New push to ‘hold police accountable’ gains steam in Washington state

A Washington advocacy group continues to push for a statewide office that can charge police officers for misuse of deadly force.

"We're not asking to hurt any officers who are doing it right — we're just asking for the officers who are doing wrong to actually be accountable for their actions," said Fred Thomas, whose son Leonard was killed by police in 2013.

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When an officer kills someone in Washington, local prosecutors decide whether or not to charge the police involved. The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability has previously attempted to change that policy, but state lawmakers failed to pass a bill last session that would create an independent prosecutor's office. That office could file charges, and avoid local conflicts of interest for such cases.

That's a big selling point for Po Leapai, whose cousin was killed by police in 2018.

"When it comes to conflicts of interest without accountability and transparency, we will never bridge the gap that we're seeing between impacted communities and law enforcement," Leapai said.

Washington state already has an independent office to investigate deadly use of force. The bill to create an independent prosecutors office keeps stalling in the Legislature.

In 2020, a police task force for Gov. Jay Inslee recommended the formation of the independent investigator's office, as well as a special prosecutor designated by the governor. The argument was that the prosecutor should not have any conflict of interest (not be a local prosecutor that works with law enforcement). The investigation office was approved in 2021 and is now up and running. The prosecutor part of the recommendation never came to fruition.

The coalition aims to change that next year. With renewed momentum, it hopes some adjustments to the failed bill will improve its chances in 2024. It has placed this effort — HB 1579 — at the top of its 2024 legislative priorities. Expect to see this issue return to Olympia as the next legislative session takes form.

The coalition says it will focus on three points next time around:

1. The Office of Independent Prosecutor would have concurrent jurisdiction with a county.
2. The independent prosecutor would be housed under the Attorney General's Office.
3. And the prosecutor would take over cases that come from the independent investigations office.

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“Systemic patterns of racist and discriminatory policing and violence are harming and killing Washingtonians," said Gary Damon Jr., interim director for Washington Coalition for Police Accountability. "We need systemic solutions. Requiring police to prioritize public safety will help reduce the occurrence of unnecessary police violence. And when police do unnecessarily harm or kill members of our communities, the bills we are fighting for will help hold police accountable for their actions and achieve more equitable policing across the state.”