Lawmakers consider scaling back law limiting police chases in Washington

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The controversy over police chases in Washington state and laws that could limit them came before a state House committee Thursday morning.

Lawmakers on the House Committee on Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry considered measures that appear to scale back House Bill 1363.

It was voted out of committee and will now go to the full body of lawmakers.

The changes to the bill would give police the authority to chase after a suspect if the officer has “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been committed. There are some particular crimes that fall into the category for chases such as violent offenses, sex offenses, vehicular assault, an escape, domestic violence assaults, and DUI.

The bill also says that officers could chase a suspect as long as the suspect poses a serious risk of harm to others. Lawmakers say safety issues surrounding pursuits are complex.

Rep. Mary Fosse, a Democrat from Everett, commented on the measure in the committee hearing and expressed concern about rolling back laws that could prevent the danger posed by high-speed police chases.

“We all want our communities to be safer. In fact, we know police pursuits in themselves don’t actually make our communities safer and they’ve had impacts in my own community with bystanders,” said Fosse.

Rep. Jenny Graham, a Republican from the Spokane area, said that the current restrictions are posing a danger to the public in general and that police are not able to do their jobs.

“We have to have laws that everybody follows otherwise we get what we have right now and I have serious concerns that if we don’t do something to start supporting our police — we’re already last in the nation in 911,” said Graham.

A second bill, HB 1586, would also bring stakeholders together to form a workgroup to try to come up with a solution for police pursuits. That, too, was voted out of committee.

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