Among the many problems plaguing Washington now, crime is perhaps the greatest concern for citizens and communities throughout our state.
In fact, we have reached a crisis point in our state because of skyrocketing crime.
Thanks to recent state laws that restrict law-enforcement officers and weaken public safety, criminals have become more emboldened. They are acting in a more brazen manner as they commit crimes. The result is many people throughout Washington have been victims of auto theft, retail theft, burglary and other property crimes.
Making matters worse, many auto thieves use their stolen vehicles to smash into "pot shops" to steal cash, or they use these cars as battering rams to break into other stores to steal merchandise.
The crime spike in Washington has a strong connection to a recent law enacted by majority Democrats that placed tight limits on when law-enforcement officers can engage in vehicle pursuits of suspects.
Previously, officers only needed "reasonable suspicion" to initiate a vehicular pursuit of a suspect. Under the 2021 law (House Bill 1054), most such pursuits are only allowed based on "probable cause."
After that 2021 law went into effect, police officers soon complained that they often had to let suspects drive away. When criminals figured out that police couldn't give chase for most crimes, they became even more aggressive in breaking the law.
If you were to ask the State Patrol, county sheriff departments and local police departments across Washington, you likely would discover that, collectively, there have been hundreds and hundreds, if not over 1,000, incidents in the past couple of years in which officers had to let bad guys get away after committing a crime instead of pursuing them – all because of the pursuit restrictions imposed by legislative Democrats a few years ago.
Crime is tearing apart Spokane and other cities in our state. We can no longer allow criminals to get a free pass just by driving away from certain crimes. The result is more and more crime victims.
According to the Washington State Patrol, between 2014 and 2020 an average of 1,200 suspects per year fled from police. In 2022, after the pursuit standard was changed to probable cause, 3,100 suspects fled - an increase of more than 150%. Before the change in the pursuit law, the statewide record for stolen cars in a single year was 30,000. That record increased to nearly 47,000 stolen vehicles in 2022.
Washington is now fourth in the U.S. for auto thefts per capita. Auto theft has reached a crisis point and needs a real solution. Now.
Many sheriffs and police chiefs throughout Washington have voiced their frustration about the tighter pursuit restrictions, to little avail. In 2023 the Legislature passed a law restoring some ability for law-enforcement officers to pursue suspects, but it still is far short of the pre-2021 police-pursuit policy.
As is often the case, when the Legislature fails to address a problem, Washington citizens step up and try to fix it themselves using the power granted to them through the state constitution: the initiative process.
A group of citizens last year filed Initiative 2113, which would repeal the criminal-friendly restrictions on police pursuit of suspects. Under the measure, vehicular pursuits would be allowed when the officer has a reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law, the person poses a threat to the safety of others, those safety risks are greater than those of the pursuit, and a supervisor authorizes the pursuit.
As was the case with each of the six initiatives sent to the Legislature early this session, I-2113 received well over 400,000 signatures from Washington voters, according to the initiative's sponsors. That is far above the minimum number needed to certify and send initiatives to the Legislature for consideration.
Majority Democrats refused to schedule any public hearings on any of the six initiatives to the Legislature for several weeks this session. But they finally held a hearing on I-2113 on Wednesday, Feb. 28, before a joint hearing of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, of which I'm the Republican leader, and the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee.
Two other initiatives – I-2111 (banning any state or local government in Washington from imposing an income tax) and I-2081 (giving parents the right to review K-12 instructional materials and require parental notification of school-provided medical services) – also received hearings.
Just two days before the I-2113 hearing took place, 3,276 people (over 97%) signed up to testify in favor of this measure, either in person or via written testimony, while only 80 opposed it.
I will support I-2113 should it come up for a vote in the Law and Justice Committee. We need to restore police pursuits. The Democratic majorities in the Legislature failed the public by passing the 2021 law limiting vehicular pursuits, then again last year by blocking the stronger reforms that other Republicans and I sought.
My Republican colleagues and I are pushing hard for the Legislature to vote for this important initiative before this session ends.
The Democrats' message to crime victims seems to be that their lives, property and livelihoods don't matter. Democrats basically have told law-enforcement officers they aren't trusted to do the job they were hired and trained to do. Criminals figured out that the Legislature is not serious about ending the lawlessness that is hurting communities.
This needs to stop, and the Legislature can take a major step toward reversing the crime problem in Washington by enacting I-2113.
People throughout Washington are sick and tired of rising crime and police officers not being allowed to do their job by pursuing and arresting suspects.
I-2113 gives the Legislature the chance to take necessary steps to restore officers' ability to protect communities by pursuing suspects. I hope this important measure passes before this year's session ends on March 7.
- Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, represents the 4th Legislative District. He is the Republican leader on the Senate Law and Justice Committee.
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