LOCAL NEWS
New state policing bills will have ‘limited impact’ on Seattle, says SPD chief
Seattle interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz provided insight on Thursday into how new state policing bills will likely affect the city long-term.
This comes while law enforcement agencies around Washington state have said they’re working to interpret the impact of two new bills the Legislature passed during the last session.
House Bills 1310 and 1054, which take effect on Sunday, relate to police tactics and use of force.
Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz released a statement on Thursday saying that, in many cases, the new laws mirror what the Seattle Police Department has already put into practice.
Diaz starts off with:
“In short, these bills create a civil standard that limits the circumstances in which any physical force may be used, impose new restrictions on certain police tactics (including pursuits, no-knock warrants, and neck restraints), impose reporting requirements of officers who witness out-of-policy force, and prohibit the procurement or use of certain ‘military equipment.'”
Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney said his department is also trying to sort through the new legislation. He told KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show that law enforcement representatives spent a lot of time lobbying the session in Olympia.
“These legislators knew what they were getting into when they passed this stuff,” he said. “We told them what was going to happen. They said, ‘we hear you, we understand, and we’re passing this stuff anyway,’ so they knew what they were getting into.”
Listen to what Lake Forest Park Police Chief Mike Harden told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson about the new legislation:
