OLYMPIA — With Thursday’s expected delivery of signatures for Initiative 940, years of debate and stalemate over Washington’s deadly-force law look to be coming to a head.
De-Escalate Washington didn’t just pull together the bare-bones 260,000 signatures for I-940, which would make it easier to prosecute law-enforcement officersfor alleged misuse of deadly force. The group hopes to turn in about 360,000 signatures Thursday to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, according to Leslie Cushman, the group’s policy director.
“It’s awesome,” said Cushman.
If I-940 qualifies, state lawmakers — and probably ultimately voters — will face big decisions on a charged issue.
Community advocates have argued Washington’s law — considered the nation’s most restrictive for holding officers accountable for unjustified use of deadly force — is overdue for a change.
Right now, an officer can’t be convicted of a crime for using deadly force if he or she acted in good faith and without malice, or what the law calls “evil intent.”
That makes it nearly impossible for prosecutors to bring criminal charges even if they find an officer committed a wrongful killing, according to a 2015 report by The Seattle Times.
I-940 would change the law to a more detailed, multipart threshold that considers what a “reasonable officer” might have done under the circumstances. It would also take into account an officer’s intentions to determine if she or he acted in good faith.
The initiative also requires more de-escalation and mental-health training for law- enforcement officers.
If state lawmakers don’t approve I-940 during their 2018 session, the initiative will go before voters later in the year.
If legislators approved an amended version of the initiative, both proposals would go to the election ballot.
The effort comes as high-profile shootings including the deaths in Seattle of Che Taylor and Charleena Lyles by white officers of African Americans and other minorities in recent years have underscored concerns about law enforcement.
Family members of several victims of police shootings have been involved in the campaign, including Che’s brother Andrè, who chairs De-Escalate Washington.
Success in the legislative session that begins in January appears unlikely.
Lawmakers this year couldn’t find a compromise that satisfied both law enforcement and community activists.
