WCPA Opposes Dangerous Police Pursuits Initiative

The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability opposes the newest effort to weaken Washington’s pursuit policy, Initiative to the Legislature 2113, which was certified on January 11, 2024.

The current policy in state law is balanced, effective, and aligns with the best practices for law enforcement, which were recommended last year by the nationally respected Police Executive Research Forum and published jointly by the Department of Justice and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Pursuits are appropriate in some circumstances, such as when they can effectively address or prevent violent crime. However, pursuits are not the right tactic for offenses such as shoplifting, broken tail lights, and theft. Why? Because high-speed vehicular pursuits put everyone – officers, uninvolved bystanders, drivers, and passengers – at risk of serious injury and death. Recovering stolen property is not worth risking a human life; there are other, safer options for solving such crimes.

After Washington adopted a pursuit policy in 2021, pursuit-related fatalities in the state dropped by half. Law enforcement officers continue to use pursuits, in a safer manner, and fewer people are getting killed. This is why we should keep the current law.

Initiative 2113 seeks to drag the State backward, allowing pursuits for any infraction, which makes the streets more dangerous for all of us. Our current pursuit policy saves lives – unrestricted pursuits just don’t make sense.  

Voting “no” on I-2113 is the right thing to do. The current law is working to protect Washingtonians.

This graph provides an end-of-year snapshot of the number of people killed in equivalent time periods before and after the 2021 pursuit policy change. The total time covered by this comparison is now about 5 years, with half before and half after the reform. The pursuit fatalities include all known incidents where an active vehicular pursuit led to a vehicular homicide.  More details can be found in the full report: https://bit.ly/wc4pa-pursuit-report