Bill to study deadly force statute clears key Senate committee

A bill creating a task force to review Washington’s deadly force statute received approval from the Senate Law and Justice committee Friday.

Members of the committee voted unanimously to forward House Bill 2908 with a do-pass recommendation. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Cindy Ryu, D-Shoreline, and was approved unanimously by the House on Feb. 16.

However, the bill moving forward in the Senate is different than the one passed in the House.

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, introduced an amendment removing language criticizing the state’s current deadly force statute.

The amendment also removes a section asking the task force to recommend changes to the statute, and instead asks the group to recommend best practices to reduce the number of violent interactions between law enforcement officers and the public.

The amendment mirrored testimony given by Mitch Barker, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, at a Tuesday hearing. He said that before the task force is asked to recommend changes to the law, the group should examine whether the law needs to be changed.

The amendment was approved by the committee.

Use of deadly force by police became an issue in Thurston County last May, after an Olympia Police officer shot and wounded two black teenagers who had stolen beer from a grocery store. The officer, who said one of the youths had attacked him with a skateboard, was not charged. The confrontation touched off protest demonstrations.

The discussions that followed led to calls to change the state’s use-of-force statute, which prevents conviction of police officers for unnecessary force unless it can be proven they acted with malice. A bill that would have changed the statute died in committee earlier this month.

Karen Johnson, co-founder of the Black Alliance of Thurston County, said she’s excited about the changes to the bill — particularly the addition of the section regarding reduction of violent interactions between law enforcement and the public.

“This is going to start the conversation.” Johnson said. “And quite truthfully, this bill is going to accomplish even more than we dreamed, because I believe police culture is going to change.”

The task force created by the bill would also examine training for police officers, and explore tools officers can use instead of deadly force.

The group would meet four times in 2016 and deliver recommendations at the end of the year.

The task force would comprise representatives from each of the Legislature’s caucuses, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington State Patrol, the Criminal Justice Training Commission, the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, three defense attorney groups, Disability Rights of Washington, the Washington State Association of Counties, the Association of Washington Cities, the ACLU, the NAACP, One America, the Black Alliance of Thurston County, and the state commissions on Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, African American and Indian affairs.

The task force would cost the state about $5,000.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Bill to study deadly force statute clears key Senate committee."