Washington police officers confused over new laws restricting their ability to fight crime

A slew of law enforcement reform bills went into effect last week in Washington, with officers being hobbled in how they handle crime and arrest suspects.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a dozen bills into law back in May that restrict how law enforcement officers conduct their work, including severely limiting when officers can detain suspects and types of weapons and force that can be used.

"We have a moral mandate to uproot systemic racism in our society," said Inslee when he announced the action in December that led to the May bills. He added that he believes Washington can be an "anti-racist state."

House Bill 1310 states that officers can only arrest a suspect if they have "probable cause" not just on suspicion alone. Use of force is not authorized if probable cause is absent, even is the suspect flees the scene.

In addition, if an officer has probable cause to arrest someone and they flee the scene in a vehicle, an officer is prohibited from arresting the suspect unless they committed a traffic violation or the officer has a warrant for arrest, according to House Bill 1054.

The slew of bills also bans the use of weapons that use ammunition greater than .50 caliber, bans "no-knock" warrants, as well as neck restrains and chokeholds.

"There's a real concern that it could increase crime, and it could increase reckless driving, traffic fatalities," Steven Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs told KING 5.

Strachan added that the ban on larger caliber weapons has unintended consequences on non-deadly weapons the police use.

"I think it's really intended for military-grade rifles… I think law enforcement agrees with that goal," said Strachan. "But a potentially unintended part of that is that it includes less-than-lethal tools like beanbags that can incapacitate a person without having to use deadly force."

At a July 22 press conference, law enforcement heads stated that there was confusion on how to enforce these new laws, and that law enforcement leaders were not consulted when the laws were drafted. In addition, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said that one of his deputies told him the laws had resulted in "chaos."

"And now we hear from legislators that we are overreacting, that we don't understand the laws, that we don't understand their intent, and you're right, we don't," Knezovich said.

A statement from the Pierce County Sheriff's Office voiced concerns over the new restrictions on suspects fleeing in vehicles, stating that it would have a large impact on residents.

"The largest impact for our residents will be the changes to our ability to pursue after a suspect who is fleeing in a vehicle. Law enforcement officers will only be able to engage in a pursuit if there is "probable cause" to arrest a person in the vehicle for committing a specified violent crime or sex offense such as murder, kidnapping, drive-by shootings, or rape."

Amidst these new restrictions passed in the state, Washington is experiencing an explosion in crime. According to recent data released by Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, there were 206 murders in 2019 and 302 in 2020, an increase of 46.6 percent.

In addition, Washington has experienced a mass of officers quitting and retiring. The state already has a lower than average 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, according to the justice department. The national average is 2.5 per 1,000.