KING COUNTY, Wash. — The King County Sheriff’s Office will become the second major local law enforcement agency to move toward the “8 can’t wait” reform standards.
The eight points come from the national police reform group Campaign Zero, a nationwide police reform campaign to reduce Use of Force and police brutality. 8 Can’t Wait consists of:
1. Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds
2. Require De-escalation
3. Require exhausting all reasonable means before resorting to deadly force
4. Ban Shooting At Moving Vehicles
5. Require Use of Force Continuum
6. Require Comprehensive Reporting (of force)
7. Duty to Intervene
The Sheriff’s Office is following Tacoma’s lead earlier this week. Police Chief Don Ramsdell said he planned to ban chokeholds, require officers to intervene if a fellow officer uses excessive force, and direct police to use a verbal warning prior to using deadly force.
King County asked the agency to audit its policies as the department was looking to evolve and improve its practices.
The department agreed it needed to clarify its policies around goals three and five, which deputies must give verbal warnings before shooting. In addition, deputies must intervene to stop a colleague from using excessive force.
The Sheriff’s Office said it has accomplished the revisions in five days. Those revisions are expected to be sent to Campaign Zero on Monday.
This comes after the Sheriff’s Office recently released its use of force data, which goes back six years.
The changes are to promote transparency and accountability.
The Sheriff’s Office will use the new tool to identify deputies who use excessive force.
It comes a month after the county paid more than $2 million to settle a fatal shooting.
MiChance Dunlap-Gittens, 17, was shot in the back of the head during a botched sting operation three years ago in Des Moines.
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