Title
COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL ACTION CONCERNING INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 940, AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT; AMENDING RCW 9A.16.040; ADDING NEW SECTIONS TO CHAPTER 43.101 RCW; ADDING NEW SECTIONS TO CHAPTER 36.28A RCW; AND CREATING NEW SECTIONS
INTRODUCED BY: Council member Scott Vydra
SUPPORTED BY: Mayor pro tem Mike Wallin
COUNCIL STRATEGIC INITIATIVE ADDRESSED:
Continue effective financial management
Enhance public safety & emergency response
CITY ATTORNEY REVIEW: N/A
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Enhancing public safety and emergency response is a top priority initiative of the City Council as is continuing effective financial management of the City.
This initiative has costly aspirational goals requiring law enforcement to receive violence de-escalation, mental-health, and first-aid training, and provide first-aid; and change standards for use of deadly force, adding a "good faith" standard and independent investigation.
Initiative 940 represents a real threat to effective law enforcement and more particularly to the careers of law enforcement officers. This initiative could increase costs to local governments and make hiring and retaining qualified law enforcement officers more difficult and more costly to local governments.
I-940 does nothing to make our communities safer. In fact, it could cause more violence as it ties the hands of police officers, troopers and deputies, and could cost lives in our community.
Current state law already requires officers to receive the de-escalation, mental health and first aid training. The initiative has no mechanism to fund the additional training and ties the officer’s commission to the new training mandate. This initiative is an unfunded mandate and will add costs to local governments.
The initiative has a component that requires an officer to render medical assistance possibly while criminal activity may still be occurring. Initiative 940 would require offic...
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