Police Face A Dozen New Operational ‘Requirements’ (Handcuffs?)

Although this was released by the West Richland Police Department, these laws will affect all Police Departments across Washington state.

Thursday West Richland Chief Ben Majetich published a list of the most 'impactful' of the new laws, there were a dozen listed.

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These new laws will have to start being worked into Police procedures. They include:

• HB-1267 Concerning investigation of potential criminal conduct arising from police use of force, including custodial injuries, and other officer-involved incidents.
• SB-5051 Concerning state oversight and accountability of peace officers and corrections officers.
• HB-1054 Concerning Establishing requirements for tactics and equipment used by peace officers.
• HB-1310 Concerning permissible uses of force by law enforcement and correctional officers.
• SB-5066 Concerning a peace officer's duty to intervene.
• SB-5263 Concerning defenses in personal injury and wrongful death actions where the person injured or killed was committing a felony.
• HB-1088 Concerning potential impeachment disclosures.
• HB-1140 Concerning juvenile access to attorneys when contacted by law enforcement.

The bulk of these, according to critics, will only cause more second-guessing of law enforcement, and perhaps hinder their ability to make split-second or necessary on-site actions to prevent or deal with crimes.

To see the article for yourself, and to be able to click on the links to read how these specific bills will affect police, click on the button below.