(The Center Square) – Law enforcement officials are pointing to a new law passed by the Washington Legislature last year as the likely cause for an uptick in reports of stolen vehicles.
Steve Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, told KIRO News that automobile thefts state-wide have increased from 2,000 to 2,500 per month to 3,000 to 3,500 per month since the law took effect last July.
“The word is out and people know about this and it’s leading to brazen disregard for the law,” he added.
A provision in House Bill 1054 put restrictions on how and when a law enforcement agency can engage in a vehicular pursuit.
Police chases can only occur if there is probable cause to believe that a person in the vehicle has committed a violent offense or a sex offense or is driving under the influence of alcohol or if the person poses an imminent threat that is considered greater than the safety risk of a pursuit.
A supervising officer must consider alternatives to a pursuit and must take into consideration issues such as speed, weather, traffic, road conditions and whether there are minors in the vehicle.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jesse Johnson, D-Federal Way, also made it illegal for a police officer to use a chokehold or neck restraint and required police departments to return military equipment such as armed vehicles, armed helicopters and tanks to the federal agency from which it was acquired.
“Throughout the last year, I worked with community leaders, families of victims of police violence, law enforcement officers, police reform advocates and my fellow lawmakers in an effort to lift up all voices and hear all sides,” Johnson said in a statement when the bill was passed. “We must demand that protecting human life is law enforcement’s highest value.”
In a statement from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs last July, Strachan said “Pursuit policies are now strictly limited, and pursuits are categorically prohibited for most criminal offenses. There is a concern that this could increase reckless driving, traffic fatalities and the apprehension of fewer suspects.”
Police Chief Matt Brown told KIRO that vehicle thefts in Port Orchard, west of Seattle, are up five-fold
A witness in Port Orchard recently posted a video to social media showed a driver in a suspected stolen vehicle ramming a police car before escaping.
