By Paul Gottlieb
Special to the Peninsula Daily News
OLYMPIA — Two chief law enforcement officers on the North Olympic Peninsula are not exactly happy with proposed state legislation that makes it easier for them to catch suspected criminals.
Engrossed Senate Bill 5352 has passed the House and Senate and appears headed for passage.
The bill replaces the probable cause standard with the less restrictive reasonable suspicion threshold for vehicle pursuits — but only for certain crimes.
For Jefferson County Sheriff Joe Nole and Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, it falls short of adequately restoring pursuit powers lawmakers took away in 2021.
But Nole and Smith said it’s better than nothing.
“It’s an improvement over a really bad situation, but it does not fix the fundamental flaw in the law,” Smith said Thursday.
“The flaw is you are basing our ability to chase someone on the type of crime. It’s highly restrictive. We are the only state that does it that way.”
That includes possession of a stolen vehicle or misdemeanor assault.
“If someone punches you in the face in front of me and drives away and they don’t drive drunk, I can’t pursue them,” Smith said of 5352.
“You’ll still be able to drive a stolen car around virtually forever unless police figure out where you are going and meet you there,” he added. “That’s the policy with this legislation.”
‘A big deal’
The change in the law is “a big deal,” Nole said
“There are still some concerns I have,” he said Thursday.
Nole said officers still can see a vehicle loaded with suspected stolen goods and can’t pursue it.
He recalled after the 2021 law was passed, a driver was upset that a deputy pulled him over for speeding.
“He thought we couldn’t do that anymore, and that’s why he took off,” Nole recalled.
“The word is out to criminals,” he continued. “If you gun it to get away from the cops, they can’t chase you. This will allow us to chase them more.
“It could have been a lot worse from an enforcement side but I am pleased with how it turned out.”
The new law addresses HB 1054, which lawmakers approved in 2021 by arguing police pursuits resulted in deaths and injuries. Many asserted this legislative session that fatalities have declined since July 2021, when the bill was implemented.
Reasonable suspicion
The reasonable suspicion standard applies in 1054 to drivers suspected of driving under the influence.
In 5352, it would additionally apply to persons who are suspected of having committed or are committing a violent offense, a vehicular assault, an escape offense, a sex offense, or first-, second-, third- or fourth-degree domestic violence assault.
The pursuit must be essential to identify or apprehend a person who poses a serious risk of harm. The risk of failing to catch the person just be greater that the safety risks of pursuing them, according to the bill report at leg.wa.gov.
A supervising officer must be notified when the pursuit is initiated and oversee the engagement.
In jurisdictions with 15 or fewer commissioned officers, the on-call officer can be notified of the pursuit, an increase from 10 in the Senate bill that was made in the House that requires Senate approval.
Proponents outnumbered
Eight House lawmakers spoke against 5352 while five favored it before the 57-40 yes vote was tallied at midnight Monday.
Opinions ranged from wanting to maintain the probable cause standard to asserting more crimes should be covered to going back to pre-1054 days. Eight legislators spoke against 5352, and five favored the bill.
Reps. Steve Tharinger of Port Townsend and Mike Chapman of Port Angeles, who represent the 24th District — Clallam and Jefferson counties and the northern half of Grays Harbor County — voted for the measure.
“The reasonable suspicion standard is more reasonable, approachable,” Chapman said. “The first contact is reasonable suspicion. It takes more to develop probable cause.”
Chapman, who was a Mill Creek police officer from 1991-97 supervising vehicle pursuits long before HB 1054, had voted against that bill.
Standing beside a red velvet curtain bordering the House chamber following the vote, he said police have not been left helpless by police pursuit legislation — and don’t have to chase criminal suspects to catch them. Roadblocks and spike strips came to mind.
“I think tonight’s debate was a little disrespectful for the police because of the number of tools they have that were not discussed,” Chapman said.
A standard too high
Tharinger cited testimony by 42nd District Rep. Alicia Rule, who appeared on a giant video screen above the chamber, as especially strong. She spoke of the pursuit law “needing a balance” to address a standard that is “too high.”
Tharinger, sitting at his House desk in back of the chamber following the vote, said Rule, whose district includes Ferndale, Sumas and part of Bellingham, spoke to rural constituents similar to those in the 24th District.
He also noted comments by 11th District Rep. David Hackney, a former assistant U.S. attorney who represents South King County, a high crime area, Hackney said.
“I may be the only person in this august body who has drafted affidavits for federal judges to get permission to make arrests or to serve people based on probable cause,” Hackney said.
“I can tell you that standard is too high. The proper standard is reasonable suspicion.”
Lawmakers need to make sure police “have an opportunity to address the rising crime rates that they see every day,” Hackney added.
Tharinger noted there have been fewer deaths as a result of police pursuits since 1054 was passed, “but the number is still pretty small, so finding that balance is always tricky, and I think you saw that [balance] tonight with the 57 votes that were in the middle.”
Criminals, take heed
Tharinger predicted the change will put criminals who take advantage of the probable cause threshold on notice.
“They know that reasonable suspicion is a lower bar for them,” he said.
“They’ll take note of that and realize that there is a chance of being pursued.”
Sen. Kevin Van De Wege of Port Angeles sponsored a failed bill in 2022 similar to 5352.
The 24th District lawmaker said Friday he expects police reform legislation passed in 2021 will be further modified in future legislative sessions, echoing comments made Monday evening in the House.
Reducing the pursuit threshold “was a big priority,” Van De Wege said.
“It’s important to get the first step done.”
Van De Wege said he expects the Senate to approve the new House version of 5352.
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Legislative Reporter Paul Gottlieb, a former senior reporter at Peninsula Daily News, can be reached at cpaulgottlieb@gmail.com.
