The new state law restricts police pursuits.
QUICK FACTS:
- Suspects have been calling 911 to stop police from pursuing them as a result of a new law in Washington state that limits police pursuits.
- The progressive policy stems from House Bill 1054, which requires that police officers receive permission from a superior to chase a suspect.
- The legislation’s supporters, including state Rep. Jesse Johnson, said it would improve public safety because it was proposed as a way of reducing deaths caused by police pursuits.
- A call was released by the Redmond Police Department in Washington State in which a man admits he is driving on a suspended license but tells the operator when she asked if he would pull over, “No. He’s not going to get me.”
- Steve Strachan, the executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said these incidents are becoming more frequent.
- “In my career, I’ve never seen the flouting of the law that we’re seeing now,” Strachan said. “The word is out among the criminals.”
RESPONSE TO THE NEW MEASURE:
- Police departments have objected to the law, claiming that the provision makes it more difficult for them to apprehend offenders.
- The Washington State Patrol reports that police have recorded nearly 2,500 instances of drivers evading a state trooper’s attempt to pull them over.
- Another call released from a Washington police department that aired on “The Jason Rantz Show” featured a man who was suspected of holding a woman hostage as he sped off with the suspected victim in the car.
- When the suspected perpetrator called 911, he told the operator, “I was sleeping in my car” and requested the operator tell the police “it’s an illegal pursuit.”
BACKGROUND:
- Animosity toward police has grown at a rapid pace since the death of George Floyd in May of 2020 and the push to defund the police has gained increasing momentum on the left.
- In California, a school banned the “Blue Lives Matter” flag just three years after the police rescued students from a shooter at the school.
- Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California banned the football team from waving a “Blue Lives Matter” flag after law enforcement prevented a school shooter from harming students in 2019, as American Faith previously reported.
- “It wasn’t even a member of our Saugus community that complained originally,” parent Lexi Hawk said. “So I’m not exactly sure how the district came up with the decision without talking to parents.”
