by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | April 22, 2021 08:00 AM Print this article
By law, Washington police must stop excessive force wherever they see it, but a bill passed by the state legislature would make that law a workplace policy.
Sponsored by state Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, Senate Bill 5066 makes it a police officer s duty to intervene, physically or otherwise, when their peers use excessive force or other wrongdoing contrary to law or department policy. The bill would give police agencies until 2022 to hammer out written policies detailing such duties and provide related training. Those policies will be subject to review by the state Criminal Justice Training Commission.
Investigators also met with several other witnesses employed by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Hatcher, 57, is also facing a recall effort for alleged retaliatory acts involving employees, intimidation, abuse of discretion, and tampering with and destruction of evidence.
Washington Fraternal Order of Police President Marco Monteblanco issued the following statement on Thursday morning:
“The Washington State Fraternal Order of Police applauds the Washington State Patrol for renewing its criminal investigation into the actions of Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher. The people of Benton County and the Benton County Sheriff’s Guild all benefit from a thorough investigation of this incident and the actions of the county’s top law enforcement official,” said WAFOP President Marco Monteblanco.
×
Washington state lawmakers advance bills to ban police use of chokeholds and neck restraints, collect use-of-force data By Joseph O’Sullivan, The Seattle Times
Published: March 2, 2021, 10:24am
Share:
OLYMPIA Washington Senate lawmakers Monday approved a bill to begin requiring law enforcement agencies around the state to report details when officers use force against citizens.
And on Saturday, Washington House legislators approved a bill to ban police from using chokeholds, neck restraints and “no-knock” warrants.
The bills advance as Washington lawmakers have vowed to reshape policing this legislative session in the wake of last year’s protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Manuel Ellis and others at the hands of police.
WA law enforcement, families of victims clash over independent investigations bill January 28, 2021 at 10:42 am
People hold signs during a vigil for Manuel Ellis, a black man whose March death while in Tacoma Police custody was recently found to be a homicide, near the site of his death on June 3, 2020 in Tacoma, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, and the similar in-custody death of Manny Ellis in Tacoma, Gov. Jay Inslee created a task force of experts and family members of those killed by police to focus on recommending changes to the way police use of deadly force investigations are handled.
The union president also approvingly retweeted a right-wing blogger who said “an extreme BLM activist” was among those in the pro-Trump mob, causing a former police chief to say, "BLM was not the cause of yesterday's insurrection. We have to tell the truth."