Washington Senate passes bill requiring police officers to intervene in excessive force cases

The Washington state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would require police officers to try to stop their colleagues from using excessive force, a law enforcement accountability push that comes in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last year.

The bill, SB 5066, passed with a 28-21 vote predominately along party lines. State Sen. Tim Sheldon was the only Democrat who opposed the measure. The legislation now heads for debate on the Washington state House floor. 

The legislation would require any identifiable on-duty peace officer who witnesses another engaging or attempting to engage in excessive force to try to intervene. Otherwise, they would face suspension or decertification.

Law enforcement would also be required to render aid at the earliest safe opportunity if any person is injured.

In addition, any officer who observes any wrongdoing by a peer would be required, under the proposed law, to inform their supervisor and they would be protected from discipline or retaliation. The bill would mandate that all law enforcement officers in the state would receive relevant training. 

Similar duty-to-intervene laws have been proposed across the country following the May 2020 death of Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, which launched massive Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality across the country.

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is facing second-degree murder and manslaughter charges after he knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Three other former officers who were with Chauvin during the arrest and did not intervene — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao — have been charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter.

Washington Sen. Manka Dhingra (D), the bill’s sponsor, told The Seattle Times that her bill was motivated by the police bystanders in Floyd’s death. She said she hoped that the bill would help “empower” officers to do the right thing.

“You have to make sure that these good, honorable, ethical law-enforcement officers have the tools they need to stop the bad apples,”  Dhingra said.

However, opponents of the bill argue that the proposal is meant to intimidate cops. Many Republican senators attempted to introduce amendments that would narrow legal definitions of “excessive force” and “intervention” in the bill.

State Sen. Jeff Holy, a Republican who served in the Spokane Police Department for over two decades, told the outlet that the bill has the potential to be abused.

“I look at this and these are the kind of things that — I would have never gone into law enforcement had I seen any of these things in place 35 years ago,” Holy said.