Local leaders fear new WA police reform laws do more harm than good

TRI-CITIES, Wash.--New police accountability laws are already impacting area law enforcement in the Tri-Cities. Some local leaders are sounding the alarm with concern.

"They have really created a disincentive for people to follow the law," said Shawn Sant, Franklin County Prosecutor.

Police accountability and reform were top priorities for legislators in the last session.

As of Sunday, July 25th, new bills took effect with new changes.

One of the biggest is hanging up their most popular and effective less lethal option, the 37 mm baton launcher.

"Unfortunately, it’s one of our best tools for keeping people safe,” explained Cmdr. Aaron Clem with Kennewick Police.

Although it’s not technically military equipment, it is larger than .50 caliber.

Making it banned, even though some legislators say that was never the intent.

"They’re saying that, well that wasn’t our intent. Well, that’s the law that you passed,” said Sant.

Assistant Chief Chris Guerrero with KPD says he’s hoping they can find a way to get that tool back in the toolbox before the next session.

"Unfortunately, I don't think our congressmen and women intended for that to be removed but way the law is written it takes it away from us."

The bar has also been upped for police to detain anyone or enter a pursuit.

"I can't see a situation where a pursuit will happen anymore,” said Guerrero.

The new law establishes probable cause as the new standard instead of reasonable suspicion.

While the higher standard is meant to keep police from using force against the wrong person, it also means sometimes police might have to let the bad guy go.

Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant says he thinks these bills were rushed.

He's getting a lot of questions about the new laws which he says were poorly written.

"You’re basically telling them hey, were gonna make this so confusing for you that you’re not really gonna know what level of force of what you can do as a police officer."

Sant fears this is going to undo progress made from I-940, a measure passed in 2018 which upped de-escalation and mental health training for officers and changed the standards for use of deadly force.

And it’s not just police who are affected.

Pasco Fire Chief Bob Gear says these new changes could also impact EMS crews, who often work closely with police.

The ripple effect now leaves medics in some situations where they don't have law enforcement to assist.

Chief Gear says they recently had an incident where they had to remove a pistol from a man in a parking lot.

"Police were not able to assist because he had not committed a crime," said Bob Gear.

He says they are looking into bolstering their own mental health and de-escalation training for their crews after these new changes.

"We need that access to people that are used to dealing with people with behavioral issues without de-escalating the situation because mental illness is not a crime."

Representative Brad Klippert says he is actively working to change the language in these new laws and he wants to do it sooner than the next session.

"I argued against these bills. As a law enforcement officer who also serves as a legislator, I can see firsthand, this is not working, the communities will be less safe.

He wants to call for a special session.

"We can get this fixed in 24 hours."

Until then, police say they will adapt to these changes and continue to protect and serve.

"We're going to do everything we can to keep the public safe, that's our primary job. We're just going to have to take other steps to do that, and take a longer time to do that,” said Aaron Clem with KPD.

If you want to read more about the new laws, click here.