marginalized communities of color and much needed accountability in law enforcement.
Finally, it addresses volunteers utilized in most cases by county sheriffs. The bill should prevent another incident similar to what occurred in June of 2020 in the city of Snohomish. The city was taken over by numerous vigilantes armed with AK-47 and AR-15 weapons, while displaying a Confederate flag, to supposedly protect businesses from a Black Lives Matter march.
Any volunteer who is performing any police duty and is armed must receive training and certification from the State’s Criminal Justice Training Commission.
The companion bill in the Senate is SB 5364 sponsored by state Sen. John Lovick, a former sheriff elected in 2007, serving until 2013.
Senate Bill 5066 which is sponsored by Sen. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island. He is from the 23rd Legislative District. The bill strengthens and clarifies the authority of the attorney general to address local law enforcement and local corrections agency misconduct through investigations and legal actions.
The bill will prioritize holding peace officers accountable for misconduct and use of force in their encounters with community members. It will also hold accountable local corrections officers who are responsible for the custody, safety and security of incarcerated individuals. It is a first in addressing corrections centers’ substandard conditions of confinement and inadequate medical care.
Hopefully this bill will prevent incidents such as what happened at the Marcy Correctional Facility in New York on Dec. 31, 2024 where correction officers’ savage and deadly attack, as seen in national news accounts, on Robert Brook, 43, resulted in him dying a day later.
At the Lynnwood jail, Tirhas Tesfatsion, hanged herself on July 13, 2021. Custody officers neglected to check on her every hour as is policy. She was left unchecked from 12:06 p.m. until 3:01 p.m. when she was found unresponsive.
To improve public safety for all, build trust in marginalized communities of color and to hold peace officers and corrections’ staff accountable for misconduct and abuse of power, I urge everyone to contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support this much needed legislation.
Juan Peralez ispresident of Unidos, Snohomish County, Unidos-snoco-org.
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