Dear Representative,
We the undersigned individuals and organizations working in racial justice, police accountability, civil rights, faith, and labor across the state, urge you to take early action on HB 1445, the Attorney General’s (AG) Civil Rights Investigations and Reform bill, and vote it off of the House Floor at the beginning of the 2024 session.
HB 1445 addresses widespread and systemic misconduct at police departments, sheriffs’ offices, and jails. This bill clarifies and expands the AG’s ability to investigate, look into a department’s own data, training, accountability systems, etc. and to bring suit if necessary to make changes to address civil rights abuses and ingrained problems at the department level.
This bill is about departments that routinely use excessive force; make repeated stops, searches, or arrests that are unreasonable; or have discriminated based on race, immigration status, religion, disability, or sex. When we see a department culture of impunity, where officers or police leaders, mock people killed by police, target Black Lives Matter supporters, align with white supremacist extremists, or try to cover up killings of people who are just trying to walk home safe at night, something must be done.
Right now, there are very few ways to investigate or change these troubling patterns. We must rely on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to intervene, and they can take years – and that’s if they decide to even take the case. In the meantime, misconduct goes unchecked. This undermines the effectiveness of law enforcement, the confidence of police and community relations, and the achievement of justice.
HB 1445 is designed to prevent future harm by requiring changes to policies and practices, solving problems before tragic circumstances like more unconstitutional killings occur. It is needed so that the AG’s office can help fix systemic issues and bring a department’s policies, practices, trainings, and discipline into compliance with the Washington constitution and state law. We urge you to take early action and vote in support of HB 1445 at the beginning of the 2024 session.
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