Gov. Jay Inslee signed a dozen bills today that will improve accountability for law enforcement in Washington state, and will create the nation’s strongest police accountability system. The governor, joined by community members and families of those impacted, signed the bills at the Eastside Community Center in Tacoma.
The governor signed legislation that will create an Office of Independent Investigations that reports to the governor, prohibit certain uses of force and will require more thorough oversight requirements for hiring and for reporting misconduct.
“The crises of the past year have unmasked long-standing inequities in our society. The consciousness of our state and nation has been raised against inequity in many forms,” Inslee said. “Our moral mandate to acknowledge these hard truths crystallized in the fallout from the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, and the killing of Manny Ellis in Tacoma. The bills I am signing today respect these truths and lay a solid foundation to halt inequity’s pernicious influence in our systems of government.”
Katrina Johnson— cousin of Charleena Lyles, who was killed in Seattle in June of 2017— praised the legislation being signed and thanked the governor and state for allowing impacted families to lead in policy discussions, as they are “experts of [their] experience.”
“To the impacted families, take a bow in knowing your loved ones death is not in vain,” Johnson said Tuesday. “Today, we stand united in strength and bonded together in pain and blood. We celebrate on this bill signing day, and tomorrow it is back to work on implementation.”
Gov. Inslee Press Updates <press@updates.gov.wa.gov>
Washington State Paralegal Association