A new law intended to loosen some restrictions on police vehicle pursuits may have the effect of curtailing those pursuits instead. After the murder of George Floyd, Washington state in 2021 established guidelines allowing police to engage in vehicle pursuit only in specific instances. On May 3, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 5352, which loosened the restrictions, but required that officers take specific training courses before they can engage in pursuits.
A former Washington State Patrol and Democrat said high-speed chases are highly dangerous and that officers have a duty to limit their use. On the other side of the aisle, a Republican State Rep said the guidelines for high-speed pursuits should be lowered to where they were before the changes made after the George Floyd uprisings.
Senate Bill 5352 cleared the Senate in a 26 to 22 vote, with prominent Democrats and Republicans saying there is more work to do. Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz wasted to time getting information out to the rank and file officers. He wrote that effective immediately no Seattle officer may engage in a vehicle pursuit unless the officer had the training required by the new law.
It has been reported that not many officers have taken the training. Also, it may take a long time before a large number of officers are trained. “We fully understand the risks associated with suspending pursuits for the vast majority of the department,” Diaz wrote. “We are also mindful of the risk to our employees and to the department for not complying with state law.”
There wasn’t much push back from Seattle Police officers in leadership. They said that the department was “complying with the new legal restrictions while working to better understand the scope of these new requirements.” The police department is reportedly in talks with the Criminal Justice Training Commission and the City Attorney’s Office to make sure their department’s pursuit policy complies with the new law.
