Police reform laws in Washington will only be as effective as the officers, prosecutors and judges charged with enforcing them. While the state has taken laudable strides to improve how law enforcement engages with citizens, diligence is required.
“As of noon today, we will have the best, most comprehensive, most transparent, most effective police accountability laws in the United States,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday before signing a dozen measures passed this year by the Legislature.
The new laws include bans on police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants. They also create an independent office to review the use of deadly force by police, make it easier to decertify officers for bad acts, expand requirements for de-escalation tactics, restrict the use of tear gas and car chases, make it easier to sue officers when they inflict injury, and require officers to inform superiors when a fellow officer uses questionable force.
The actions follow a year of civic unrest following the death of George Floyd when an officer in Minneapolis kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. The officer has been convicted of murder. But questionable police actions are not limited to far-away states. In March 2020, Manuel Ellis died while being arrested in Tacoma; video showed Ellis repeatedly being struck by officers while lying on the ground. And police shootings in Clark County remain under investigation.
The need for police reform is clear. Washington law long has been considered among the strictest of all states in terms of protecting officers who use deadly force, and an arbitration system has made it too difficult to fire officers who engage in bad acts.
But the new laws are only part of the measures needed to protect both the public and officers. Clark County and the city of Vancouver, for example, must continue to pursue the purchase and implementation of body-worn cameras.
Too often during the ongoing debate about police reform, the topic has been framed as police vs. citizens. It is a paradigm that diminishes the discussion. So, too, do calls to “defund the police,” a rallying cry of some reformists that attempts to provide simplistic solutions for complex issues.
The fact is that we need police. They are essential to a functioning society as they perform a dangerous job, and a vast majority of officers nobly protect and serve their communities.
Yet, there is room for improvement, and Washington’s new laws are a step in that direction. Most important, by improving accountability, the laws help protect officers who are conscientious servants. Apologists for overly aggressive police tactics like to claim that egregious actions are the result of a few bad apples; removing those officers from the bunch is essential for striking the proper balance between allowing police to do their job and protecting the public.
“This process was deeply collaborative, deeply visionary and deeply intentional about lifting up every voice, from community to law enforcement,” said one lawmaker who worked on the bills.
Continued engagement is needed. New laws will not immediately ease tensions between law enforcement and the public — particularly communities of color. Nor will they automatically end out-of-line conduct by all officers. It will take time to solve problems that have been building for decades.
But if law enforcement leaders and civilians in the jurisprudence system embrace the need for change and the public’s desire for reform, Washington will become a safer place for both officers and citizens.
