By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The job of being in law enforcement in Washington State is about to get more difficult when new police reforms go into effect on Sunday, so say our local Sheriff and Police Chiefs, who have serious concerns about how it’s going to play out.
High profile examples of excessive use of force by officers in recent times have caused lawmakers all over the country to rethink and rework law enforcement policies. Here in Washington, legislators this year mandated reforms aimed at decreasing the use of force, how and when officers can detain someone for questioning, non-lethal weaponry and more.
Sheriff Bill Benedict says the new rules can be confusing and even contradictory, and thinks they’re designed to solve problems that are not necessarily prevalent in Clallam County.
“We don’t have the problems that a lot of this legislation was designed to solve. Most of our contacts don’t result in an arrest, and they’re not even, for that matter, criminal matters.”
He says the broad reforms will take away the discretion a deputy would use and essentially ties their hands in how they can solve disputes and other problems.
“The intent of a lot of legislators, when the law was passed, their public pronouncement was, ‘We want police less engaged with the community.’ And they’re basing that on experience that maybe they have along the I-5 corridor, where a lot of police encounters with civilians don’t have the same good outcomes that we do have in rural Washington.”
The changes will also affect how they can interact with someone experiencing a mental health crisis and when they can and can’t engage in pursuits.
Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith has a lot of concerns about the new reforms, including the elimination of important non-lethal means of stopping offenders.
“Like there’s beanbag shotguns, there’s pepperball guns. There’s the sponge gun, we use them because they can reach out at a safe distance. Tasers don’t replace it. Tasers, they lack the distance. That’s why we have the other tools. So, every time we take a tool out of the toolbox, we actually create more risk for the officer and actually for the offender. Well, that’s exactly what’s happened here.”
Smith says there’s so much uncertainty about the new rules among law enforcement statewide, much of it due to varying interpretations, that officers will now be open to increased liability if someone claims the rules were broken.
“They’re open to more everything. More uncertainty, with new terms that haven’t been tested in court, accountability, decertification, criminal prosecution. There’s just a variety of new uncertainty and risk areas that everybody in law enforcement is exposed to. That, because it’s brand new, you can’t actually hit the ground running and know how all of it’s going to turn out.”
Beginning Sunday, deputies and officers will be expected to figure it out as they go while law enforcement officials seek clarity and hope that legislators get back together and figure out a way to increase public safety, but also protect those who are charged with enforcing the law.