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Thousands of Washingtonians gathered on December 14 for a press conference to advocate for changes to the state’s police pursuit laws.
Initiative 2113, sponsored by Republican megadonor Brian Heywood, has garnered over 410,000 signatures, with aims to restore power to local police and sheriff’s departments and allow them greater authority in pursuing suspects by rolling back a 2021 law designed to limit high-speed pursuits.
Heywood said the initiative was supported by both sides of the political spectrum.
“We scan in all the data from everybody that signed the initiatives,” Heywood explained. “We run them against sort of a voter ID. The numbers that we’re turning in today, 54% of these signatures are Democrat or independent and 46% are Republican. This is a broad sweep of people.”
The issue holds significant personal meaning for Amber Goldade, who tragically lost her 12-year-old daughter, Immaculee, in January 2022. While she was out walking with her best friend, Immaculee was struck and killed by a stolen truck driven by Terry Kohl, who has since been convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Goldade says the law prevented police from apprehending Kohl before he killed her daughter. “The night of the first robbery, two weeks prior to my daughter’s death, the police had them when they were coming out of the business. But they knew that they didn’t have to stop. They just had to keep going and they got away,” she explained at the press conference.
“We need to save lives. My daughter was killed because of the law,” she said.
Heywood, who sponsors the Let’s Go Washington political action committee that proposed the initiative, said the move was about returning the decision-making power to local law enforcement.
“This isn’t about high-speed chases at 250 miles an hour. There are reasonable times not to pursue, but I would like to return that to local sheriffs,” Heywood explained.
The initiative also seeks to address concerns raised by local businesses, such as Dunn Lumber in Shoreline, which fell victim to a smash-and-grab incident in November in which a van drove through the store’s front door. The suspects loaded it up with tens of thousands of dollars in power tools and other merchandise before hitting a police cruiser and speeding off. They have not been apprehended.
The store’s owners, like many others, believe that the current pursuit laws hinder law enforcement from effectively protecting businesses and property.
“The police let them go because of the no-pursuit law,” Michael Dunn explained. “What if there’d been people here? We have night crews. What if they’d been in there? Obviously the current policies are not working for protecting people’s property.”
For example, Let’s Go Washington pointed to the Seattle Police Crime Dashboard, which recorded a 42% increase in car thefts in Seattle since 2021, when the pursuit law was introduced.
Under the 2021 law, officers were prohibited from pursuing suspects unless a serious offense had been committed, which experts believe has led to an increase in crime. Although <a href=”https://apbweb.com/2023/11/mayors-across-washington-call-for-easing-pursuit-laws-and-funding-law-enforcement-to-combat-rising-crime/”>recent changes</a> have provided some flexibility — including a law signed by Governor Jay Inslee in May that gave officers the ability to initiate a pursuit if they have “reasonable suspicion” of certain crimes instead of “probable cause” — crimes like burglary, classified as a second-degree offense, still do not qualify for a chase. Initiative 2113 aims to remove further restrictions, allowing local law enforcement more control over pursuit decisions.
Critics of the initiative, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, argued against the proposed changes, claiming it threatens the safety of Washingtonians by allowing pursuits for minor infractions.
“It will allow officers to use this high-risk tactic for expired tabs, trespass, graffiti, and any traffic infraction such as failure to signal. It is just way too broad,” a spokesperson for the Coalition for Police Accountability warned.
Despite opposition, supporters of Initiative 2113 celebrated the significant milestone, announcing that they have gathered enough signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot.
The initiative now faces the next step in the legislative process, where it may be voted on, countered by another initiative or potentially ignored, leading to placement on the November ballot.
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