{"id":608987,"date":"2021-08-02T17:06:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=608987"},"modified":"2021-08-02T17:06:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:06:56","slug":"washington-cops-forced-to-allow-violent-criminals-to-flee-crime-scenes-after-new-police-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/washington-cops-forced-to-allow-violent-criminals-to-flee-crime-scenes-after-new-police-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Cops Forced To Allow Violent Criminals To Flee Crime Scenes After New Police Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwashington-cops-forced-to-allow-violent-criminals-to-flee-crime-scenes-after-new-police-reforms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=608987&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1088437070.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>A slew of new police reforms in Washington state force police officers to allow suspects to flee crime scenes in many cases, even if they are suspected of committing a violent crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a dozen police reform bills into law in May, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GovInslee\/status\/1338629056103739392\">saying<\/a> \u201cwe have a moral mandate to uproot systemic racism in our society\u201d and that he believes Washington can become an \u201canti-racist state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> The bills, some of which went into effect last week, were passed by the state\u2019s Democrat-controlled legislature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The spate of new reforms hamstrings cops in their ability to immediately detain violent criminals by requiring that they have \u201cprobable cause\u201d to arrest them before they detain them, a much stricter standard than the previous \u201creasonable suspicion\u201d standard. A police officer may also detain a suspect if the person poses an \u201cimminent threat,\u201d a term that lends itself easily to subjective interpretation after the fact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Washington\u2019s new laws do allow a cop to ask a fleeing suspect to stop and be detained, but the officer cannot use any force to prevent the suspect from escaping if \u201cprobable cause\u201d is absent. The laws have been beset by confusion at police departments, but the new rules appear to mandate that even if the person is suspected of murder or rape, the cop cannot forcibly detain him on that suspicion alone.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cops are also now required to use the \u201cleast amount of physical force necessary\u201d in dealing with a suspect, rather than the previous standard of using \u201creasonable\u201d force, restricting officers even further.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One of the bills drastically restricts when officers are allowed to engage in police car chases, apparently making it easier for officers to chase a drunk driver than a person suspected of committing a murder or sex offense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another reform cracks down on so-called \u201cmilitary equipment.\u201d When the law went into effect, police departments in Washington were required to surrender all of their \u201cmilitary equipment,\u201d which included machine guns, armed helicopters, bayonets, and grenades as well as firearms and ammunition of .50 caliber or greater. This had one apparently unintended effect \u2014 police had to turn in some of their less lethal weapons that happened to be .50 caliber or greater, including <\/span><span>bean bag launching shotguns and foam round launchers. The law effectively stripped Washington\u2019s police departments of several of their less lethal options for responding to violent crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The sweeping reforms also ban chokeholds, neck restraints, and \u201cno-knock\u201d warrants, and they restrict the use of tear gas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In one change that could dramatically affect how police conduct is scrutinized, one of the bills creates a new agency to investigate and charge law enforcement officers statewide. In the past, that type of investigation would normally have been handled by local prosecutors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Police say they are extremely concerned about how the new reforms will impact crime in their communities as well as the safety of officers. Morale at police departments in Washington has already been plummeting for months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u200b\u200b<\/span><span>\u201cThere\u2019s a real concern that it could increase crime, and it could increase reckless driving, traffic fatalities,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.king5.com\/article\/news\/politics\/washington-state-police-reform-bills-confuse-police-in-effect-july\/281-d1db250e-a117-4236-b0ba-ff0b964c829a\">said<\/a> Steven Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs <\/span><span>(WASPC)<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Violent crime is already on the rise in Washington. Assaults on officers have increased nearly 7% since 2019. While hate crimes and drug arrests dropped last year, murders have risen nearly 67% since 2016, according to data from the <\/span><span>WASPC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At a press conference on July 22, law enforcement heads from around the state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7PYDj_8YKo8&amp;ab_channel=SpokaneSheriff\">said<\/a> there is a great deal of confusion about how to interpret the reforms. <\/span>Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said that one of his deputies told him the laws had resulted in \u201cchaos.\u201d He added that legislators had not consulted with law enforcement leaders at all as they were crafting the bills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now we hear from legislators that we are overreacting, that we don\u2019t understand the laws, that we don\u2019t understand their intent, and you\u2019re right, we don\u2019t,\u201d Knezovich said.<\/p>\n<p><span>The Washington Fraternal Order of Police (WAFOP) urged the state attorney general to offer more guidance on two of the bills dealing with use of force.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhat would help most right now is a formal written legal opinion from the Office of the Attorney General so that law enforcement and the community have a clear sense of how the new legislation is to be applied,\u201d the WAFOP <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wafop.com\/news\/washington-state-fop-news\/washington-fraternal-order-of-police-requests-formal-ag-opinion-on-police-tactics-use-of-force-measures\/?id=f33acabd-0cb3-40b2-a476-775c8c1f7800\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The riots that ravaged Seattle last year prompted a wave of police departures, a trend expected to continue in the wake of the new police reforms. <\/span><span>Washington already <\/span><span>has <\/span><span>the lowest ratio of police officers to residents of any state with only 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bjs.ojp.gov\/library\/publications\/census-state-and-local-law-enforcement-agencies-2008\"><span>according<\/span><\/a><span> to Justice Department figures. The national average is 2.5 police officers per 1,000 residents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Washington\u2019s new reforms are just the latest in a string of police reforms since the death of George Floyd last summer. Earlier this year, another rule went into effect in the state requiring police recruits to take an eight-hour course on the <\/span><span>history of racism and policing. The required curriculum was part of another nine police reform bills Washington passed in April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A slew of new police reforms in Washington state force police officers to allow suspects to flee crime scenes in many cases, even if they are suspected of committing a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}