Confusion besets new police reform laws in Washington state

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Supporters said they would create the nation’s strongest police accountability and help undo racial inequity in the justice system — “a mandate from the people to stop cops from violating our rights and killing people,” said Sakara Remmu, of the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance. They restrict when officers can engage in car chases; make it easier to decertify police for bad acts; make it easier to sue individual officers; and require police to use “reasonable care” in carrying out their duties, including exhausting appropriate de-escalation tactics before using force. But under one of the new laws, police now need probable cause — a higher standard, based on evidence that the person committed or was about to commit the crime — before they use force. During a recent training scenario, instructor Ken Westphal encouraged recruits taking statements from a convenience store owner who had been threatened by a customer to ask, “How did that make you feel?” The officers needed to show that the owner felt fear — an element of the crime of felony harassment — to develop probable cause, Westphal said.