WA Dem Lawmaker Wants to Do Away With ‘All’ Police Pursuits

We can get an idea of what's possibly brewing in the legislature by bills that are either pre-filed (submitted prior to January) or what legislators are saying.

  Democratic legislator wants to do away with virtually all police pursuits

If Democratic Senator Joe Nguyen (who represents a West Seattle district) has his way, you might not even have to bother putting tabs on your vehicle, or making sure the taillights and turn signals work.

According to information from pre-filed bills, press statements, and information from MyNorthwest.com, Ngyuen has been working with an 'anti-police' coalition to do away with virtually all pullovers.

Jason Rantz of AM 770 KTTH reports the Tacoma News Tribune and others say Nguyen is sponsoring a bill that will virtually end all reason for any officer to pull over a driver. The bill would (according to the TNT and MyNorthwest):

 “end low-level traffic stops for expired tabs, broken tail lights and similar violations that don’t have safety ramifications.”

Read that a couple of times. If his bill becomes law, you conceivably wouldn't even have to bother to put tabs on your vehicle--or even pay for them?

Rantz reports it's the latest round in the ongoing efforts by some legislators to continue to defund law enforcement and hinder their efforts to fight crime.

The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force, which also tracks statewide data, is reporting that from January through November, there have been 41,330 vehicles reported stolen in our state.

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In King and Pierce County alone for the month of November, auto thefts averaged 80 per day.   Nguyen will have his opportunity come January when his bill will be considered with all the other legislation that will be looked at.