Democrats in the Legislature passed House Bill 1310 in the last session. This is a police accountability law to reduce the brutality that some law enforcement officers use.
It establishes a state standard for permissible use of force, and requires law enforcement officers to use de-escalation tactics before getting physical with someone.
The law limits the use of physical force to specific circumstances: when there is probable cause to make an arrest, to prevent an escape, or to protect themselves or others against imminent threat of injury.
In a series of posts on Snohomish County Sheriffs Office Facebook page, Sheriff Adam Fortney expressed his interpretation of how the law will affect him and his deputies.
“Sheriff deputies can no longer use force, even minimal force, to detain a person in crisis for transportation to a hospital. The only instance a police officer may use force in this situation, is if an imminent threat of bodily injury to a person exist. As a result, sheriff deputies will have to walk away from many crisis incidents more often then in the past.”
You might remember that Sheriff Fortney rehired one deputy that was fired for just caused by the previous sheriff, for an illegal search of a vehicle. He also rehired a deputy involved in the death of a suspect after a police chase. That incident cost the county $1 million.
State Sens. Manka Dhingra and Jamie Pedersen said “Law enforcement officers have always had their discretion to choose how to respond to calls for behavioral health crisis, and that remains the case. HB 1310 does not remove that discretion or limit the authority to take people into custody if needed. Neither does it remove the ethical duty of law-enforcement to help people in crisis.”
Several times, crisis responders have said that when called for help, law-enforcement said they couldn’t intervene.
Marco Monteblanco, president of Washington Fraternal Order of Police, said, “It’s unfortunate that some in law-enforcement are misinterpreting what we believe is clear legislative intent, and are using these changes to politicize there implementation. This is a time for leadership, and for those of us in law-enforcement to get this right. Proper implementation of these bills is too important to do otherwise.”
Kathy Christensen
Everett
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
