At the stroke of midnight, police pursuits for any law
violation will again be legal in Washington state.
What this is going to do is going to allow
that man or woman,
that trooper, that sheriff's deputy,
that that that city officer to make the decision.
Well, statewide law enforcement will once again be able to
chase after anyone they reasonably suspect has committed a crime.
And that's a big change from the current law that
says they must have probable cause.
Kara 7S Deborah Horn is live right now in Lakewood.
Now, Deborah. On the flip side of this,
by at least one measure,
fewer people did die in pursuits under the current law.
Monique That's according to a study done a year and
a half after the current law took effect.
But those in law enforcement say those numbers don't reflect
the uptick in crimes,
as well as the number of criminals who simply got
away because they knew the cop couldn't legally go after
them.
Tonight at midnight, the law goes into effect,
and so does our policy.
And that will allow us a larger scope of vehicles
in which we can pursue for it is a day
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders helped fight for the legal
right to pursue people they have a reasonable suspicion have
committed a crime.
Doesn't mean we have to,
doesn't mean we will, but it means we can.
You say it doesn't mean you have to,
it doesn't mean you will.
But what does it afford you?
It affords us the latitude to make that decision ourselves.
Under current law, police could not pursue unless they had
probable cause.
Even then, a supervisor had to make the final call.
Sanders says that wreaked havoc.
It turned every shoplifter into 100 mile an hour bullet
going down the road.
When we tried to stop them,
shoplifters used to pull over.
Why? Why all the sudden the change right when the
law takes place?
But proponents of the tighter pursuit restrictions say they saved
lives.
A retired University of Washington sociologist found in the 1st
15 months after the pursuit law was tightened,
the number of deaths due to chases declined by 80%.
Eleven people died in active police pursuits the 15 months
before.
15 months into the new law,
just two people were killed.
I've seen that study. I've seen people who challenged that
study.
And this spokesman for the Washington State Patrol says those
stats tell only part of the story.
What that didn't take into account is that the people
that you are not stopping.
May go on to do dangerous things themselves.
In fact, Chris Loftus says before the law changed,
WSP never even kept stats on how many people flee
traffic stops.
So few did, but they do now.
And last year, more than 3300 drivers refused to stop
when a trooper ordered them to.
Well, tomorrow will be a new day,
so you've been warned. Reporting live in Lakewood,
Deborah Horn, Carol. 7 News.