Announcing WCPA's 2024 Legislative Priorities
At an October briefing for reporters, WCPA family members who have lost loved ones to unnecessary police violence and police reform policy experts released our priorities for the 2024 Washington legislative session.
WCPA’s priorities for the 2024 legislative session include:
Improving Traffic Safety with HB 1513 would direct police to focus on protecting public safety, not waste time and money harassing people for minor infractions like expired tags and cracked windshields. Sponsors: Street, Simmons, Doglio, Pollet, Berry, Gregerson, Ryu, Farivar, Alvarado, Reed, Bateman, Thai, Chopp, Macri, Fitzgibbon, Morgan, Peterson, Santos, Mena, Duerr, Orwall, Ormsby, Fosse
Investigate misconduct at the State Attorney General level with HB 1445 would empower the State Attorney General’s Office to investigate entire police departments or sheriffs’ offices for patterns of misconduct, civil rights violations, unconstitutional or illegal racial targeting. Sponsors: Hansen, Simmons, Reed, Thai, Pollet, and Macri
Independent prosecution with 2SHB 1579 would establish an independent prosecutor with statewide jurisdiction within the Attorney General’s Office to charge and prosecute wrongful deadly use of force by police. Sponsors: Stonier, Bateman, Lekanoff, Reed, Pollet and Macri
Why these priorities matter
Tonya Isabell of Parkland, Washington says, “Families like ours will never stop suffering the loss of our loved ones, but we deserve a path to justice. As a Black mother, I’m scared for my children each time they get on the road. I have educated them about how to act and what to do if they are stopped by police, but Black people have been hurt and killed by police even when we do the right thing – when you’re reaching to get your wallet or insurance. Putting a stop to unnecessary traffic stops will help prevent more families from losing their loved ones to unnecessary police violence and frees up resources so police can focus on stopping people for things like speeding that are a true threat to public safety."
Trishanda Pickup, a member of the Suquamish Tribe and resident of Kitsap County explains, “Native people are killed by police at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group. Stonechild Chiefstick, the father of four of my children, was killed in Poulsbo on July 3rd 2019. He was killed in a large crowd of people waiting for the Independence day fireworks display. When a police officer harms someone and there are no consequences, there’s no motivation for change. Acts of police violence like the one that killed our Stoney aren’t isolated incidents. Systemic patterns of unnecessary police violence will only be addressed when we remove barriers to justice, and build effective systems to investigate, charge and hold police accountable."
Katrina Johnson of SeaTac says, “People of color deserve to receive equal and fair treatment by police. We deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods. Our message to legislators is that we won’t stop fighting for the changes that are so badly needed to better protect us. These bills won’t bring back our loved ones, but until we get systems to hold police accountable and ensure there are real consequences for violating our rights and using unnecessary violence, more families will suffer the loss of a loved one.”
Support WCPA this year
Your support enables the coalition to fight for a future where no more families lose loved ones to unnecessary police violence.
